Is Jesus God?

This is a little book about two big questions, the two greatest questions in all of Western theological thought. Does God exist, and is Jesus God?

There are no easy answers to these questions and, certainly, they cannot be addressed in such a small work. The answers are a work of a lifetime. I have devoted twenty-one books to this subject so far, and I feel that I am only skimming the surface. Thomas Aquinas wrote twenty-one large volumes in Latin trying to answer these questions, and, at the end, said that all his writings seemed like straw.

Like the Angelic Doctor, I attempt to answer both questions in the affirmative. Most of the eight billion people in the world would answer the first question, “Does God Exist”, with a yes; only about one-forth of the people in the world, however, have ever even entertained the second question, “Is Jesus God”?

My work to date has been based on the great book of Christianity, the New Testament. Written in Greek by men we call Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, the four Gospels are faith documents, written by men who believed that Jesus of Nazareth is God, written to encourage others to believe also.

Ultimately, as I learned in Theology at Woodstock College, neither answer can be proved rationally, as one proves a mathematical theorem. Only with the eyes of faith can one arrive at the position that Jesus is God, the Second Person of the Trinity. And only with a gracious gift from God, called the gift of faith.

But for those who believe or want to believe, my reflections on the four gospels and the writings of Christianity’s greatest apostle, Paul of Tarsus, are offered with the sincere hope that they will stimulate others to investigate the evidence that leads me to say “yes” to both questions.

Structurally, this book is comprised of a series of e-mails that I wrote to my friends in 2004-2005. For some five years now, I have been a member of a group of ex-Jesuits who regularly correspond with one another on matters of faith and morals by e-mail. There are presently two list-serves, one on the East coast made up mainly of Maryland and New York ex-Jesuits, and the other on the West coast with former members of the California and Oregon Provinces. There are about 300 members who receive these mailings, and about twenty to thirty who engage in active dialogue.

Certain highlights stand out in this book: a series of e-mails on the birth and early years of the life of Jesus of Nazareth (written around the 2004 Christmas season); Jesus in the eyes of the Jews and the Romans; and the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer, when it was said early on by his own disciples.

Note: at the end of this book, for educational purposes, I have added a Chronology of Early Christianity, which I have personally put together, mainly from my reading of Eusebius’ History of the Church.

My quest to understand the real meaning of Christianity goes on. My hope is that my readers will join me in this study, and even surpass my understanding of the greatest event in the history of mankind. You is invited to read this book with the eyes of faith, in the spirit of St. Paul:

“If you confess with your lips

That Jesus is Lord

And believe in your heart

That God raised him from the dead,

You will be saved.”

(Rm 10:9)