Jesus is also God alone.

 

Jesus alone saves you from hell and death

(Heb 9:27 KJV)  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

(Heb 9:28 KJV)  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 

Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code says: "Fact: ... All descriptions of ... documents ... in this novel are accurate."  but Satan is a liar and a deceiver (John 8:44, Rev 12:9)."God forbid; yea, let God be true, but every man a liar" (Rom 3:4). Dan Brown’s book contains 20 percent truth and 80 percent falsehood. 

"If you are going to tell a lie, make it a big one since people seem to believe big lies much more easily than small ones." Dan Brown has filled his novel with mistakes and lies to attack the Gospel of Jesus Christ and replace it with a resurgent pagan mythos" "The second goal of the glorification of paganism is also at the heart of this novel" The devil is the one tootaly behind it still too.

 

Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code says: "Fact: ... All descriptions of ... documents ... in this novel are accurate." but rather there is no shred of real, valid historical evidence in the book or THE movie, and  it  is no secret that The Blasphemy And Deception Of The Da Vinci Code is clear, it is all fictional. The Da Vinci Code is a big lie, ridiculous and a 21 century myth.. "The Da Vinci Code" is trying to Cash in on defaming Christ.

 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations in December of 1948. In 30 articles it summarizes the basic and inalienable rights of people everywhere.   Among these rights are: life, liberty and security; national identity; legal remedies for wrongs; the presumption of innocence; ownership of property; work for just and equitable pay (to name just a few).  Some rights have to do with change. A person has the right to change residence, nationality, marital status, employment and, most importantly, religion.

Article 18 reads: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

 

The freedom to change religious allegiance is a fundamental human right. It is not granted by any government or authority, but rather is the possession of every human being by virtue of existence itself. 

The freedom to worship and believe is first: the freedom to change religious affiliation is second: the freedom to speak and declare your faith is third: and finally comes the freedom to seek the conversion of another.

Thus, the most fundamental questions are these: are people free to worship, are they free to convert?  In vast stretches of human society this freedom is restricted: by Orthodox Christians in Russia, by Orthodox Jews in Israel, by Muslims in numerous states of the Middle East. All of these entrenched authorities fear that religious freedom (including the right to convert) will entail a loss of political power and cultural influence for the established faith. Now are the people in our jurisdiction free to pursue the faith of their choice? Or do religious and political leaders put up barriers of fear, danger, and even death?

It seems these days that the only rights being falsely respected is the right to be converted away from Christianity, and often by any means, using falsehoods included. 

The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown  bears false witness because it falsifies the historical record of Christ, who is both true God and true man. Many Early Christian writers have often said that Christians worshiped Jesus as God.

(Col 1:12 KJV)  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:   13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

 

The deity of Christ is found fully, clearly in the scriptures in the New Testament from the first  begining of the Christian church Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9; John 9:35-38; and Heb. 1:6 as well as the Old Testament:  

 

Zech. 12:10, "And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced."

 

Exodus 6:2-3, "God spoke further to Moses and said to him, "I am the Lord; 3 and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them."  Compare with "Not that any man has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father," (John 6:46).  The point is that God Almighty was seen, but not the father.  He was the pre-incarnate Christ who is seen in the Old Testament, who is defined in nature.

 

1 Cor. 1:2, "to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours."

1. The phrase, "call upon the name of the Lord [YHWH]" is used in the OT only in reference to God (i.e., Psalm 116:4), never anyone else.  Yet, the Greek equivalent (LXX) of the phrase is applied to Jesus in 1 Cor. 1:2.  It says that the church "calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus."  Why is a phrase used ONLY of God in the OT, applied to Jesus in the NT?
2. The LXX translates "call upon the name of YHWH" as "call upon the name of the Lord [kurios]." The phrase "call upon the name of the Lord is applied to Jesus.  

Note  again the  biblical passages underlining the fact that Jesus is God:

Jesus calls Himself God

Matthew 12:8  For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.

Matthew 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Mark 2:5-12  When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee." But there was certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, "Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?"

And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, "Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, 'Thy sins be forgiven thee'; or to say, 'Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?'

But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins," (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) "I say unto thee, 'Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.'"

And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, 'We never saw it on this fashion.'

John 5:17-18  But Jesus answered them, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

John 8:58  Jesus said unto them, "Verily, verily I say unto you, 'Before Abraham was, I am'." [compare with Exodus 3:14 - And God said unto Moses, "I AM THAT I AM," and he said, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, 'I AM hath sent me unto you.'"]

John 10:30-33; 36-39  [Jesus said,] "I and my Father are one." Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, "Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?"

The Jews answered him, saying, "For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." [Jesus said,] "Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, 'Thou blasphemest'; because I said, 'I am the Son of God?'

If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him." Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand...

John 13:13-14  You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

Revelation 1:8  "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending," saith the Lord, "which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."

Jesus is called God by others or by the Bible

Isaiah 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

Matthew 1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, "God with us."

John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 20:26-29  And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace be unto you."

Then saith he to Thomas, "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing."

And Thomas answered and said unto him, "My Lord and my God." Jesus saith unto him, "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

John 21:17  [Peter said to Jesus], "Lord, thou knowest all things."

Acts 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Romans 9:5  Of [the Israelites] as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.

Revelation 17:14  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Colossians 2:9  For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

All things created through Jesus (and thus He existed before everything).

John 1:1-5,9-14  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Colossians 1:12-20

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Hebrews 1:1-8  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

For unto which of the angels said he at any time, 'Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?' And again, 'I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?'

And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, 'And let all the angels of God worship him.' And of the angels he saith, 'Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.'

But unto the Son he saith, 'Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.'

 

Jesus Christ is both God and man 

The Bible and thus the Christian faith teaches that just as Adam and Eve were two persons but one flesh so too the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three Persons but one God. (John 17:5).  "And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine Own Self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was"    (Heb 1:8 KJV)  But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. . 9  Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 10  And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11  They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12  And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.   In John 8:58 we read the words of Christ "Before Abraham was born I AM". It is clear from the use of the words "I AM" in this context that our beloved Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was claiming eternality which only the true God can claim. The Lord Jesus Christ was both God and man.Jesus Christ was not a created being, he was not specially even created by God the Father, Jesus did co-exist with the God the Father and the Holy Spirt always as God. Genesis  makes that clear (Gen 1:26 KJV)  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.17   So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Christ was next begotten of the Father into a earthly image of the father, but he had already existed  before he had been begotten.  (Phil 2:5 KJV)  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

When Jesus Christ became in the image of man he still do not give up his deity, divinity.  John 1:18 Scripture teaches that Christ is the "only begotten God" (this is the literal translation from the Greek New Testament). The word "begotten" in the passage comes from a Greek word from which we get our English word "generate". To "generate" means to "bring forth" out of pre-existing substance, whereas to"create" means to "bring forth" out of nothing. Just as sunlight is generated from the sun but is not created by the sun, so, too, Christ was generated (begotten) from the Father but was not created by the Father. After (Christ) was begotten of the Father the Father then through Christ (His only begotten Son) made all the universe ((John 1:3 KJV)  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made... (Col 1:15 KJV)  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: (Col 1:16 KJV)  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:   And, of course, much later in time Christ was also begotten as man.  Note Colossians 1:15  Christ is referred to as the "Firstborn over all creation"

Revelation 1:17-18 "... Fear not; I am the First and the Last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen ..." (Acts 7:56 KJV)  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

 "But isn't the concept of God being a Trinity found in pagan religions and dope snyto Satan have his own tyrinty as mentione dint he book of revelation?  Well, even pagan religions have some elements of original truth even though that original truth has often been counterefetied, perverted by Satan (the Devil). Satan is a copy cat. The Devil takes what he knows is true, perverts and twists it and he even plants the perverted and twisted forms of the truth in human societies and cultures. Satan will as anti Christ try to take Christ place as the the sole  true Messiah of the Jews.."

