Quote:Other than in the sense that we are all children of god, where does Jesus claim to be The Son of God? Isn't the lack of this claim exactly what fostered centuries of dispute as to the nature of Jesus?It doesn't seem very plausible to me - when talking to my brother, I refer to my father as "our father." Does Hebrew/Aramaic/Whatever not contain the first person plural? Because Jesus is not shy about claiming that God is "my father" and claiming that "my father" gave him super special powers, which he can then bequeath onto others, like healing the sick. "Our father" does not come up so often. He certainly doesn't have a very collective message - he claims that "No man comes to the Father except through me." (Edit, afterthought: Compare, say, Buddhism.)
He also doesn't seem to ever object when anyone refers to him as God. To give a couple examples out of many, John 20:28-29 has Thomas saying "My Lord and my God!" upon seeing the resurrection. Jesus' reply? "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." I suppose, charitably, you could claim this refers exclusively to the resurrection, and that Jesus just ignored the bit about being God.
John 8:42 seems to have him claiming that his opponents are not the children of God: "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me." John 8:48-58 also makes very little sense except in light of Jesus claiming to be the son of God, or even God itself. What does "before Abraham was born, I am!" mean, except that he is immortal?
Who knows. Maybe you could fidget together an argument that, while he never denies it, and while he never corrects anyone who refers to him that way, he never technically claims he's God. Seems specious to me, but then, I'm not up to my ears in theology.
-Jester