son of god
Chapter 34 - YOU ARE MY SON
Continued from Chapter 33 (Psalms 2:7) Psalms 2:7 The concept of physical sonship with God the Father is not found in biblical theology or in first century Judaism. What is found is the biblical concept of the covenantal relationship whereby Israel or an individual within that nation is metaphorically adopted as God’s son. One does not need to undergo a supernatural conception to be declared “son of God” in a Jewish context. In the Christian search for biblical proof of the belief in Jesus a
Zalman Kravitz
Chapter 43 - WHAT IS HIS NAME?
Continued from Chapter 42 (Proverbs 30:4) Christians argue that Proverbs 30:4 is a prooftext for the divine origin of Jesus. But, who says this passage is messianic and who says that even if it were that it refers to Jesus? Their allegations are self-serving presumptions not based on what the text actually says. Admitting to a self-deficiency in wisdom and understanding, Agur, the son of Jakeh, puts forward a set of rhetorical questions, the answers to which he feels all who seek knowledge sh
Zalman Kravitz
How to reply when the doorbell rings
How to reply when the doorbell rings Jul. 2, 2008 Emanuel Feldman , THE JERUSALEM POST Many years ago, while a rabbi in Atlanta, I answered a knock on my door one Shabbat afternoon. Standing in front of me was a fine-looking couple - obviously non-Jewish. "Shabbat Shalom, rabbi," they said, and asked to have a word with me. I sensed that they were missionaries and asked them what the subject was. They replied that they wanted to talk to me about the "Son of God." I suggested that while I re
Zalman Kravitz
The Ultimate Question of Who Is The One True God
Continued from Part 5 Jesus, the man, is said to be the mediator between God and men. Paul writes, “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus is called a “man,” even after his alleged resurrection. Now, if this supposedly resurrected Jesus were himself God and acted in total accord with the other two-thirds of God, he could not be a mediator, an intermediary or conciliator, “between God and men.” Paul says that there is “
Zalman Kravitz
Where The Pre-Existence Comes To Play With The Followers of Jesus
Continued from Part 12 The author of John expounds the belief that Jesus had a prehuman existence as the Word who was “in the beginning with God” and through whom “all things came into being.” John emphasizes this belief throughout his entire Gospel (John 1:1-3; 17:5, 24). He describes Jesus as “an only begotten from a father” (John 1:14) and “the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18; see also John 3:16, 1 John 4:9). John’s belief in Jesus as “the only begotten Son of God” rests, as does Pau
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Can We Really Know Who Is God?
Continued from Part 19 A debt to Philo God, according to Philo, is an incorporeal, indefinable, absolute Being without any knowable attributes and qualities. God, being so removed from the world, cannot have direct relations with it. 12 Therefore, Philo introduces an intermediary existence (“words”) between God and the world.13 The “words” are identified with the angels in the Scriptures. These powers are also conceived of as a single independent being called Logos (“Word”), a term which P
Zalman Kravitz