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<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=90 BGCOLOR="#CC9900" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="043005a0dwnjzk.gif"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="EDWARD WATSONS WEBWORLD"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B> | </B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>EDWARD WATS</B><B>ON'S WEBWORLD</B></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id83.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SECTION 2: INTRODUCTION"><U><B>SECTION 2: INTRODUCTION</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id85.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PART 1: DOES JESUS HAVE A PREEXISTENCE?"><U><B>PART 1: DOES JESUS HAVE A PRE-EXISTENCE?</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id86.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="1"><U><B>1</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id87.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PART 2: IS JESUS GOD?"><U><B>PART 2: IS JESUS "GOD"?</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id88.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="1"><U><B>1</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><B>2</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id90.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="3"><U><B>3</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id91.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="4"><U><B>4</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id92.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="5"><U><B>5</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id93.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="6"><U><B>6</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id94.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="7"><U><B>7</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id95.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="8"><U><B>8</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id96.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PART 2: CONCLUSION"><U><B>PART 2: CONCLUSION</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id98.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PART 3: ARE JESUS AND JEHOVAH THE SAME?"><U><B>PART 3: ARE JESUS AND JEHOVAH THE SAME?</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="1"><U><B>1</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id100.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2"><U><B>2</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id101.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="3"><U><B>3</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id102.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="4"><U><B>4</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id103.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="5"><U><B>5</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id104.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="6"><U><B>6</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id105.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="7"><U><B>7</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id106.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="8"><U><B>8</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id107.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PART 3: CONCLUSION"><U><B>PART 3: CONCLUSION</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id108.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SECTION 2: APPENDIX"><U><B>SECTION 2: APPENDIX</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id109.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SECTION 2: CONCLUSION"><U><B>SECTION 2: CONCLUSION</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id137.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ABBREVIATIONS"><U><B>ABBREVIATIONS</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>[MORMONISM. The Faith of the Twenty-first Century. Volume 1. Edward K. Watson. (Liahona Publications. Copyright © 1998 Edward K. Watson.) pp. 269-270. MORMONISM: Section 2, Part 2, Chapter 2. All rights reserved.]</B></div> <bR> <div> <U>CHAPTER 2</U></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Dual-Nature of Christ </B></div> <bR> <div>      Jesus Christ has a dual-nature. He is both God and man. He inherited his  “God” nature from his Father in Heaven and his  “Man” nature from his mother Mary. He is fully “God” (all of the fulness of the Godhead is within him bodily- Col  2:9 cf Col  1:19) and fully “Man.” If the parent is a horse, the offspring is a horse. If the parent is a whale, the offspring is also a whale. If Jesus' father was God (Matt  1:22-25;  3:17; Luke  1:34-35; John  1:14;  3:16,35;  17:1;  20:21; 1 Jn  4:9,14; etc.); he also has to be God. If Jesus' mother was human, he also has to be human. <I>He is unique because he is the embodiment of both beings while mortal.</I></div> <div>      Jesus isn't half God and half man, he is 100% God and 100% Man. </div> <bR> <div>   <B>All that makes God “God” and makes man “Man” are in Jesus Christ.</B></div> <bR> <div>      All the biblical references used to prove Jesus was a man are correct. Jesus Christ really was a man. He cried, was afraid, got tired, ate, bled, had to cut his fingernails,  slept,<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >1</FONT> etc. The issue here is not whether Jesus was fully man. We agree he was (Acts  17:31; 1 Cor  15:21; Heb  2:17; etc.). The real issue is, Was Jesus also “God?” For that we need to understand the meaning of the term. If we understand the word, “God” to only refer to Jesus' Father, then of course not. Jesus is not his own Father. But if we understand the word “God” to mean the creator of this world, the Savior of mankind, a being that is basically omnipotent and omniscient, and one that has the same “God” nature of Heavenly Father, then yes, according to the Bible, Jesus really is God. This fact is also evidenced by the power that is inherently within him to both die and live again (John  10:18). </div> <div>      He is also a man. Everything we ordinary mortals experience, he experienced. The only difference was, he never committed any  sins (2 Cor  5:21; Heb  4:15;  7:26;  9:14; 1 Pet  2:22; 1 Jn  3:5). He lived a perfect life. A person can show a hundred passages to prove he was a man. So what?  We agree. Jesus really was a man, but not only that, he was God too. </div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BernhardMod BT" > D&C </FONT> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BernhardMod BT" >130:1 When the Savior shall appear we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is a man like ourselves.</FONT></div> <bR> <div>      Passages which show Jesus being fully human are due to his human nature. When Jesus divested himself of the rights, privileges and glory of being God to become man (Phil  2:5-6), he suffered loss of his immortality, omnipotence and omniscience, which were only restored in stages, causing him to “increase in wisdom” (Luke  2:52) until all his power and authority were fully restored after his resurrection (John  7:39;  12:16,23;  13:31) (some glimpses of it were seen during the Transfiguration- Matt  17:2; Mark  9:3; Luke  9:29,32). This is also evidenced by him asking to receive what he previously had before becoming mortal (John  17:5) and eventually attaining perfection (Heb  2:10;  5:9;  7:28), receiving all the Father has (Matt  11:27;  28:18; John  16:15;  17:10). This would naturally include knowledge as well (John  2:24-25;  4:25;  16:30; etc.).</div> <div>      One of the biggest problems with biblical interpretation is the taking of isolated biblical passages and demanding that these alone constitute the correct doctrine. The Scriptures must be examined as a whole because frequently, a particular verse may say one thing and another may say something completely different. If a concept is incomplete, the reader may come to a wrong conclusion on the Bible's actual teaching. This is a perfect example. There are many passages that show the humanity of Jesus and his  submission to God the Father. As a result, some have come to the conclusion that Jesus was never God, or if he is; he is a lesser god or “a god,” never being able to be equal to the Father's power and glory. </div> <div>      No matter how many passages an opponent of Jesus Christ's divinity may use that show Jesus is a man, he will never be able to disprove Jesus being “God” since <I>any affirmation of his humanity doesn't detract from his divinity.</I> One simply can't disregard the numerous biblical passages that describe Jesus to be God just because a person doesn't like to think he is.</div> <bR> <div> <B>[ENDNOTES]:</B></div> <bR> <div> 1.Curiously, so did God (Ps  44:23;  73:20)!</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="mailto:ewatson@shaw.ca" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:ewatson@shaw.ca"><U>e-mail me!</U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>