A Presentation on the defense of divinity of Christ. It is a biblical evidence based approach.

1. Venue:
Makerere University, Main Campus,
Lumumba Mess, Western Wing
MAGNIFICATION OF
CHRIST
A DIVINE APOLOGY
Munu Nicholas
Dept. of Life and Phy. Sci, Bugema University
Dept. of Mech. Engineering, Ndejje University
Audience:
Makerere University Seventh-day
Adventist Students, 1st Feb 2019

2. (Context: 30-40 min. presentation)
Memory Text: Psalms 34:3

3. • In recent times, in Christendom, there has been a
deliberate and amplified attack on Christ
• The attack is directed mainly to lower the divine
Christian Christ to the level of gods and idols
worshipped by other religions such as Buddhism,
Hinduism, Islam, etc
• The main purpose of course is to deny, undermine,
belittle, and ultimately reject the divinity of Christ.
Thus speeding the unification of world religions
INTRODUCTION

4. • The true believers see this attack not only as a
dangerous fallacy but as a continuation of that war
which started in the heaven (Rev 12:7-9)
• Throughout all history the divinity of Christ has been
constantly under attack and criticism by Satan
• Satan thought and teaches that Jesus is not God and
that he can be like Jesus. And in fact this is what
started the Great Controversy and dismissal of
Lucifer from heaven
INTRODUCTION

5. INTRODUCTION
“..... the Son of God was the
acknowledged Sovereign of
heaven, one in power and
authority with the Father. In all
the councils of God, Christ was a
participant, while Lucifer was
not permitted thus to enter into
the divine purposes. "Why,"
questioned this mighty angel,
"should Christ have the
supremacy? Why is He thus
honored above Lucifer?" {GC
495.1}

6. INTRODUCTION
REV 12: 7-9

7. INTRODUCTION
“How art thou fallen from
heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! [how] art thou cut
down to the ground, which didst
weaken the nations! For thou
hast said in thine heart, I will
ascend into heaven, I will exalt
my throne above the stars of
God: I will sit also upon the
mount of the congregation, in
the sides of the north: I will
ascend above the heights of the
clouds; I will be like the most
High.” Isaiah 14:12-14

8. Gen 3:4-5
INTRODUCTION
• After his fall Satan
continued to promote
the doctrine of non-deity
of Christ and up to now
that is his main
contention
• He has thus edited this
heresy and expanded it
to included pantheism
and the belief that one
can become God

9. • Recently there has been an increased attack on the
divinity of Christ largely from within the Christian faith
PROBLEM STATEMENT
• Christadelphians
• Christian scientists
• Dawn Bible Students
• Living Church of God
• Assemblies of Yaweh
• Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ
• Members of the Church of God International
• Unitarian Universalist Christians
• The Way International• The Church of God International
• The United Church of God

10. • The doctrine of Christ is the central pillar upon which
the Christian faith is founded
• “We preach Christ crucified” (Paul, c. AD 53-54);
1Corinthians 1:23
• “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the
Lord” (Paul, c. AD 55-56); 2 Corinthians 4:5
• “every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that
[spirit] of antichrist” (John, c. AD 85-95), 1 John 4:3
PROBLEM STATEMENT

11. • “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the
doctrine of Christ, hath not God” (John, c. AD 85-95),
2 John 1:9
The second interpretation is profound. It implicitly says
that anyone who has a wrong theology on the nature of
Christ is damned i.e. has not God
• If you don’t have the correct understanding of the nature of Jesus it is
impossible to understand and receive salvation by faith
• Christ Crucified is the thing. Nothing else. Christ alone and Christ alone
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Can be understood in two
ways:
1) Teachings of Christ
2) Doctrine of nature of
Christ (Christology)

12. • A wrong Christology is a direct passport to hell. If the
nature of Christ is not properly understood it is
impossible to render to Him true worship and to place
Him in the right place in our hearts
• It is therefore important to recommit ourselves to
understanding the nature of Christ especially His
Divinity in light of wide spread attack on the same
within modern Christendom
• “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast
sent.” John 17:3
JUSTIFICATION

13. • “Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord…..”
That I may know him, and the power of his
resurrection…” Philippians 3:8,10
• Knowing Jesus is what should be the commitment and
preoccupation of each and every Christian, Ministry,
Church and Organization
• If Christ is not the center of any preaching, doctrine,
ministry, Church, life, or anything else; If there is any
diminishing of Christ in anyway; If Christ is not glorified,
honored, magnified, and exalted in whatever is done yea
even in the preaching of Christ; then God is not in it
JUSTIFICATION