The Deity of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Acts 5:4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

Here in verse 3, Peter says Ananias has lied to the Holy Ghost, and in the next verse Peter says Ananias has lied to God. Clearly then according to Peter, the Holy Spirit is indeed deity, a part of the Godhead. This is also apparent from the following verse in the book of Matthew-

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

According to Matthew, baptism is to be in the name of all three persons of the Godhead.

Also, according to Scripture, the Holy Spirit -

• Participated in creation - Gen 1:2
• Is a Comforter - John 14:26
• Is eternal - Heb 9:14
• Speaks - 1 Tim 4:1; Rev 14:13
• Teaches - John 14:26
• Reveals the future - Luke 2:26
• Bears Witness - Rom 8:16
• Guides to the truth - John 16:13
• Gives life (quickens) - Rom 8:11; 1Pet 3:18
• Reproves - John 16:8
• Makes Intercession - Rom 8:26
• Indwells the believer - 1 Cor 6:19
• Distributes gifts - 1 Cor 12:11
• Seals the believer - Eph 1:13, 4:30
• Invites the Sinner - Rev 22:17
• Can be Blasphemed - Mat 12:31-32
• Conceived Jesus in Mary - Mat 1:20

The Trinity is not three substances but three persons existing simultaneously, which are the one essence. These person's are not separate from the essence, they subsist in it. Nor are there three essences that would make them three God's. God is tri-une as persons but in nature one God.It is a fact of chemistry that plain water, when placed in a vacuum under gas pressure of 230 millimeters and at a temperature of 0 degrees Centigrade, Will solidify it into ice at the bottom of the container, the liquid will remain in the center and at the top it vaporizes! At a given moment the same water is both solid, liquid and gas, yet all three are manifestations of the same base substance H2O - hydrogen/ two parts; oxygen/ one part.

The Holy Spirit raised Jesus

Rom.8:11" But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. It is the H.Spirit that dwells in us, notice he says by his Spirit. . Paul makes a clear distinction between Christ the God/man, the Spirit and the Father.God raised Jesus

Acts 5:30 "The God of our Fathers raised up Jesus"…        Rom.4:24"It shall be imputed to us who believe in him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead."

The Bible never says there is only one person in the Godhead such as the Father only,

A Trinity, but only one God

Mal 2:10 Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?

Mark 12:32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:

Rom 3:30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

1 Cor 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Eph 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

1 Tim 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

 

Jesus Christ Is God Incarnate

Quoting from Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23 says, "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." According to both of these verses, Jesus was "God with us" when He walked upon this earth. He wasn't merely "God's chosen one with us" or "God's Son with us." As I Timothy 3:16 states, "God was manifest in the flesh." John 1:14 tells us that "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us..." In Zechariah 12:10, GOD said that HE (God) would be "pierced" by sinners, and Revelation 1:7 states that Jesus Christ Himself fulfilled this prophecy! Friend, the Bible presents Jesus Christ as much more than a great prophet and teacher. God's word presents Jesus Christ as God incarnate.

Jesus Christ Is Eternal

In John 10:28, Jesus said, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." If Jesus Christ isn't eternal, then how does He have the power to give "eternal life"?

Micah 5:2 states that Jesus Christ is "from everlasting", which is exactly what Psalm 93:2 and Isaiah 63:16 say about God!

In John 8:58, Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." The term "I am" is the exact term that God used in Exodus 3:14 in reference to Himself! Jesus professed to be the eternal God of the Bible.

Jesus Christ Has Divine Names

Check these references for yourself. In Matthew 22:42-45, Jesus claims to be the "Lord" of Psalm 110:1. He allows Thomas to address Him as "My Lord and my God" in John 20:28.

He is the "everlasting Father" and "The mighty God" of Isaiah 9:6.

According to His own words in John 10:11-14, He is the "shepherd" of Psalm 23:1, Psalm 80:1, and Ezekiel 34:12.

God is the "saviour" in Isaiah 43:3, 43:11, 45:15, 45:21, Hosea 13:4, Luke 1:47, and I Timothy 4:10, yet this same title is given to Jesus Christ in Luke 2:11, Philippians 3:20, II Timothy 1:10, and II Peter 2:20.

God is the "Rock" of Deuteronomy 32:4, 32:15, 32:18, 32:30-31, I Samuel 2:2, and Psalm 18:31, yet this title is given to the Lord Jesus Christ in I Corinthians 10:1-4, I Peter 2:7-8, and Romans 9:33.

God is "light" in Psalm 27:1 and Micah 7:8, and then Jesus is "light" in John 1:4-9 and in John 8:12.

In Isaiah 44:6 God says, "...I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." In Revelation 1:17 Jesus Christ says, "...Fear not; I am the first and the last."

The Scriptures are clear: Jesus Christ is the God of the Old Testament.

Jesus Claimed Equality with God

Jesus says in Matthew 28:19, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" If Jesus Christ isn't Deity, then why did He include Himself in the Holy Trinity?

Jesus says in John 14:9, "...he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?" Is the Father someone other than Jesus Christ? No, not according to Jesus Christ.

In John 10:30, Jesus says, "I and my Father are one." Isn't that clear enough?

Philippians 2:6 says that Jesus was in the "form of God", and that he thought it not robbery to be "equal with God"!

The Jesus Christ of the New Testament claimed to be "one" with God and "equal" with God.

Jesus Christ is Omnipresent

Only God has the ability to be everywhere at once, yet Jesus Christ claims this ability.

In Matthew 18:20, He says, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." How could this be possible if Jesus were not Deity?

The same is true in Matthew 28:20 where Jesus says, "...lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." How could He be with each individual Christian always and be in Heaven at the same time? He is God, for only God has such attributes!

Jesus Christ Is Omnipotent

That is, He is all powerful. He has all power.

Revelation 19:6 states, "...the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Then I Timothy 6:15 says that Jesus Christ Himself is "...the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;" If Jesus is the ONLY Potentate, then He must be the One of Revelation 19:6, God Almighty!

Also see Colossians 2:9-10, Revelation 2:26, and Matthew 28:18.

Jesus Christ Is Omniscient

To be omniscient is to have all knowledge, unlike normal men. The Bible declares that Jesus was indeed omniscient.

Unlike normal men, Jesus Christ had knowledge of specific details about His own death. In Matthew 16:21, Jesus said that He would go to Jerusalem, suffer many things at the hands of the scribes and the elders, be killed, and then be resurrected the third day. He repeats this prophecy in Matthew 20:19.

Matthew 17:27 offers the account of Jesus knowing of a certain coin in a fish's mouth before the fish is caught!

He knew specific details about a woman's life whom He had never met (John 4:16-19). He also had all knowledge about Nathaniel in John 1:47-49.

Friend, Jesus Christ is Deity because He is omniscient.

Jesus Christ Has Creative Powers

John 1:1-3 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." The "Word" is the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:14; I John 1:1-3; 5:7), and John 1:3 says that all things were made by Him!

Colossians 1:16 says, "...by him were all things created..." Consider Hebrews 1:1-3: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;" You see, by Jesus Christ the worlds were made, and by Jesus Christ all things are upheld. He has the power to create and sustain the universe.

Jesus Christ Has Power Over the Elements of Nature

In Matthew 14:25, Jesus literally walks upon the sea, and in Luke 8:24, He rebukes the wind and it obeys Him. How could He perform such tasks if He weren't God? It must be understood that Jesus didn't pray for God to calm the sea; He calmed the sea Himself.

