LE3 .A278 1987

1987

MacRae, Andrew

Acadia University

Master of Divinity with Honours

Masters

Divinity

Acadia Divinity College

The traditional identification of Jesus as being the deity, has come into serious question in the last one hundred and fifty years, both within and without the church. Such questioning combined with the extraordinary claims of Jesus about himself (which if true are of monumental importance) provide adequate incentive to examine the traditional identification. In Chapter 2, it is noted that, C. S. Lewis posited that the extreme nature of the claims Jesus made, left one with no alternative but to say he was the deity, all other views being ruled out of court. The thesis endeavours to determine the validity of Lewis's position. In Chapters 4 - 9 therefore, an examination of the historical trustworthiness of the synoptic gospels - prime sources of information about the life of Jesus - is undertaken. Through consideration of archaeological data (Chapter 4), external written evidence (Chapter 5), internal synoptic data (Chapter 6), the question of the dating and transmission of the gospels (Chapters 7, 8), and a concluding section of remarks (Chapter 9), it is determined that these accounts are generally trustworthy. On this basis then the writer can legitimately proceed to consider Jesus' self identfication. In Chapter 10 the question of the self-consciousness of Jesus, according to the Synoptic Records is considered at some length. It is discovered that Jesus did conceive of himself in terms of the deity. In the last chapter, it is first noted that this writer cannot accept Lewis's penultimate reasoning which brings him to the conclusion that Jesus was divine, all other alternatives being ruled out. In view of social contract theory Lewis's reasoning seems flawed. However, after eliminating from consideration all untestable hypotheses, the writer concludes that, on the bases of the historicity of the accounts, and the extraordinary claims of Jesus, Lewis's concluding argument is valid, though not on the basis he provided for it.

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