He Claimed to Be God
Jesus and the Attributes of God
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Names are important. You are uncomfortable when your name is mispronounced or even worse if someone calls you by the wrong name. Names identify who you are and even what makes you who you are: your nationality and family background. We are going to be taking a look at the ways in which Jesus claimed to be God. But in our world there are actually those who would ask which God or god was Jesus claiming to be. Now on the surface this seems strange. Jesus was a Jew living in Israel. He was the child of a Jewish mother, which is a common definition of being Jewish. He grew up in a Jewish village and attended synagogue and made at least one trip to the temple in Jerusalem as a child. As a teacher Jesus referred to the Hebrew Scriptures, quoted the prophets and on the day of his death he quoted from the Psalms. Given all of this we can be sure Jesus was not claiming to be Thor, or Zeus or a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Jesus was claiming to be the God of Israel, the God of the Hebrew Scriptures, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Most are aware that the name of God is the most highly honored name in Judaism. It is too holy to be spoken. Christians may not find warrant for such a view in Scripture itself, but we do honor the commandment not to take the name of God in vain. If Jesus took on that name for himself it would the highest possible claim to be God. It would identify him specifically with the infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God of the Bible. And so the historic Christian claim is that Jesus applied the name ‘Yahweh’ to himself. In doing so he claimed to be God. (From Chapter 2)
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About the Book
Critical voices within the culture and church frequently make the claim that Jesus never claimed to be God. If Jesus never made the claim to deity, why would the early church have held such a belief from its earliest days?
He Claimed to Be God responds to this idea and reviews the various ways Jesus did claim to be God. It is aimed at doubters but also seeks to build the faith of believers and give them some ways to respond to the charge. Jesus claimed to have the attributes of God. Qualities such as sovereignty, omniscience, holiness, and love show that Jesus was claiming to be the God of the Old Testament. During the exploration of this topic, other apologetic issues come to the surface as we look briefly at the Trinity, the validity of miracles, and the power to exist as one of God’s attributes.
Uplifting and thoroughly supported by scripture, this theological study examines one aspect of the case for Christ and demonstrates that Jesus claimed to be God.
About the Author
Allyn Ricketts, PhD, served as a pastor for forty years, as adjunct faculty at Washington and Jefferson College, and as professor of apologetics and philosophy at Biblical Life Institute near Freeport, Pennsylvania. He holds an MDiv from Ashland Theological Seminary and a PhD from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. The author of several newspaper articles relating the Christian faith to culture, he lives with his wife in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.