Jesus Christ Received Worship

If we're wrong in teaching that the Lord Jesus Christ is God, then He must have been wrong in allowing people to worship him. Jesus Himself said, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." (Mat. 4:10) Why would He say this at the beginning of His ministry and then spend His ministry allowing people to worship HIM?

In Acts 10:25-26, and in Revelation 19:10, worship of anyone other than God Himself is forbidden, yet Jesus willingly received worship throughout His public ministry (John 20:28; Mat. 8:2; 9:18; 15:25; 28:9; John 9:38). If He isn't Deity, then why didn't He correct those who worshipped Him?

Jesus Christ Forgave Sins

"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer. 31:34) According to these words, it is GOD Who has the power and right to forgive sins. However, the New Testament says that Jesus Christ has this power.

Please notice Mark 2:5-11: "When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house."

Jesus Christ is God, because only God can forgive sins. It's true that He took on the form of a man for thirty-three years on this earth, but He was still God. He was God manifest in the flesh (I Tim. 3:16).

Jesus Christ Had Power Over His Own Life and Death

How many people do you know who have the ability to lay down their own life and then take it up again? Jesus had this power.

Consider John 10:17-18: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."

Jesus had the power over His own life and death! When He died, He willingly gave up His own spirit (Luke 23:46).

According to His own words in Revelation 1:18, Jesus Christ has "the keys of hell and of death." How could He possibly have such power if He were not God?

Friend, make no mistake about it: the Lord Jesus Christ is Deity. He came to this earth and suffered in human flesh for thirty-three years. He lived a perfectly sinless life, and then laid that life down as an eternal payment for your sins. Mohammed didn't pay for your sins, because Mohammed wasn't God. Buddha didn't pay for your sins, because Buddha wasn't God. You can't pay for your sins, because you aren't God. Only Jesus Christ is sinless, because only Jesus Christ is God. He Alone can save your soul from the eternal fires of Hell.

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

Jesus Christ our Creator: A Biblical Defence of the Trinity

• There is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 44:8). Note that the Hebrew word for ‘one’ is echad which means composite unity—it is used in Genesis 2:24 where the husband and wife become ‘one flesh’. The word for absolute unity is yachid which is never used of God in the Scripture.

• The Father is called God (John 6:27, Ephesians 4:6).

• The Son is called God (Hebrews 1:8. He is also called ‘I am’ in John 8:58 cf. Ex. 3:14—see below for more biblical proof). He has always existed (John 1:1–3, 8:56–58), but took on full human nature in addition to His divine nature at the Incarnation (John 1:14, Philippians 2:5–11).

• The Holy Spirit is called God (Acts 5:3–4), and is personal (Acts 13:2), not some impersonal force as the Jehovah’s Witness cult believes.
  
• They are distinct, e.g. at the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3:16–17 all three were present and distinct. The Son is baptized, the Father speaks from Heaven, and the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, flies down and lands on the Son. See the baptismal formula in Matthew 28:19 ‘baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.’ Note that the word ‘name’ is singular, showing that all three Persons are one Being.

The distinction in persons within the one God means that it is possible for Jesus to be the ‘one mediator between God and men’ (1 Timothy 2:5), and to be our ‘advocate with the Father’ (1 John 2:1) when we sin. An advocate is a defence lawyer, who pleads our case before a judge. This demonstrates a distinction between the persons.

The distinction makes the Substitutionary Atonement possible. How else could Jesus be the One on whom the LORD has ‘laid ... the iniquity of us all’ (Isaiah 53:6)? The one laying and the one on whom our sins are laid must be distinct.

Jesus said that His Father sent Him (John 14:24) and that the Spirit was sent by both the Father (John 14:26) and the Son (John 15:7). This also points to distinct centres of consciousness within the one God.

The fact that Jesus prayed to God the Father (John 17:1) shows there was a distinction between Father and Son. Since Jesus was fully human (as well as fully divine), and humans should pray, it follows that it was proper for Jesus to pray in His humanity.

Also, the deity of the Son, Jesus Christ, is further proved by the fact that He has attributes belonging uniquely to God, e.g.:

• He is the Creator (Colossians 1:16–17).

• He has the ability to forgive sins (Luke 7:47–50) and judge all people (John 5:27).

• He sends forth the Holy Spirit (John 15:26).

• He accepts worship (Hebrews 1:6, Matthew 14:33)

• He is called ‘Lord’ (Romans 10:9) where ‘Lord’ (kurios) is a translation of the Old Testament Yahweh (= God) (Romans 10:13 cites Joel 2:32 which makes this clear)

• And He is identified with the ‘Alpha and Omega’ and the equivalent ‘the first and the last’ (Revelation 1:8, 17–18, cf. Isaiah 44:6).

• In the Old Testament, He is the Child who is called ‘Mighty God’ and ‘Everlasting Father’ (Hebrew is literally ‘Father of Eternity’, meaning ‘Author of Eternity’) (Isaiah 9:6, cf. 10:21) He would be born in Bethlehem, yet His ‘goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.’ (Micah 5:2)

Some Objections to the Trinity Answered

Despite the clear Biblical evidence for the Trinity, some cults have objections based on misunderstandings of Scripture.

• Jesus said: ‘My Father is greater (meizon) than I’ (John 14:28). But this refers to the Father’s greater position in Heaven, not superior nature. Philippians 2:5–11 states that Jesus had equality by nature with God, but voluntarily took on the lower position of a servant. The same arguments apply to related passages about Jesus submitting to His Father’s will.

The word ‘better’ (kreitton) would have been used to describe superiority in nature if this is what had been meant. Indeed, kreitton is used to describe Jesus’ superiority in His very nature to the angels (Hebrews 1:4). The distinction can be illustrated in the human realm by the role of the Prime Minister—he is greater than us in position, but he is still a human being like us, so is not better in nature.

• Jesus is called ‘the firstborn of every creature’ (Colossians 1:15). However, in Jewish imagery, ‘firstborn’ means ‘having the rights and special privileges belonging to the eldest child’. It refers to pre-eminence in rank more than to priority in time. This can be shown in passages where the term ‘firstborn’ is used of the pre-eminent son who was not the eldest, e.g. Psalm 89:27, where David is called ‘firstborn’ although he was actually the youngest son.

‘Firstborn’ does not mean ‘first created’; the Greek for the latter is protoktisis, while firstborn is prototokos. In fact, the verses after Colossians 1:15 show that Christ Himself is the creator of all things.

• Jesus is Son of God. From this, some cults try to show that Jesus is somehow less than God. But in Jewish imagery, ‘the son of’ often meant ‘of the order of’ or ‘having the very nature of’. For example, ‘sons of the prophets’ meant ‘of the order of prophets’ (1 Kings 20:35); ‘sons of the singers’ meant ‘of the order of singers’ (Nehemiah 12:28). Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries understood that He was claiming to be God, which is why they wanted to kill him for blasphemy (John 19:7).

• Jesus is the ‘only-begotten Son’ (John 3:16). The Greek word translated ‘only-begotten’ is monogenes, which means ‘unique, ‘one of a kind’. Jesus is the unique Son of God, because he is God by His very nature (see above). Believers in Him become ‘sons of God’ by adoption (Galatians 3:26–4:7).

This is shown in the human realm by Hebrews 11:17, where Isaac is called Abraham’s ‘only begotten son’. Abraham had other sons, but Isaac was the unique son of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis chapters 15–18, 20), born when his parents were old.

