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 DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE GOD? As far as we know, Jesus never, in so many words, said: "I am God". This is why some groups, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, who believe in every word of the Bible, don't believe that he was. So where did the mainstream church get the idea from in the first place? They were trying to make sense of the extraordinary things Jesus said and did. He said that he forgave people's sins – something which Jews believed could only be done by God. He claimed the right to rework God's law. He explained his mission by telling stories about God visiting Israel. There are implications here – which were bewildering to his followers and blasphemous to his opponents – that Jesus believed God to be present in him in a unique way. More questions about who Jesus was |
Picture: 6th-century mosaic of Christ from Ravenna, Italy. |
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