There are as many different viewpoints about Jesus Christ as there are people. Some see Jesus as a great teacher. Some view Him as a moral leader. To some, Jesus is a revolutionary. To others, He is a great rabbi. To the Muslim world, Jesus is a prophet, even though, according to Islam, He is an inferior prophet to Mohammed. All of these viewpoints avoid the central question: Is Jesus Christ the Son of God? The question of Jesus’ deity is of the utmost importance. Either He is the Son of God, or He is not. When we use the phrase “Son of God,” we are not using it in the sense that every man is a son of God by virtue of creation. Rather, when we affirm that Jesus is the Son of God, we are declaring that Jesus Christ is in fact deity, the second person of the one triune Godhead, and that He shares that particular nature or quality only with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Is Jesus deity? We answer that question in the affirmative and propose to set out the basic argument for such. We insist that people have the right to examine the evidence thoroughly and that, having done so, will conclude that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Even though there have been many variations on the basic argument, we are using the one first set forth by Thomas B. Warren in The Spiritual Sword (April 1970). The basic argument will be set out in the form of a three-line syllogism. The argument form is modus ponens and is therefore valid. If the premises are true, then the argument is sound. If the premises are true, then it necessitates the truthfulness of the conclusion (cf. Ruby 272-74).
Read More