If one accepts the veracity of the Bible, that it indeed records Jesus Christ's words accurately, then I do not see how one can deny that Jesus claimed to be God.
The stumbling block for many is the belief that God can take on human nature which is something perishable and finite in of itself. This is the great mystery which Christians profess that indeed God deemed it fitting to take on our corrupted flesh (due to original sin) so that those who see this Man called Jesus do not see divinity resound in its beauty and glory but see a man like any other man. Of course, the acceptance of Jesus Christ's divinity requires faith which does not somehow suspend or negate reason but transforms and elevates it.
St. Peter humbly confessed that "Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God" which was not an ordinary statement as in "this man is a good and holy man, he is a son of God" but it was much more. This is Peter's confession in the divinity of Christ. It takes the eyes of faith to see this and surely St. Peter had this faith.
Thirty-three years Jesus Christ walked on this earth and for thirty of those years He led a hidden life and all knew him as the "carpenter's son" where he worked diligently in his foster-father's business learning a skill as only a man can learn and Jesus was truly a man. When it was time to start His public ministry what was the first thing He did at the prompting of His Blessed Mother? He worked a miracle! The next three years were to be some of the most dramatic and most important years in the history of mankind for it was then that Jesus taught us how to live and how to love. How He lived and how He loved mankind (a love which is not sentimental...take the incident with the money-changers) clearly point to his divinity although strictly speaking His divinity cannot be proven as a mathematical formula can. There are certainly passages in Sacred Scripture which point to His divinity, but alas just like the Jews and some of the people during His time it totally eludes us because we do not have faith or we are perhaps "scandalized" that God would dare take on our humanity.
He did manifest His divinity to His most intimate friends, the Apostles, in one particular event which is utterly magnificent in grandeur which we can easily pass over with a rather cold heart. Please allow me to quote from the two Gospels where this event is recorded:
St. Matthew 17:1-7
The early Christians believed in His divinity and believed in it to their deaths under the persecutions of the Roman Emperors until Constantine gave religious tolerance (he did not found the Church as some erroneously believe, in fact his religious beliefs were somewhat ambiguous but eventually he would be baptized on his deathbed) to the Christians who were astoundingly growing in numbers amidst these persecutions.
Christian belief in Jesus Christ's divinity was always held even if some groups sadly held to a contrary belief. The Council of Nicea (325 A.D.) codified this belief using key philosophical terms. Now the existence of the Gnostics and the Arians before, during and after the time of the Council of Nicea does not somehow prove that Jesus Christ was not God. It simply shows that free will was and will always be kept in tact. The truth is still there, it is objective but it can either be accepted or rejected. Remember, although it is certainly reasonable to believe in Christ's divinity, it still requires an act of faith on the part of the individual.
From A Companion to the Summa Vol. IV by Fr. Walter Farrell, O.P. Vol. IV, Chapter 2 (google it)
The stumbling block for many is the belief that God can take on human nature which is something perishable and finite in of itself. This is the great mystery which Christians profess that indeed God deemed it fitting to take on our corrupted flesh (due to original sin) so that those who see this Man called Jesus do not see divinity resound in its beauty and glory but see a man like any other man. Of course, the acceptance of Jesus Christ's divinity requires faith which does not somehow suspend or negate reason but transforms and elevates it.
St. Peter humbly confessed that "Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God" which was not an ordinary statement as in "this man is a good and holy man, he is a son of God" but it was much more. This is Peter's confession in the divinity of Christ. It takes the eyes of faith to see this and surely St. Peter had this faith.
Thirty-three years Jesus Christ walked on this earth and for thirty of those years He led a hidden life and all knew him as the "carpenter's son" where he worked diligently in his foster-father's business learning a skill as only a man can learn and Jesus was truly a man. When it was time to start His public ministry what was the first thing He did at the prompting of His Blessed Mother? He worked a miracle! The next three years were to be some of the most dramatic and most important years in the history of mankind for it was then that Jesus taught us how to live and how to love. How He lived and how He loved mankind (a love which is not sentimental...take the incident with the money-changers) clearly point to his divinity although strictly speaking His divinity cannot be proven as a mathematical formula can. There are certainly passages in Sacred Scripture which point to His divinity, but alas just like the Jews and some of the people during His time it totally eludes us because we do not have faith or we are perhaps "scandalized" that God would dare take on our humanity.
He did manifest His divinity to His most intimate friends, the Apostles, in one particular event which is utterly magnificent in grandeur which we can easily pass over with a rather cold heart. Please allow me to quote from the two Gospels where this event is recorded:
St. Matthew 17:1-7
St. Mark 9:1-6
Jesus Christ was not a mere prophet for His life, His mission, His claims, His miracles, His teachings, which were certainly prefigured in the Old Testament, were never before and never will be equaled.
The early Christians believed in His divinity and believed in it to their deaths under the persecutions of the Roman Emperors until Constantine gave religious tolerance (he did not found the Church as some erroneously believe, in fact his religious beliefs were somewhat ambiguous but eventually he would be baptized on his deathbed) to the Christians who were astoundingly growing in numbers amidst these persecutions.
Christian belief in Jesus Christ's divinity was always held even if some groups sadly held to a contrary belief. The Council of Nicea (325 A.D.) codified this belief using key philosophical terms. Now the existence of the Gnostics and the Arians before, during and after the time of the Council of Nicea does not somehow prove that Jesus Christ was not God. It simply shows that free will was and will always be kept in tact. The truth is still there, it is objective but it can either be accepted or rejected. Remember, although it is certainly reasonable to believe in Christ's divinity, it still requires an act of faith on the part of the individual.
From A Companion to the Summa Vol. IV by Fr. Walter Farrell, O.P. Vol. IV, Chapter 2 (google it)
