New book to deny Jesus Christ was the Son of God 
| New book to deny Jesus Christ was the Son of God | |
| World |
| Written by Chris Perver |
| Monday, 07 September 2009 16:51 |
| A new novel by a well-known children's author is to claim that Jesus Christ was not the Son of God. Philip Pullman's other works include 'The Dark Materials' series, which were the inspiration behind the film, 'The Golden Compass'. The film received much criticism from Christians when it was first released, for its portrayal of God as a senile old man who was neither in control of His creation, nor cared enough to do anything about it. The plot for the film has the main characters, who are depicted as representing Adam and Eve, eventually killing off this old god who is referred to at times as Yahweh. Pullman's latest book is to be published next Easter, in an effort to gain as much press coverage as possible in its attack on the authority of the Scriptures and the person of Jesus Christ. Entitled, 'The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ', the book will constitute a retelling of the Gospels' accounts of the life of Christ, only Pullman's version of events will read somewhat different to the Biblical accounts. His book, which he claims will read "like a novel, parts like a history, and parts like a fairy tale", will essentially deny the Deity of Christ and claim that the Apostle Paul concocted the idea. Quote: "He said: ''By the time the gospels were being written, Paul had already begun to transform the story of Jesus into something altogether new and extraordinary, and some of his version influenced what the gospel writers put in theirs. ''Paul was a literary and imaginative genius of the first order who has probably had more influence on the history of the world than any other human being, Jesus certainly included. I believe this is a pity.'' His novel is unfortunately just the latest in a long line of books which have focused their attacks on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In April 2006, the US National Geographic published what they claimed was the lost Gospel of Judas, a manuscript which is known to be a forgery and not written by Judas at all. In this 'Gospel' account, Jesus Christ is not the Son of God, but is an 'avatar' of Adam's third son Seth. In the document, Judas is portrayed as the only disciple who knows the secret, that he must kill Jesus in order to set Him free from His bodily prison. That same month another author by the name of Michael Baigent published a book called, 'The Jesus Papers', which claimed that Jesus Christ wrote a letter to the Sanhedrin court denying that He was the Son of God, and that His death was faked in order to allow Him to escape His enemies. And in March 2007 we had the amazing (and fraudulent) claims made by directors James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici, that the ossuary or coffin of Jesus Christ had been discovered in a tomb in Jerusalem, that He was not crucified and that He was even married to Mary Magdalene. And of course we had the Da Vinci Code, a best-selling novel and film by Dan Brown, which made similar false claims. Of course this idea, that Paul may have invented the doctrine of the Trinity, or that the Gospel writers somehow exaggerated the claims of Jesus Christ, can be easily be disproven from the Old Testament Scriptures. Even if we had no New Testament, it would still be possible to know every facet concerning the person and work of the Messiah at His first coming to Earth. Jehovah's Witness, Mormonism, and every other cult that denies the Deity of Christ, does not have a leg to stand on when it comes to the Old Testament Scriptures. I read out many of these verses when I was giving my testimony in our assembly a few weeks ago. David foretold in Psalm 2 how the Messiah would be none other than the begotten Son of God. Isaiah foretold in chapter 7 how the Messiah would be born of a virgin and called Immanuel, or 'God with us', and in chapter 9 how the 'Son given' would be known as "the Mighty God". Proverbs 30:4 also declares that God has a Son. Micah refers to the Messiah in chapter 5 as one who's "goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting". And Isaiah 48:16 contains one of the clearest references to the Trinity in the Old Testament, and proof that Jesus Christ is eternally existent and therefore must be God. Isaiah 48:16 Paul certainly did not invent the doctrine of the Deity of Jesus Christ, and it is definitely not the questionable issue which others have claimed it to be. The fact is, our very salvation is dependent on the Deity of Christ. For if Jesus Christ was not God then He was certainly not sinless, and His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary could never take away our sin. But praise God that the Scriptures prove beyond a shadow of doubt that Jesus Christ is none other than the only begotten Son of God, and that we can know the forgiveness of sins through trusting in Him for salvation. Have your sins been forgiven? Jesus Christ died for you. He bore God's punishment for sin when He died upon the cross. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation today. 1st John 5:20 Source Telegraph |
|
|
|
|
|