If not divine...
I've gotten into some pretty in depth debates with a couple of atheists and humanists regarding the claims of the New Testemant regarding Jesus, and they have invariably come back to the idea that the divinity of Christ was a later idea, borrowing attibutes from the popular "mystery religions" and the gods, Mythra, Isis, and Horus. Most of this resurgance of these conspiracy theories I understand to be the fruit of the film, Zeitgiest which made youtube fame back in '07. Since these claims are new to me, and have gained steam in the last 2 years, I am having a hard time sorting out the riff from the raff while researching these myths on the internet. Does any one here know of any current( as in post "New Evidence that Demands A Verdict") theological sources that adress these claims head on? One of the problems with doing online research, I have found, is that without having any formal theological scholarship, one can be confounded by trying to determine fact from opinion and propoganda. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Getting into debates with atheists and humanists, unless they are seeking truth or you feel the Holy Spirit telling you to say something to them, is largely a waste of time.
However, as to the "Christ isn't divine" argument, this has more to do with asking the right question than finding material to combat it.
If an atheist is coming to you with this argument, to them the case is moot anyway... he doesn't believe either way. If a brother is coming to you with this, then you may want to have a response, so I'll submit a few:
Firstly, you must ask the brother: "Do you believe the Bible is the infallible Word of God?" If the answer is "yes", then he ought to put this "theory" to rest. If it is "no", then contending with this argument is moot, because everything goes once you've thrown that out.
Secondly, you must ask the brother, "Are you willing to believe this theory over the Word of God that has been circulating for 2000 years?" Tell him to consider the source. I mean really, a movie? A documentary? Is it possible that they have an agenda to push?
Thirdly, and most importantly, is the brother asking the right question about this theory? In other words, if he believes it's true, then he's damnig himself because without the divinity of Christ, we are all doomed under the Law. Is it better to live in the hope of Christ or the misery of unsubstantiated theories of men?
