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February 27th, 2013
12:08 PM ET
Pastor Judah Smith opens up dialogue on faith with new book 'Jesus is____'
There's a new book about Jesus that's getting a very big celebrity endorsement from the pop star Justin Bieber. Justin shared a message with his 7 million followers on Instagram, and the message was this:
"So proud of my pastor. This book comes out on the 26th. Judah is the best speaker of our generation, read this book. You won't regret it."
The book is called "Jesus is____" and it's written by Judah Smith. He's the lead pastor of the City Church in Seattle, and he joins Soledad and the "Starting Point" team to explain why he hopes to create a discussion around who Jesus was and what he means to people.
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On “STARTING POINT”: Soledad’s interview with Judah Smith and the MSGR. just before 7:00(8:00AM CST), Wed Feb. 27, 2013.
Subject: Smith’s new book, “JESUS IS ________.”
A most immediate and correct choice for the blank is: “JESUS IS NOT GOD.” Nor did he ever pretend to be. If you read the Bible for yourself, it should seem quite clear that no one who Jesus engaged in conversation ever thought of him as being or pretending to be God. I say “it should seem quite clear” because there are only two or three verses(KJV and others, but not all Bibles) that some use to support the “Jesus is God” teaching. And not a few Bible scholars have found each one of these to be questionable or deviant from some ancient manuscripts. Any fairly proficient, non-superficial “Christian” can easily find over 100 references in any Bible(Protestant or Catholic version/translation) that clearly show Jesus to be God’s Son and not the Creator Himself.
Wouldn’t you agree that anyone who is really serious about learning “WHO JESUS IS” should first read(study and research) the Bible? Why would any thinking person want to rely on celebrities and "religious" personalities who seem to not be able to get any quote from the Bible right? Which translation explicitly and definitively says that "Jesus is God?" Any(All) translations/versions of the Bible read in favor(99% plus to 1%, to an unbiased serious reader) that Jesus claimed to be God's Son, not God Himself. It's a fact that there are a handful of doubtful and spurious passages that have been added to promote certain doctrines. These, no doubt, would be foreign to Jesus and his first century followers.
Final Word: If you’re serious about knowing who Jesus Christ really is, start reading the Bible for yourself. Its main teachings and principles were meant to be timeless, easy to understand(and they don’t need to be interpreted). If you try rationalizing too much and “watering things down”, you might as well go ahead and fill in the blank with whatever you want, “JESUS IS _______.”
WDuMeaux aka ZS