The Deity of Jesus Christ  by R.A. Torrey

[This article was originally written in 1918 to counter the cults and heretical groups at the turn of the century which constantly discounted or outright rejected the Bible truth relating to the Lord Jesus Christ's absolute eternal deity. The same understanding is needed today, more than ever before. Can the Christ of the Bible be the same Christ of the Roman Church that claims Jesus' sacrifice on Calvary's cross was not perfect, complete, and sufficient? Can one who is quick to "Call Jesus, 'Lord,"' but does not abide in the "doctrine of Christ" (2 Jn. 7-1 1) presented throughout the whole Counsel of God, believe in the same Jesus of which the Bible speaks? This article provides a biblical answer to the cults and sects today. Study this article with an open Bible before you so that you can give an answer to those who pervert so glorious a theme-Foundation magazine Ed.]

"While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he?" Matthew 22.41, 42.

The question that our Lord Jesus puts here to the Pharisees is the most fundamental question concerning Christian thought and faith that can be put to anybody in any age. Jesus Christ Himself is the center of Christianity, so the most fundamental questions of faith are those that concern the Person of Christ. If a man really holds to right views concerning the Person of Jesus Christ, he will sooner or later get right views on every other question. If he holds a wrong view concerning the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, he is pretty sure to go wrong on everything else sooner or later. "What think ye of Christ?" That is the great central question; that is the vital question.

And the most fundamental question concerning the Person of Christ is, Is Jesus Christ really God? Not merely, Is He Divine, but, Is He actually God? When I was a boy, to say you believed in the Divinity of Christ meant that you believed in the real Deity of Christ, that you believed that Jesus was actually a Divine Person, that He was God. It no longer means that. The Devil is wise, shrewd, and subtle, and he knows that the most effectual way to instill error into the minds of the inexpert and unwary is to use old and precious words and put a new meaning into them. So when his messengers masquerading as "ministers of righteousness" seek to lead, if possible, the elect astray, they use the old precious words, but with an entirely new and entirely different and entirely false meaning. They talk about the Divinity of Christ, but they do not mean at all what intelligent Christians in former days meant by it. Likewise, they talk of the atonement, but they do not mean at all the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ in our place by which eternal life is secured for us. And oftentimes when they talk about Christ, they do not mean at all our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the actual historic Jesus of the four gospels; they mean an ideal Christ, or a Christ principle.

So our subject is not the Divinity of Christ, but the Deity of Christ; and our question is not, Is Jesus Christ Divine, but rather, Is Jesus Christ God? Was that Person Who was born in Bethlehem nineteen hundred and twenty-one years ago, and Who lived thirty-three or thirty-four years hereupon earth as recorded in the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Who was crucified on Calvary's cross, Who rose from the dead the third day, and was exalted from earth to heaven to the right hand of the Father-was He God manifest in the flesh, was He God embodied in a human being? Was He, and is He, a Being worthy of our absolute faith and supreme love and our unhesitating obedience and our whole hearted worship, just as God the Father is worthy of our absolute faith and supreme love and unhesitating obedience and our whole hearted worship? Should all men honour Jesus Christ even as they honour God the Father (John 5:23). Not merely is He an example that we can wisely follow, or a Master whom we can wisely serve, but is He a God Whom we can rightly worship? I presume that most of us do believe that He was God manifest in the flesh and that He is God today at the right hand of the Father, but why do you believe so? Are you so intelligent in your faith, and therefore, so well-grounded in your faith that no glib talker or reasoner, no Unitarian or Russellite(JW) or Christian Scientist or Theosophist, or other errorist can confuse you and upset you and lead you astray?

It is important that we be thoroughly sound in our faith at this point and thoroughly well-informed, wherever else we may be in ignorance or error, for we are distinctly told in John 20:31 that "these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." It is evident from these words of the inspired apostle John that this question is not merely a matter of theoretical opinion, but that it is a matter that concerns our salvation. It is to confirm and instruct you in your blessed faith, your saving faith in Jesus Christ as a Divine Person.

When I studied the subject of the Divinity of Christ in the theological seminary, I got the impression that there were a few texts in the Bible that conclusively proved that He was Divine. Years later I found that there were not merely a few proof texts that proved this, but that the Bible in many ways and in countless passages clearly taught that Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh. Indeed, I found that the Doctrine of the Deity of Jesus Christ formed the very warp and woof of the Bible.

Divine Names

The first line of proof of the absolute Deity of our Lord Jesus is that many names and titles clearly implying Deity are used of Jesus Christ in the Bible, some of them over and over again, the total number of passages reaching far into the hundreds. Of course, I can only give you a few illustrations at this time. Turn with me first of all to Revelation 1:17, "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last." The text shows clearly that our Lord Jesus was the speaker, and here our Lord Jesus distinctly calls Himself "The First and the Last." Now this, beyond a question, is a Divine name, for in Isaiah 44:6 we read, "Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." In Revelation 22:12, 13, our Lord Jesus says that He is the Alpha and Omega. His words are, "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." Now in this same book in the first chapter and the eighth verse the Lord God declared that He is the Alpha and the Omega. His words are, "I am Alpha, and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." In I Corinthians 2:8, the apostle Paul speaks of our crucified Lord Jesus as "The Lord of glory." His exact words are, "Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." There can be no question that "The Lord of glory" is Jehovah God, for we read in Psalm 24:8-10, "Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah." And we are told in the passage already referred to that our crucified Lord Jesus was the King of glory; therefore, He must be Jehovah.

In John 20:28 Thomas addressed the Lord Jesus as his Lord and his God: "And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God." Unitarians have endeavored to get around the force of this utterance made by Thomas by saying that Thomas was excited and that he was not addressing the Lord Jesus, but was saying "my Lord and my God" as an ejaculation of astonishment, just the way that profane people sometimes use these exclamations today. But this interpretation is impossible and shows to what desperate straits the Unitarians are driven, for Jesus Himself commended Thomas for seeing it and saying it. Our Lord Jesus' words immediately following those of Thomas are, "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (John 20:29).

In Titus 2:13 our Lord Jesus is spoken of as our "great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." In Romans 9:5 Paul tells us that "Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever." The Unitarians have made desperate efforts to overcome the force of these words, but the only fair translation and interpretation of these words are found in our Authorized Version. There can be no honest doubt to one who goes to the Bible to find out what It actually teaches, and not to read his own thought into It, that Jesus is spoken of by various names and titles that beyond a question imply deity, and that He in so many words is called God. In Hebrews 1:8 it is said in so many words, of the Son, "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." If we should go no further it is evidently the clear and often repeated teaching of the Bible that Jesus is really God.

Divine Attributes

But there is a second line of proof that Jesus Christ is God, a proof equally convincing, and that is, all the five distinctively Divine attributes are ascribed to Jesus Christ, and "all the fulness of the Godhead" is said to dwell in Him. There are five distinctively Divine attributes, that is, five attributes that God alone possesses. These are Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnipresence, Eternity and Immutability. Each one of these distinctively Divine attributes are ascribed to Jesus Christ.

First of all, omnipotence is ascribed to Jesus Christ. Not only are we taught that Jesus had power over diseases and death and winds and sea and demons, that they were all subject to His word, and that He is far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the world to come (Eph. 1:20-23), but in Hebrews 1:3 it is said in so many words that He " [upholdeth] all things by the word of his power."

