The answer to this question is yes and no. Why? Because it all depends on what your definition of what “divine” is. Most Christians base their belief on Jesus being a god-man and that is what makes him divine. On the other hand, angels and even saints are considered divine.
I’ve been asked, “Don’t you believe that Jesus is divine?”. The thing is that it doesn’t really matter what I believe or don’t believe. What someone believes doesn’t change one way or the other what the Truth really is — the Truth will always be the Truth, no matter what.
But for me to “believe” in something, it doesn’t really have much weight, since to believe in something, I have to know it’s right. I don’t want to be deceived. Thomas Jefferson hit the nail right on the head when he wrote:
“Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong” (Thomas Jefferson)
It’s better to be ignorant that to believe something that is wrong!
I have to have some real proof. Well then, I guess if I have proof of something, then I don’t need to say that I believe it since belief is something that you do when you have no faces to base your theory on. That kind of blind faith sounds like the perfect breading grounds for being deceived. But I believe in God. I have a good reason to believe and trust in Him — that’s different.
if I have facts about something, then I don’t need to say that I believe it since belief is something that you do when you have no facts.
I’m not going into all the different definitions of the word “divine”, the main ones that have to do with this subject are the following:
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- of or pertaining to a god, especially the Supreme Being.
- proceeding from God or a god
- godlike; characteristic of or befitting a deity
- being a god; being God: a divine person.
Basically, if the definition is godlike, or proceeding from God, then yes, Jesus fits the definition of divine. But if it means being THE God the Son (second person of the Trinity), then no. In that case he isn’t divine, since the doctrine of the Trinity is not compatible with the bible.
When Jesus was accused of blasphemy, they said it was because Jesus said he was the son of God. In other words, the assumption is that when he said he was THE son of God that meant that he saying was God in a physical body, the son of a woman impregnated by the Holy Ghost.
But Jesus came back with:
“it says in your bible that you are all gods. I’m only saying that I am the son of God and you want to kill me for that!”. (Paraphrased)
In this sense, we are all divine — we are “all gods”. Therefore, Yes. Jesus is divine, since he came from God. But, No. If you’re asking if Jesus was the “second person” of the godhead trinity — in that sense he is not divine. He is not ‘God the Son’.
Did Jesus say he was God?
While Jesus did say that he was the son of God, he was in no way saying that he was God Himself, the second person of the ‘godhead’. Nowhere did Jesus ever say that he was God or even infer that. There are some forged verses in the bible that can be proven that they are forgeries where men inserted things that make it look like there is a trinity, but if you take all those forgeries out, there is nothing in the bible that is even close to showing that Jesus is God or even a part of the trinity with God.
So is Jesus divine?
Sure… in a way. He was sent from God. He came on a mission from God. He only spoke the words that God taught him and he spoke nothing of his own. He did the works that God sent him to do. He returned to God and is sitting on the right hand of the throne of God in heaven. In this sense he is divine, he’s from God.
But is he Divine in the sense that he is God Almighty? Nope! None of the disciples believed that. Not even the Nazarenes (in the beginning, at least) nor the Ebionites nor the Essenes believed that, nor any of the Jews for that matter. This is something that was adapted to Christianity in the second century by the Orthodox church who persecuted and murdered all those who disagreed. Now… ask me if I believe that Jesus was divine.
Next: Who Was Jesus Part 1 | The Jesus Prophecies Part 1