14. Main Objective
• To revisit the doctrine on the nature of Christ with the
particular interest to the full realization and knowledge of
Him at a deeper level to His glory
Specific Objectives
• To do a brief historical literature review on the development
of the theology of the Godhead and the divinity of Christ
• To do a biblical apology on the divinity of Christ
• To do a logical apology on the divinity of Christ (Not
included due to time)
• To declare, magnify, and exalt Christ (Not on slides)
OBJECTIVES

15. • This work discusses the nature of Christ
with emphasis on His divinity
• The humanity of Christ is not covered
• A full discussion on the Godhead verses the
Trinity is not here only few statements are
included were very necessary
SCOPE

16. Existence of Christ
• There is no indication that writers in antiquity who
opposed Christianity questioned the existence of Jesus
(Rahner, 2004; Van Voorst & Robert, 2000)
• “Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the
road; so he assembled the Sanhedrin of Judges, and
brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called
Christ, whose name was James, and some others”
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 20
Chapter 9,1
LITERATURE REVIEW

17. History of Divinity of Christ
• The apostles unanimously taught that Jesus is God. This
can be proven from the gospels, epistles, letters and the
Revelation
LITERATURE REVIEW

18. History of Divinity of Christ
• Gnosticism (1st – 2nd Century A.D)
• Jesus is identified by some Gnostics as an embodiment of the
Supreme Being who became incarnate to bring gnōsis
(knowledge) to the earth
• Some denied that the supreme being came in the flesh,
claiming Jesus to be merely a human who attained divinity
through gnosis and taught his disciples to do the same
LITERATURE REVIEW

19. History of Divinity of Christ
• Irenaeus (c. 130- c. 200 A.D)
LITERATURE REVIEW
“His books aimed to
counteract the Gnostic
ideas common in this
region…….Irenaeus
developed the idea that
Christ was fully man
as well as fully God”
The History of
Christianity, pg. 76

20. History of Divinity of Christ
• Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35- c. 108 A.D)
LITERATURE REVIEW
He condemned the
teaching of Docetism
who held that “Jesus only
seemed to be a man, and
was in fact a pure spirit-
being, uncontaminated
with the material of this
world” The History of
Christianity, pg. 80

21. History of Divinity of Christ
• Origen (c. 184- c. 253 A.D)
LITERATURE REVIEW
“He insisted that the Father,
Son and Spirit were three
eternally distinct persons…. The
Son owed his being eternally to
the Father….and was inferior to
Him. As a genuine Son of the
Father he was truly divine, but
subordinate; the Spirit was even
lower” The History of
Christianity, pg. 112

22. History of Divinity of Christ
• Arius (c. 250- c. 336 A.D)
LITERATURE REVIEW
“He suggested that the Son, though
Creator, was himself created and
therefore could not be truly divine like
the Father” The History of
Christianity, pg. 134
Arius could not accept that Christ
was “of one essence” with the
Father. This led to the council of
Nicaea and development of the creed

23. History of Divinity of Christ
LITERATURE REVIEW
Amended 381 AD, Constantinople
Adopted 325 AD, Nicaea

24. History of Divinity of Christ
• Athanasius
• Marcion
• Ebionites
• Basil
• Antiochenes
• Nestorius
• Adoptionist
• Unitarians
LITERATURE REVIEW

25. On the Godhead
• There is a minor difference between the words Godhead
and Trinity. Though they are often confused and used
interchangeably
• The Godhead is for three distinct persons
• “And God said, Let us make man in our image” Genesis
1:26, plurality
• “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as
one of us” Genesis 3:22
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

26. On the Godhead
• “And the LORD said….. Go to, let us go down, and there
confound their language…” Gen 11:6-7
• “…for God is love” 1 John 4:8. How was God love
before He had supposedly ‘created’ Christ and the Holy
Spirit?
The Oneness of God
• “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother,
and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one
flesh” Genesis 2:24. Distinct persons but one in purpose
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

27. Divinity of Christ (Declaration)
• “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God” John 1:1
• “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he
not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was
his Father, making himself equal with God” John 5:18
• “Not purloining, but showing all good fidelity; that they may
adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things” Titus
2:10
• “And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my
God” John 20:28
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

28. Divinity of Christ (Creatorship)
• “In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth” Genesis 1:1
Compare with
• “All things were made by him; and without him was not
any thing made that was made” John 1:3
• “…[his] Son…by whom also he made the worlds”
Hebrews 1:2
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