Omniscience is also ascribed to Him. We are taught in the Bible that Jesus knew men's lives, even their secret history (John 4:16-19), that He knew the secret thoughts of men, knew all men, knew what was in man (Mark 2:8; Luke 5:22; John 2:24, 25), which knowledge we are distinctly told in 2 Chronicles 6:30 and Jeremiah 17:9-10, that God alone possesses. We are told in so many words in John 16:30 that Jesus knew "all things," and in Colossians 2:3 we find that in Him "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

Omnipresence is also ascribed to Him. We are told in Matthew 18:20 that where two or three are gathered together in His Name, that He is in the midst of them, and in Matthew 28:20 that wherever His obedient disciples should go, He would be with them, even unto the end of the age, and in John 14:20 and 2 Corinthians 13:5 we are told that He dwells in each believer, in all the millions of believers scattered over the earth. In Ephesians 1:23 we are told that He "filleth all in all."

Eternity is also ascribed to Him. We are told in John 1:1 that "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." In John 8:58 Jesus Himself said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." Note that the Lord Jesus did not merely say that "before Abraham was I was," but that "before Abraham was, I AM," thus declaring Himself to be the eternal "I AM." Even in the Old Testament we have a declaration of the eternity of the Christ who was to be born in Bethlehem. In Micah 5:2 we read, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." And in Isaiah 9:6 we are told of the child that is to be born, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." And in Hebrews 13:8 we are told, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."

His immutability is also taught in the passage just quoted from Hebrews, and in the first chapter of the same book, in verses eleven and twelve, we find that while even the heavens change, the Lord Jesus does not change. The exact words are, "They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as cloth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail."

Each one of the five distinctively Divine attributes were ascribed to our Lord Jesus Christ. And in Colossians 2:9 we are told in so many words, " For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily [in a bodily form]." Here again we might rest our case, for what has been said under this heading, even if taken alone, clearly proves the absolute Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. It shows that He possesses every perfection of nature and character that God the Father possesses.

Divine Offices

But we do not need to rest the case here. There is a third unanswerable line of proof that Jesus Christ is God, namely, all the distinctively Divine offices are predicated of Jesus Christ. There are seven distinctively Divine offices. That is to say, there are seven things that God alone can do, and each one of these seven distinctively Divine offices is ascribed to Jesus Christ. The seven distinctively Divine offices are: Creation, Preservation, Forgiveness of Sin, the Raising of the Dead, the Transformation of Bodies, Judgment and the Bestowal of Eternal Life, and each of these is ascribed to Jesus Christ.

Creation is ascribed to Him. In Hebrews 1:10 these words are spoken of our Lord: "And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands." The context clearly shows that the Lord addressed is the Lord Jesus. In John 1:3 we are told that "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." Preservation of the universe and of everything is also ascribed to Him in Hebrews 1:3 where it is said of the Lord Jesus, "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person [God's], and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."

The forgiveness of sin is ascribed to Him. He Himself says in Mark 2:5-10 when His power to forgive sins was questioned, because that was recognized as a Divine power, "But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins."

The future raising of the dead is distinctly ascribed to him in John 6:39, 44, "And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."

The transformation of our bodies is ascribed to Him in Philippians 3:21. In 2 Timothy 4:1 judgment is ascribed to Him. We are told that He shall "judge the quick and the dead." Jesus Himself declared that He would be the judge of all mankind and emphasized the fact of the Divine character of that office. In John 5:22, 23 He said, "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father." The bestowal of eternal life is ascribed to Him time and time again. In John 10:28 He Himself says, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand," and in John 17:1, 2, He says, "Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him." Here then, we have the seven distinctively Divine offices all predicated of Jesus Christ. This alone would prove that He is God, and we .might rest the case here, but there are still other proofs of His absolute Deity.

Statements Which in the Old Testament Are Made Distinctly of Jehovah, God, Taken in the New Testament to Refer to the Lord Jesus Christ

The fourth line of proof of the absolute Deity of Jesus Christ is found in the fact that over and over again statements which in the Old Testament are made distinctly of Jehovah, God, are taken in the New Testament to refer to Jesus Christ. We have not time to illustrate this at length, but will give but one illustration where many might be given. In Jeremiah 11:20 the prophet says, "But, 0 Lord of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause." Here the prophet distinctly says that it is Jehovah of Hosts Who judgest and triest the reins and the heart. And in the 17th chapter and the tenth verse Jeremiah represents Jehovah Himself as saying the same thing in these words, "I the Lord, search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." But in the New Testament in Revelation 2:23 the Lord Jesus says, "...I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works." We are distinctly told in the context that it is "The Son of God" who is speaking here. So Jesus claims for Himself in the N. T. what the Lord in the O. T. says is true of Himself and of Himself alone. In very many other instances, statements which in the Old Testament are made distinctly of God the Father, are taken to refer to Jesus Christ. That is to say, in New Testament thought and doctrine, Jesus Christ occupies the place that God the Father occupies in Old Testament thought and doctrine.

The Way the Name of God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son Are Coupled Together

The fifth line of proof of the absolute Deity of our Lord is found in the way in which the name of Jesus Christ is coupled with that of God the Father. In numerous passages His name is coupled with the name of God the Father in a way in which it would be impossible to couple the name of any finite being with that of the Deity. We have time for but a few of the many illustrations that might be given. A striking instance is in the words of our Lord Himself in John 14:23 where we read, "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." Here our Lord Jesus does not hesitate to couple Himself with the Father in such a way as to say "We," that is, God the Father and I, will come and make our abode with him. In John 14:1 He said, 'Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." If Jesus Christ was not God, this is shocking blasphemy. There is absolutely no middle ground between admitting the Deity of Jesus Christ and charging Christ with the most daring and appalling blasphemy of which any man was ever guilty.

Divine Worship to be Given to Jesus Christ

There is a sixth line of proof of the absolute Deity of our Lord Jesus. Those already given have been decisive, each one of the five have been decisive, but this, if possible, is the most decisive of them all, and that is that we are taught in so many words that Jesus Christ should be worshipped as God, both by angels and men. In numerous places in the gospels we see Jesus Christ accepting without hesitation a worship which good men and angels declined with fear and which He Himself taught should be rendered only to God (Matt. 28:9; Luke 24:52; Matt.14:33; Acts 10:25, 26; Rev. 22:8, 9; Matt. 4:9, 1 0). A curious and very misleading comment is made in the margin of the American Standard Revision upon the meaning of the word translated "worship" in these passages, and that is that "the Greek word translated worship denotes an act of reverence, whether paid to a 'creature' or to the 'Creator."'

Now this is true, but it is utterly misleading; for while this word is used to denote "an act of reverence paid to a creature" by idolaters, our Lord Jesus Himself distinctly says, using exactly the same Greek word, "thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve," and on the other hand he says in John 5:23 that "all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the father."

And in Revelation 5:8-13 the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders are represented as falling down before the Lamb and offering worship to Him just as worship is offered to Him that sitteth upon the throne, that is, God the Father. In Hebrews 1:6 we are told in so many words, "And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him."

One night in the inquiry room in Chicago I stepped up to an intelligent- looking man at the back of the room and said to him, "Are you a Christian ?" He replied, "I do not suppose you would consider me a Christian." I said, "Why not ?" He said, "I am a Unitarian." I said, "What you mean then is that you do not think that Jesus Christ is a person that should be worshipped." He replied, "'That is exactly what I think," and added, "the Bible nowhere says we ought to worship Him." I said, "Who told you that?" He replied, "My pastor," mentioning a prominent Unitarian minister in the city of Boston. I said, "Let me show you something," and I opened my Bible to Hebrews 1:6 and read, "And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him." And he said, "Does it say that?" I handed him the Bible and said, "Read it for yourself," and he read it and said, "I did not know that was in the Bible." I said, "Well it is there, isn't it?" "Yes it is there." Language could not make it plainer. The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus, the Son of God, is to be worshipped as God by angels and men, even as God the Father is worshipped.

