|
|
|
|
Articles: Philosophy | The Incarnation
- Mr. KALIDASU D
| |
A. Old Testament Proofs
Assuming then, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, from the terms of the promise it is certain that the One promised is God, is a Divine Person in the strictest sense of the word, the texts from the Old Testament have weight by themselves; taken together with their fulfilment in the New Testament, to make up a cumulative argument in favour of the Divinity of Jesus Christ that is overwhelming in its force. The Old Testament proofs we draw from the Psalms, the Sapiential Books and the Prophets. They are far too numerous to mention them all here. (For Example: Psalm 2:7. 'The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. and 'I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son' from II Kings 7: 14. It is to be noted that in the pre-sapiential books of the Old Testament, the uncreated Logos, or hrema, is the active and creative principle of Yahweh (see Ps. 32: 4, 6; 115: 89; 102: 20; Isaiah 40: 8; 60: 11). Later the logos became sophia, the uncreated Word became uncreated Wisdom. To Wisdom were attributed all the works of creation and Divine Providence (see Job 28: 12: Prov. 8 and 9 Ecclus. 1:1; 24: 5-12; Wis.6: 21; 9: 9). In Wis.9: 1-2 we have a remarkable instance of the attribution of God's activity to both the Logos and Wisdom. In 9: 6, Isaiah calls the Messiah God: 'A child is born to us . . . his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, God the Strong One, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.' Catholics explain that the very same child is called God the Strong One (Isaiah 9: 6) and Emmanuel (Isaiah 7: 14); the conception of the child is prophesied in the latter verse, the birth of the very same child is prophesied in the former verse.)
B. New Testament Proofs
The argument from the New Testament has a cumulative weight that is overwhelming in its effectiveness, once the inspiration of the New Testament and the Divine ambassadorship of Jesus are proved. The Divinity of the Messiah as fulfilled in Matt.1: 23; 2: 6: Mark 1: 2: Mark 3: 12: Luke 7: 27, and many others. Also, Jesus Himself clearly assumed the title. He constantly spoke of God as 'My Father' (Matt.7: 21; 10: 32; 11: 27; 15: 13; 16: 17, etc.). Jesus also said 'he that sees me sees the Father' (John 14: 9).
C. Witness of Tradition
The two main sources wherefrom we draw our information as to tradition, or the unwritten Word of God, are the Fathers of the Church, certain pagan historians, and the general councils. The Fathers are practically unanimous in explicitly teaching the Divinity of Jesus Christ, among them are St. Clement of Rome (A.D. 93-95), St. Ignatius of Antioch (A.D. 110-117), Saint Justin Martyr (A.D. 150), St. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 150) and others too numerous to mention here. To the witness of these Fathers of the Apostolic and apologetic age, there are witnesses from the pagan writers of tht era such as: Pliny (A.D. 107), Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117), and Aristides (A.D. 138-161). The first general council of the Church was called to define the Divinity of Jesus Christ and to condemn Arius and his errors. The Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. defined the Divinity of Christ in the clearest terms: 'We believe . . . in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, God of God, Light of Light, True God of True God, begotten not made, the same in nature with the Father by Whom all things were made'.
| Be first to comment on this Article!
| |
|
|
|
 |
| Advertisements |
|
|
|
|
| Advertisements |
|
.gif)