29. Divinity of Christ (Source of Life)
• “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life”
John 14:6
• “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” John 1:4
• “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to
the Son to have life in himself” John 5:12
Compare with
• “…he rent his clothes, and said, [Am] I God, to kill and to
make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man
of his leprosy?” 2 Kings 5:7
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

30. Divinity of Christ (Saviour)
• “thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people
from their sins” Matthew 1:21
• “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we
must be saved” Acts 4:12
Compare with
• “And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation” 1 Chronicles
16:35
“[He that is] our God [is] the God of salvation” Psalms 68:20
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

31. Divinity of Christ (Pre-existence)
• “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, [though]
thou be little among the thousands of Judah,
[yet] out of thee shall he come forth unto me
[that is] to be ruler in Israel; whose goings
forth [have been] from of old, from
everlasting” Micah 5:2
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

32. Divinity of Christ (Shares throne and
glory)
• “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of
the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a
Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven
eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into
all the earth” Revelation 5:6
• “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self
with the glory which I had with thee before the world
was” John 17:5
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

33. Divinity of Christ (Shares throne and glory
Cont…)
Compare with
• “I [am] the LORD: that [is] my name: and my glory will
I not give to another” Isaiah 42:8
• “…. and I will not give my glory unto another” Isaiah
48:11
• Why did Christ then ask for the same glory with the
Father? Yet He knew the scriptures inside out?
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

34. Divinity of Christ (God calls the Son God!)
• “Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of
his power,” Hebrews 1:3
Christ Not an angel
“For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my
Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a
Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he
bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all
the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who
maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But
unto the Son [he saith], Thy throne, O God, [is] for ever and
ever: a sceptre of righteousness [is] the sceptre of thy kingdom”
Hebrews 1:5-8
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

35. Divinity of Christ (Accepted worship)
• Child: “and fell down, and worshipped him” Matthew
2:11
• Ministry: “there came a leper and worshipped him”
Matthew 8:2
• Ministry: “The servant therefore fell down, and
worshipped him” Matthew 18:26
• After resurrection: “And they came and held him by the
feet, and worshipped him” Matthew 28:9
• After resurrection: “And when they saw him, they
worshipped him: but some doubted” Matthew 28:17
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

36. Divinity of Christ (Accepted worship cont…)
Compare with
Men refuse worship
• “And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell
down at his feet, and worshipped [him]. But Peter took him
up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man” Acts 10:25-26
Angels refuse worship
• “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me,
See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy
brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for
the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” Revelation
19:10
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

37. Divinity of Christ (Bowing of every knee)
“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I
[am] God, and [there is] none else. I have sworn by myself, the
word is gone out of my mouth [in] righteousness, and shall not
return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall
swear” Isaiah 45:22-23
Compare with
“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things]
in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth.
And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is]
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10-11
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

38. Divinity of Christ (Bowing knee Cont…)
“For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD,
whose name [is] Jealous, [is] a jealous God” Exodus
34:14
“Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve
them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God.”
Deuteronomy 5:9
How comes then that the Father accepts Jesus to receive
worship and that all knees bow to Him?
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

39. Divinity of Christ (Created the throne!)
• “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and
that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be]
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all
things were created by him, and for him” Colossians 1:16
Where was the Father’s throne if Christ appeared sometimes
later?
“And he is before all things, and by him all things consist”
Colossians 1:17
“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”
Colossians 2:9
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

40. • Christ is God. Pre-existence, self-existent, eternal, consubstantial
with the Father and the Holy Spirit, receives worship, shares glory
and throne with the Father
• What does this mean to us?
• What does it mean that God came down and mingled with us?
• What does it mean that God touched the hedge of sin for us?
• What does it mean when God sweat blood for our salvation?
• What does it mean when man takes so great the love shown to us
for granted?
• What does this mean for the upcoming crusade?
CONCLUSIONS

41. I recommend you to read the book
“Defending the Godhead” by Vance
Ferrell
RECOMMENDATIONS

42. Presenter contact details and affiliations:
Bugema University, Department of Life and Physical Sciences,
P. O. Box 6529, Kampala, Uganda
Ndejje University, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
P. O. Box 7088, Kampala, Uganda
Tel +256 777 328 583, +256 752 060 056
E-mail: nicholasmunu@yahoo.com; mununicholas@gmail.com
QNS & ANS and CONTACTS

43. Thank You for Listening
Eat the Word!!!