Incidental Proofs of the Deity of Jesus Christ

The six lines of proof of the Deity of Jesus Christ which I have given you leave no possibility of doubting that Jesus Christ is God, that Jesus of Nazareth is God manifest in a human person, that He is a being to be worshipped, even as God the Father is worshipped. But there are also incidental proofs of His absolute Deity which, if possible, are in some ways even more convincing than the direct assertions of His Deity.

1. Our Lord Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Now any one that makes a promise like that must either be God, or a lunatic, or an impostor. No one can give rest to all who labor and are heavy laden who come to him unless he is God, and yet Jesus Christ offers to do it. If He offers to do it and fails to do it when men come to Him, then He is either a lunatic or an impostor. If He actually does it, then beyond a question, He is God. And thousands can testify that He really does it. Thousands and tens of thousands who have labored and were heavy laden and crushed, and for whom there was no help in man, have come to Jesus Christ and He actually has given them rest. Surely then He is not merely a great man, but He is in fact God.

2. Again in John 14:1 Jesus Christ demands that we put the same faith in Him that we put in God the Father and promises that in such faith we will find a cure for all trouble and anxiety of heart. His words are, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." It is clear that He demands the same absolute faith to be put in Himself that is to be put in God Almighty. Now in Jeremiah 17:5, Scripture with which our Lord Jesus was perfectly familiar, we read "Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man," and yet with this clear curse pronounced upon all who trust in man, Jesus Christ demands that we put trust in Him just as we put trust in God. It is the strongest possible assertion of Deity on His part. No one but God has a right to make such a demand, and Jesus Christ, when He makes this demand, must either be God or an impostor; but thousands and tens of thousands have found that when they did believe in Him just as they believe in God, their hearts were delivered from trouble no matter what their bereavement or circumstances might be.

3. Again, the Lord Jesus demanded supreme and absolute love for Himself. It is clear as day that no one but God has a right to demand such a love, but there can be no question that Jesus did demand it. In Matthew 10:37 He said to His disciples, "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me," and in Luke 14:26, 33, he says. "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."

There can be no question that this is a demand on Jesus' part of supreme and absolute love to Himself, a love that puts even the dearest relations of life in an entirely secondary place. No one but God has a right to make any such demand, but our Lord Jesus made it, and therefore, He must be God.

4. In John 10:30 the Lord Jesus claimed absolute equality with the Father. He said, "I and my Father are one."

5. In John 14:9 our Lord Jesus went so far as to say, "...he that hath seen me hath seen the Father." He claims here to be so absolutely God that to see Him is to see the Father Who dwelleth in Him.

6. In John 17:3 He says, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." In other words, He claims that the knowledge of Himself is as essential a part of eternal life as knowledge of God the Father.

There is no room left to doubt the absolute Deity of Jesus Christ. It is a glorious truth. The Saviour in Whom we believe is God, a Saviour for Whom nothing is too hard, a Saviour Who can save from the uttermost and save to the uttermost. Oh, how we should rejoice that we have no merely human Saviour, but a Saviour Who is absolutely God in all of His fulness and perfection.

On the other hand, how black is the guilt of rejecting such a Saviour as this! Whoever refuses to accept Jesus as his Divine Saviour and Lord is guilty of the enormous sin of rejecting a Saviour Who is God. Many a man thinks he is good because he never stole, or committed murder, or cheated. "Of what great sin am I guilty?" he complacently asks. Have you ever accepted Jesus Christ? "No." Well, then, you are guilty of the awful and damning sin of-rejecting a Saviour Who is God.

"But," you answer, 'I do not believe that He is God." That does not change the fact nor lessen your guilt before God. Questioning a fact or denying a fact never changes it, regard- less of what Mary Baker Eddy may say to the contrary.

Suppose a man had a wife who was one of the noblest, purest, truest women that ever lived, would her husband's questioning her purity and nobility change the fact? It would not. It would simply make that husband guilty of awful slander; it would simply prove that man to be an outrageous scoundrel.

So, denying the Deity of Jesus Christ does not make His Deity any less a fact, but it does make the denier of His Deity guilty of awful, incredible blasphemous slander against the Lord God of Heaven.

 

“There are many documented instances by legitimate, respected historians living during the era after Christ’s resurrection that refered to Christ as the Son of God and as divine long before the 3rd Century.”

For example:
• Ignatius in A.D. 105: “God himself was manifest in human form.”
• Justin the Martyr in A.D. 160: “Being the first begotten word of God is even God; the father of the universe has a son and he is even God.”
• Irenaeus in A.D. 180: “Our Lord and God, the savior and king: He is God, for the name Emmanuel indicates this.”

The references here do demonstrate that the earliest of Christians did indeed worship Jesus Christ as God. Almost all of the majority of true Christens had agreed upon the primary doctrine that Jesus was God himself for centuries now too.

Lucian, a second century Greek satirist, mentions that the Christians worshipped Jesus:

"The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day--the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account...You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws. All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all worldly goods alike, regarding them merely as common property." (emphasis added)

Pliny the Younger, Roman governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor around 112 AD, wrote to the Emperor Trajan observing that the Christians sang hymns to Christ "as to a god":

"[The Christians] were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god..." (emphasis added)

There is also the testimony of the non-canonical writings of the early Christians. The list below is only a mere sampling as many quotations could be cited.*

St. Ignatius of Antioch.

It is well worth noting that Ignatius was an early church father who was a disciple of the Apostle John. Throughout his letters it can clearly be seen that Ignatius was greatly influenced by John's high Christology (For example, compare Ignatius' statements of Jesus' Divinity with what John writes at: John 1:1, 18; 5:18; 8:58; 20:28). Quotes taken from Apostolic Fathers_ Lightfoot & Harmer, 1891 translation:

Ignatius to the Ephesians

Chapter 0

0:0 "Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, unto her which hath been blessed in greatness through the plentitude of God the Father; which hath been foreordained before the ages to be for ever unto abiding and unchangeable glory, united and elect in a true passion, by the will of the Father and of Jesus Christ our God; even unto the church which is in Ephesus [of Asia], worthy of all felicitation: abundant greeting in Christ Jesus and in blameless joy." (emphasis added)

Chapter 18

18:1 "My spirit is made an offscouring for the Cross, which is a stumbling-block to them that are unbelievers, but to us salvation and life eternal. _Where is the wise? Where is the disputer?_ Where is the boasting of them that are called prudent? 18:2 For our God, Jesus the Christ, was conceived in the womb by Mary according to a dispensation, of the seed of David but also of the Holy Ghost; and He was born and was baptized that by His passion He might cleanse water." (emphasis added)

Chapter 19

19:3 "From that time forward every sorcery and every spell was dissolved, the ignorance of wickedness vanished away, the ancient kingdom was pulled down, when God appeared in the likeness of man unto _newness of_ everlasting _life;_ and that which had been perfected in the counsels of God began to take effect. Thence all things were perturbed, because the abolishing of death was taken in hand."

Ignatius to the Romans

Chapter 0

0:0 "Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, unto her that hath found mercy in the bountifulness of the Father Most High and of Jesus Christ His only Son; to the church that is beloved and enlightened through the will of Him who willed all things that are, by faith and love towards Jesus Christ our God; even unto her that hath the presidency in the country of the region of the Romans, being worthy of God, worthy of honour, worthy of felicitation, worthy of praise, worthy of success, worthy in purity, and having the presidency of love, walking in the law of Christ and bearing the Father's name; which church also I salute in the name of Jesus Christ the Son of the Father; unto them that in flesh and spirit are united unto His every commandment, being filled with the grace of God without wavering, and filtered clear from every foreign stain; abundant greeting in Jesus Christ our God in blamelessness." (emphasis added).

