A Response to a TikToker on the Deity of Christ
A reminder that not everything you see in TikTok is true and sound (it's the den ng false information and bad arguments). now we will be discussing Christology.
Here are my rebuttals against this cringy TikTok creator (mourge_offcial) and will present arguments for the deity of Christ from a Latter Day Saint perspective. Throughout sa video, panay strawman arguments ang prinepresent for the claim that Jesus is not God according to the Bible and decontextualizing verses na kung saan ay mali. nothing in what the Bible teaches about the nature of Jesus Christ has been touched and no sound argument was presented. here he uses arguments like where Jesus is called "a man" and the Father is greater than Jesus, therefore he is not God but they dont go with the facts right kagaya ng incarnation, i.e ang pagakakatawang tao ni Jesus Christ. you cannot butcher the Theology of Christ's Divinity and look at it with one eye close. the content creator with in mind to refute the deity of Christ claims that Jesus did not explicitly claimed to be God not even once and presents proof textes to attempt to use against the deity of Christ.
1. Jesus claimed Divinity in John 8:58 where Jesus says that he lived before Abraham was born. Jesus also claims here that he is the "I AM" (εγώ ειμί - ego eimi), which is one of the names of the God of Israel (cf. Ex. 3:14). Jesus did not say something like "I am God, worship me", for he cannot claim glory only for himself but for the Father (Jn. 5:41; 8:54; 17:4-5). he came to serve, and not to be served. In claims also of pre-existence where Jesus longed for his glory sa John 17:5 where he asked the Father to "glorify him, with the glory which i had with you before the word was" (Jn. 17:5). that's pre-existence.
2. Ang "God is not a man" sa Hoseah 11:9 and other places—does not refer to the ontology of God but of his moral nature. pansinin ninyo na the verse continues to read where it says that God "..cannot lie". there's a contrast being made between the two entities where God is perfectly moral in His nature while man is flawed is sinful. this is not a good parallel to use against the deity of Christ or to claim Unitarian claims.
3. While we believe that Jesus is God (Divine), we believe also that Jesus Christ is truly human because he partook human flesh (Jn. 1:1-14; Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 2:7-9). we disagree however with Trinitarians where they believe sa Hypostatic Union which is Christologicaly inconsistent with Biblical Christology. the two natures of Christ cannot co-exist together in one body dahil may attributes ang nature ng Isa to another. we see that Paul instead says that Jesus "emptied himself" (Phil. 2:5-6) and later after he fulfilled everything, Jesus was exalted to God's right hand (Phil. 2:10-11; Heb. 2:7-10; 5;8-9).
4. John 8:40 is where Jesus discussed with Jews who question his authority and remember that Jesus here is in mortality so there is no problem with calling him a man. this tell us not of his ontology, whether he is God or not, but he questions the Jews why do they reject him when he told them the truth?
5. John 14:28, as a Latter Day Saint, Jesus is lower than Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father is the ". . . Only True God (Jn. 17:3) i.e Heavenly Father is the only God in the underived sense. Jesus however is a participant of the divine nature (Jn. 1:1) and therefore he is God. his subordination does not mean na wala siyang deity. Jesus represents God in all ways as for he is the exact imprint and the radiance of Heavenly Father's being (Heb. 1:3), and as him who represents Heavenly Father in all ways, it also includes Heavenly Father's nature as a Divine being.
6. 1 Timothy 2:5 (not Timothy 2:5 dahil may dalawang letters to Timothy sa Pastoral Epistles) is where Paul points out that Jesus Christ is the only way to God; no one else (cf. Jn. 14:6). Jesus Christ as someone that Heavenly Father chose to be our Savior, he need also to come to earth and be one like us, humans, that he may have a body and experience human mortality like us and fulfill his assignment to suffer and die in behalf of humanity (Heb. 2:8-9).
7. Bart Ehrman is also a New Testament scholar and the problem also with him ay ang kanyang biased theological views and denial of evidences. the claims that Jesus is not God and no verse where Jesus claims to be one has been refuted by Christians from time to time. the doctrine of Christ's Divinity is taught throughout the history of Christianity.
If you want information on the nature of Christ, get to know Jesus personally. read your Scriptures, ponder, and pray, at hindi sa mga dishonest na tao sa internet magtanong lalo na if they put words in the mouth of scripture. know it for yourself with divine guidance.
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