Was Jesus God?
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Richard Swinburne, the former Nolloth Professor at Oxford, adriotly marshals the evidences of natural theology to affirm the cogency of the Christian faith... Was Jesus God? is an entertaining, bracing, compelling book and welcome proof that not all of our academics have turned their backs on what Hopkins once called 'the fine delight that fathers thought.' (Edward Short, Inside Catholic )
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Product Description
The orderliness of the universe and the existence of human beings already provides some reason for believing that there is a God - as argued in Richard Swinburne's earlier book Is There a God ? Swinburne now claims that it is probable that the main Christian doctrines about the nature of God and his actions in the world are true. In virtue of his omnipotence and perfect goodness, God must be a Trinity, live a human life in order to share our suffering, and found a church which would enable him to tell all humans about this. It is also quite probable that he would provide his human life as an atonement for our wrongdoing, teach us how we should live and tell us his plans for our future after death. Among founders of religions, Jesus satisfies uniquely well the requirement of living the sort of human life which God would need to have lived. But to give us adequate reason to believe that Jesus was God, God would need to put his 'signature' on the life of Jesus by an act which he alone could do, for example raise him from the dead. There is adequate historical evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. The church which he founded gave plausible interpretations of his basic message. Therefore Christian doctrines are probably true.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Was Jesus God?
Compared to Swinburne's earlier book "Is There A God?", I found "Was Jesus God?" very disappointing. This book, at least to me, reads more like a straightforward book of conservative Christian apologetics than one written by a renowned philosopher of religion. The first half of the book (87 pages) really amount to a "scissors and paste" abbreviated account from his earlier works, with the remaining 70 pages only devoted to Jesus. The latter contain nothing really new that cannot be found elsewhere in traditional conservative works on Christian apology. Moreover they appear not to have been worked out in length, let alone in depth. It is a given, that any account of the life or significance of Jesus must rely largely if not almost exclusively on the writings of the New Testament. However most historians would not give equal credence to the historical value of the various New Testament documents, and this applies even to the four documents known as Gospel's. Even the most superficial reading of the words of Jesus in say Mark's Gospel would cast doubt on whether the same person is being reported as in John's Gospel, but Swinburne seems to ignore this and seems to treat the historical value of the various New Testament documents almost equally. Reference was made earlier to his rather superficial handing of themes and this can be illustrated in his account of the Virgin Birth. Obviously there are considerable scientific objections that would be expected to be mentioned, if not addressed by an eminent philosopher of religion. However these are completely ignored. For example, if Jesus was a man like all other men he would possess both an X and a Y chromosome. The X chromosome would be inherited from Mary, but where did Jesus acquire his Y chromosome from? Such a difficulty is not even mentioned by Swinburne. It has often been said that philosophical arguments for God's existence really only convince those who already believe. The same might be said for such arguments supporting a High Christology for Jesus. This book is unlikely to convince many who do not already hold settled views on the status and soteriological significance of Jesus. Fortunately for many believers our beliefs can stand without purported philosophical superstructure. If they did require one, I doubt if it could be found in this volume.
Compared to Swinburne's earlier book "Is There A God?", I found "Was Jesus God?" very disappointing. This book, at least to me, reads more like a straightforward book of conservative Christian apologetics than one written by a renowned philosopher of religion. The first half of the book (87 pages) really amount to a "scissors and paste" abbreviated account from his earlier works, with the remaining 70 pages only devoted to Jesus. The latter contain nothing really new that cannot be found elsewhere in traditional conservative works on Christian apology. Moreover they appear not to have been worked out in length, let alone in depth. It is a given, that any account of the life or significance of Jesus must rely largely if not almost exclusively on the writings of the New Testament. However most historians would not give equal credence to the historical value of the various New Testament documents, and this applies even to the four documents known as Gospel's. Even the most superficial reading of the words of Jesus in say Mark's Gospel would cast doubt on whether the same person is being reported as in John's Gospel, but Swinburne seems to ignore this and seems to treat the historical value of the various New Testament documents almost equally. Reference was made earlier to his rather superficial handing of themes and this can be illustrated in his account of the Virgin Birth. Obviously there are considerable scientific objections that would be expected to be mentioned, if not addressed by an eminent philosopher of religion. However these are completely ignored. For example, if Jesus was a man like all other men he would possess both an X and a Y chromosome. The X chromosome would be inherited from Mary, but where did Jesus acquire his Y chromosome from? Such a difficulty is not even mentioned by Swinburne. It has often been said that philosophical arguments for God's existence really only convince those who already believe. The same might be said for such arguments supporting a High Christology for Jesus. This book is unlikely to convince many who do not already hold settled views on the status and soteriological significance of Jesus. Fortunately for many believers our beliefs can stand without purported philosophical superstructure. If they did require one, I doubt if it could be found in this volume.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As with all Swinburne's books this is a tightly argued piece of work. Within its own terms it is convincing, but general readers are likely to find it somewhat arid.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I find Swinburne's treatise remarkably internally consistent, although it has to be read slowly in a thoughtful manner, as some of the sentences are a bit complicated. Given his premises, and his well founded view upon the Gospels and letters, the conclusions seem sound!
Consistency does not prove that the conclusions are true, buy implies that they may well be true. Not any of the sayings of Dawkins and his disciples are useful in denying the consistency in Swinburne's approach.
The book is highly recommended.
Sincerely
Magne Kongshaug
Consistency does not prove that the conclusions are true, buy implies that they may well be true. Not any of the sayings of Dawkins and his disciples are useful in denying the consistency in Swinburne's approach.
The book is highly recommended.
Sincerely
Magne Kongshaug
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
arrogant, prejudiced rubbish
If you are looking for a book that rationally considers arguments for Jesus being God, then this book is not for you. Swinburne makes no attempt to consider any counter arguments. Read more
Published 22 months ago by I. courtney
Philosophy or Theology?
How should one approach this book? It is a book about religion but it was written by an author acclaimed to be a philosophical theologian. Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2009 by Hande Z
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