Chapter 3

3:3 "Nothing visible is good. For our God Jesus Christ, being in the Father, is the more plainly visible. The Work is not of persuasiveness, but Christianity is a thing of might, whensoever it is hated by the world." (emphasis added).

Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans

Chapter 1

1:1 "I give glory to Jesus Christ the God who bestowed such wisdom upon you; for I have perceived that ye are established in faith immovable, being as it were nailed on the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, in flesh and in spirit, and firmly grounded in love in the blood of Christ, fully persuaded as touching our Lord that He is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, but Son of God by the Divine will and power, truly born of a virgin and baptized by John that _all righteousness might be fulfilled_ by Him," (emphasis added).

Chapter 6

6:1 "Let no man be deceived. Even the heavenly beings and the glory of the angels and the rulers visible and invisible, if they believe not in the blood of Christ [who is God], judgment awaiteth them also. _He that receiveth let him receive._ Let not office puff up any man; for faith and love are all in all, and nothing is preferred before them." (emphasis added).

Polycarp

Polycarp was also believed to have been a disciple of the apostle John. Lightfoot points out that after Ignatius was executed, Polycarp collected together his epistles (Lightfoot, p. 165).

The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians

12:2 "Now may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the eternal High-priest Himself the [Son of God Jesus Christ, build you up in faith and truth, and in all gentleness and in all avoidance of wrath and in forbearance and long suffering and in patient endurance and in purity; and may He grant unto you a lot and portion among His saints, and to us with you, and to all that are under heaven, who shall believe on our Lord and God Jesus Christ and on His Father that raised him from the dead." (emphasis added).

Tatian the Syrian, Address to the Greeks (C. 165 - 175 A.D.):

"We are not playing the fool, you Greeks, nor do we talk nonsense, when we report that God was born in the form of a man." (emphasis added)

St. Melito of Sardes, Fragment in Anastasius of Sinai (C. 177 A.D.):

"The activities of Christ after His Baptism, and especially His miracles, gave indication and assurance to the world of the Deity hidden in His flesh. Being God and likewise perfect man, He gave positive indications of His two natures: of His Deity, by the miracles during the three years following after His Baptism; of His humanity, in the thirty years which came before His Baptism, during which, by reason of His condition according to the flesh, he concealed the signs of His Deity, although He was the true God existing before the ages." (emphasis added)

St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 3, 19, 1 (C. 180 AD):

"Nevertheless, what cannot be said of anyone else who ever lived, that He is Himself in His own right God and Lord and Eternal King and Only-begotten and Incarnate Word, proclaimed as such by all the Prophets and by the Apostles and by the Spirit Himself, may be seen by all who have attained to even a small portion of the truth. The Scriptures would not have borne witness to these things concerning Him, if, like everyone else, He were mere man. But that He had in Himself what no other ever had, that pre-eminent generation by the Most High Father; and that He also experienced that pre-eminent birth from a Virgin, - the divine Scriptures testify to both in His regard." (emphasis added) 

* For a more exhaustive list of extra-biblical historical statements testifying to Christ's Deity see: http://www.bible.ca/H-trinity.htm

We who have experienced the good news and resurrection power of Christ in our life,  we cannot deny that our Lord and Saviour is indeed 100% God and 100% Man, and that His Word is 100% inspired and 100% preserved.

How do we know that the Bible today is truly the Word of God, perfect and without mistakes? Simply because God says so! The declaration, "Thus saith the LORD," or "Hear the Word of the LORD," or "The LORD spake - saying," appears over 3,000 times in the Bible. Be not deceived, the Bible is altogether God's Word, not man's word. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God (theopneustos, literally, "God-breathed") and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim 3:16-17). The Bible was written over a span of 1,500 years by more than 40 different writers, and despite all its diversity, its miraculous unity is obvious. It goes without saying that though the Bible has many writers, it has but one Author - God Himself. That every one of the OT prophecies concerning Christ's first coming has been fulfilled precisely proves the Bible's authenticity (eg, Isa 7:14 cf Matt 1:22-23).

How do we know that the Scriptures that we have today are the true ones, and not those that have been lost for over a thousand years? We know this because God promised to preserve His words perfectly and perpetually. Psalm 12:6-7 says, "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever."

Jesus Himself promised, "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matt 5:18). "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Matt 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33). "The Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). God says it, that settles it, we believe it! We do not see to believe; we believe in order to see.

The Apostle Peter told the Church to trust in "a more sure word of prophecy" - the Holy Scriptures - as written by eyewitnesses: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man (and certainly not by the will of Constantine): but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Pet 1:20-2 1).

In The Da Vinci Code, it is Satan's voice one hears. True Christians will not follow it. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they shall follow me: and I give unto them eternal life" (John 10:27-28).

It goes without saying that The Da Vinci Code is truly Fiction. The Bible, on the other hand, is purely Fact. We have a Perfect Canon and a Perfect Text. May we never add to it, nor subtract from it (Rev 22:18-19), but love it and obey it (1 John 2:3-6)! "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Ps 11:3).  

The Bible is not at all the product of  any "countless translations, additions, and revisions."  The biblical documents are and have always been static, unchanging, and we have multitudinous copies of them from the first, second, and third centuries

There are absolutely no lost books of the Bible.  The "lost books" were never lost.  They were known by the Jews in Old Testament times and the Christians of the New Testament times and were never considered scripture.  They weren't lost nor were they removed.  They were never in the Bible in the first place.     The additional books were not included in the Bible for several reasons.  They lacked apostolic or prophetic authorship, they did not claim to be the Word of God; they contain unbiblical concepts such as prayer for the dead  or have some serious unacceptable  historical inaccuracies

The true Bible can be easily identified. It is the one that has an unbroken lineage, fully and continuously preserved by God down through the ages, and always in the possession of His people. Thus, the perfect and true Scriptures are not in the lately found Alexandrian manuscripts underlying the modern corrupt versions (which incidentally present a less than divine Jesus preferred by Brown), nor are they in the newly discovered Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi codices (Gnostic manuscripts from Egypt) as mentioned by Brown, but in the long-existing, time-tested and Christ-honouring Hebrew and Greek Scriptures underlying the good old Authorised Version.

Do also note that

1- Q mentioned documents as such have never been found and do not exist

2: The Dead Sea Scrolls also did not and do not contain the earliest Christian writings. This cannot be true since the DSS's were written before Christianity and have n referenc to christinaity existed. The dead sea documents have nothing to do with New testament Christianity at all, except they confirm all the books of the Old testament, except the book of Esther. "The Dead Sea Scrolls do not contain any Gospels, or in fact any documents that speak of Christ or Christianity at all; they are Jewish. The Dead Sea Scrolls were Jewish documents, not Christian writings,...

3: The Nag Hammadi Documents are a Gnostic Gospel totally non historically  accurate, not factual, invalid, are attempts at distortions  and are late documents, are not at all related to the new testament documents, church.and the Nag Hammadi manuscripts were written considerably later than the New Testament.   " "Neither (the Nag Hammadi documents) nor the Dead Sea Scrolls ever speak of the Grail story. Nor do they speak of Jesus' ministry 'in very human terms'; if anything, Jesus is portrayed as more divine in the Nag Hammadi sources than he is in the Gospels of the New Testament."

