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Bible Dictionaries
Christ, Divinity of
1910 New Catholic Dictionary
or
The testimony of Christ, concerning Himself clearly reveals Him as the: Divine Son of God, and it is proved that Christ's' testimony is worthy of credence, and that the Gospels are authentic historical documents. In the Synoptics Christ declares Himself in the first place, as superior to all created beings. He is greater than Solomon and Jonas, greater than Moses and Elias, greater than John the Baptist whom He declared to be the greatest among the sons of men, greater, finally, than the angels of heaven. Secondly, Christ claims for Himself an authority and power which in the Old Testament belonged to Yahweh (God) alone: He performs miracles in His own name and confers the same power upon His Apostles; He teaches in His own name and as one having supreme authority; He forgives sin as if committed against Himself; He requires faith and love of Himself as conditions of salvation; He promises to His disciples His perpetual presence and assistance; He promises eternal beatitude for works done on account of Himself; and represents Himself as the final Judge of the living and the dead. Thirdly, Christ calls Himself or allows Himself to be called Son of God in the strict sense of the word (Matthew 11; 16; 26; 27). When speaking in the same breath of God's relation to Himself and to His disciples He never says "Our Father" but "My Father" and "Your Father," thereby indicating that the filiations of the two are not of the same order. Finally, in confirmation of the prophecies which He pronounced when the Jews sought from Him a sign of His Divine power, Christ rose from the dead on the third day. In Saint John's Gospel Christ likewise represents Himself as the "only-begotten Son of God" (3); as consubstantial with the Father: "My Father worketh until now; and I work" (5); as ellsentially one with the Father: "I and the Father are one" (10), "I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (14). He approves Saint Thomas's confession, "My Lord, and my God" (20). In Saint Paul's Epistles Christ is frequently called Kyrios (Lord), a title which in the Old Testament was reserved to God alone. He is described as preexisting in the "form of God" (Philemon 1:2), as the "image of the invisible God," as one in whom "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporeally" (Colossians 1; 2 ), as the "great God" (Titus 2), and "God blessed forever" (Romans 9). The early liturgy invokes Christ by the title of Kyrios, contains hymns in His honor, and inserts His name in the doxologies. The numerous testimonies of the Fathers echo the clear teaching of the Scriptures.
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Entry for 'Christ, Divinity of'. 1910 New Catholic Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ncd/c/christ-divinity-of.html. 1910.
