Who is Jesus?

As Christians we believe that Jesus is the Son of God. This title, ‘Son of God’, highlights two unique things about Christianity: the word God means that Jesus is 100% God; the word Son means that Jesus is also 100% human.

In Jesus the human and divine come together in one person.

In contrast to other religions which believe in various gods appearing in a range of animals and people but not fully becoming them, Christians believe that there is only one Son of God – Jesus. Jesus’ dual nature, God and human in one, distinguishes him from the manifestations believed by other religions. Jesus came to earth only as a human being.

What’s the evidence for Jesus’s divinity?

While he was on earth, Jesus forgave people for their sins – something only God can do. This incensed the religious leaders of his day, who ultimately sent Jesus to his death.

Jesus proved his claim to be the Son of God by healing sick people and raising the dead. Jesus said that to come to God we need to come to him – that by having a relationship with him we have a relationship with God. Jesus also said that he would judge the world and that the outcome of this judgement depends on how we respond to him. His selfless life and moral teaching are also evidence of his divinity.

The most compelling evidence for Jesus being the Son of God is his resurrection after death. The arguments that he didn’t really die or that his disciples invented the resurrection story don’t stand up to close scrutiny.

What about Jesus’s humanity?

As a human being, Jesus experienced normal human emotions and feelings –happiness, sadness, love, anger, hunger and pain. He had normal human experiences. As a child he learned from his elders; as a man he was tempted. There is huge amount of evidence that Jesus existed. This comes from a range of historical and religious sources, including non-Christian texts.

Even the way we record time is a constant reminder of Jesus’ existence. The initials AD, used after every year stand for ‘Anno Domini’, latin for ‘In the year of our Lord’.