4 : Were gospels dated earlier than the four New Testament Gospels excluded from the Bible because of a political agenda? The Gnostic gospels were written a century after the Bible was formally canonized too by the early Christian church. None of these STATED“ alternative” gospels dates earlier than the biblical Gospels. The Christian church recognized early the special, unique status of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as inspired accounts of the person and ministry of Jesus. Justin Martyr, a mid-second century teacher in Rome, claimed that the church read the “memoirs of the apostles” or the prophets in worship. Justin placed the memoirs of the apostles (the New Testament’s four Gospels) on equal status as Old Testament prophecy. Irenaeus 

5 "It must be said that Da Vinci, born in 1452 and died in 1519, was not an eyewitness to the Last Supper. How can his painting then be regarded as an authoritative depiction of that event? We should rather trust in eyewitness accounts. Matthew and John who were there recorded what happened during the Last Supper in their respective Gospels. The truth is not in the painting of Da Vinci, but in the testimonies of Matthew and John, and of Peter and Paul as found in Mark and Luke, who wrote under divine inspiration (2 Tim 3:16, 2 Pet 1:20-2 1). People ought to realise that Da Vinci is but a creature, and not the Creator. Da Vinci is dead, but Jesus is alive (1 Cor 15:1-20). As such, it is not what Da Vinci says in his paintings that we should worry about, but what Jesus the risen Lord says in His Word. "

6 Dan Brown’s false  assertion that the Fourth Century Roman emperor, Constantine, was a lifelong pagan and controlled the selection of books that made it into the New Testament is still one of "the greatest character assassination" of all time.  Not only was Constantine a committed Christian but also that the church council which he called in 325 merely confirmed what the Christian church had affirmed for at least two hundred years: that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were the four authoritative Gospels.  "The historical reality is that the emperor Constantine had nothing to do with the formation of the canon of the scripture." and there "were no imperial book burnings." Pauls Gospel were accepted 130 AD, and the Old Testaments were treated as sacred 100 years before Constantine was born. The auhtenticity of the New testament was apostliship. See  THE NEW TESTAMENT DOCUMENTS  Are they Reliable? By F. F. BRUCE,  M.A., D.D., F.B.A.  http://b.1asphost.com/enter1/nt.htm

7: The Bible states nowhere that Mary Magdalene she was a prostitute  and there is scant material in the Bible concerning the woman. There’s nothing even stating that it was she who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears! And that’s one shocker to many, even believers. ( Who then washed Jesus’ feet with her tears? Mary of Bethany, sister to Martha and Lazarus, washed His feet on one occasion. Then an anonymous female, mentioned simply as "a sinner," washed His feet. )   Mary Magdalene was one of the women who accompanied Jesus in His ministry. She was there at the base of the cross and witnessed Him laid in a borrowed tomb. She was honored to be the first seen by Jesus after His resurrection. And Jesus cast seven devils out of her. That’s it.

Mary Magdalene was an inhabitant of the town of Magdala located on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee three miles South of Bethsaida. Magdala was a thriving populous town known for dye works and primitive textile factories.

In Luke 8:1-3 we read that Jesus had cast seven devils out of Mary. Herbert Lockyer describes the change in his book "Women of the Bible".

"As Mary is referred to as having 'seven demons' her condition must have been worse than the rest. But the moment Jesus' compassionate eyes saw the wild-eyed and cringing woman of Magdala, he saw in her the ministering angel who would be a blessing to his own heart and to others. He commanded the tormenting demons to come out, and stay out, of her. Her deranged and nerve racked mind became as tranquil as the troubled lake Jesus calmed. Now, 'clothed in her right mind', she was ready to become one of the most devoted woman disciples of him to whom she owed so much. When Christ saved her, he liberated the highest virtues of sacrifice, fortitude and courage."

Mary with other women followed Jesus and ministered to him and his disciples with their substance. Apparently she was financially independent and able to share her wealth with her Savior, as well as travel at her own expense.

She was at the cross with the other Marys and was at the sepulchre when Jesus was buried (Matthew 27:61, Mark 15:40). Mary Magdalene was at the sepulchre on the first day of the week when Christ arose (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:9, John 20:1), and was one who returned to tell the disciples that Jesus was not in the grave (Luke 24: 10).

Mary followed Peter and John to the tomb and lingered after they had left, and spoke to Jesus in the Garden before he ascended to the Father (John 20:16). Later when the women saw him they held him by the feet and worshiped him (Matthew 28:9).

In all that we know of the Magdalene there is no hint or even suggestion that Mary was any more than a faithful follower and devoted disciple of Jesus. If it were so, we are certain that at least one of the gospel writers would have referenced it.

Was Mary Magdalene at the Last Supper? Absolutely not. Consider the following accounts of who was there. In Matthew 26:18, Jesus said, "...Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, the Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples." Mark's gospel reads, "And in the evening he cometh with the twelve." Luke writes, "And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him." Three times we read he was with only his twelve chosen disciples who were all men.

When Jesus died, though Mary Magdalene was present at the cross, Jesus never publicly recognized her presence, but rather made provision for only his mother. John 19:25-27 says, "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home."

What about Jesus marrying Magdalene?  There is absolutely no apostolic new testament reference to Mary Magdalene, let alone the Gnostic gospels, being ever maired to Jesus let alone have a child with her.  Not a shred of Historic evidence to any of this. Jesus was never ever married to Mary Magdalene and there is absolutely no historical evidence for this.  "List every ancient source we have for the historical Jesus," writes Ehrman, "and in none of them is there mention of Jesus being married." 

What evidence is there that indicates Jesus and Mary Magdalene were indeed not married? Historical eyewitnesses to both Jesus and Mary are silent on the issue. Some suggest that the marriage at Cana of Galilee was Jesus' wedding to Mary, but if it was, then he was invited to his own wedding. That makes no sense. (John 2:1-3)

Jesus made it clear that his true family did not consist of physical relatives but rather spiritual believers. In Luke 8:19-21, when Jesus's mother and brethren wanted to see him, he stated, "My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it." His spiritual relationships took precedent over His physical relationships.

Jesus did come to seek out a bride but it was not Mary Magdalene or any other woman. He came to call out His bride, the church. We read in Revelation 21:9-10, "And there came unto me (John, the writer) one of the seven angels...and talked with me saying, 'Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.' And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,"

Reality Check: Check your own Calendar for the living truth.. AD after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and Jesus next was raised from the dead and that is what propagated the many real New testament witnesses of these real, life changing, dramatic events. Most Christians still do Believe the Bible Over Da Vince Code for good reasons too.

The New Testament is historically accurate;  The preservation of the New Testament is remarkable in terms of number of manuscripts and geographical distribution;   The New Testament Gospels were written within a generation of the historical life of Jesus; Brown’s alternate “gospels” were written more than a century after the historical Jesus. Modern disciples can have full and confidence in the New Testament.

The traitor apostle Judas got 30 pieces of silver for betraying Jesus. How much will those with a stake in "The Da Vinci Code" get? The same end reward as Judas?

See also  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6957514137139557953&q=duration%3Along+is%3Afree++cross+constantine   

The Da Vinci Code, although presented and defended as a work of fiction based on “fact,” is an example of extremely irresponsible journalism. Read the Bible for yourself and find out what it really says and not what the too often still liars say it says. At least a supposedly  intelligent person reading books and  referencing the Bible should themselves firstly know the Bible from cover to cover if quiting, and concluding anything about it and its subjects.

 

"Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa 55:6-9).

From where do we seek the Lord? "Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail" (Isa 34:16). Why the book of the Lord? Because "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes" (Ps 19:7-8).

How should we seek the Lord? We should seek Him in humblness and  by faith, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb 11:6). We do not see in order to believe, we believe in order to see. "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). We should seek Him with great reverence, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge" (Prov 1:7). "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding" (Prov 9:10).

Jesus and Da Vinci: Who was Jesus, Really? http://www.jesusanddavinci.com/