The pain threshold of Jesus

[_zeezrom]

I think this is a bit unfair. Most Mormons I know believe Jesus is fully God and Man.

I've never heard it quite that way before. For me, it was that Jesus was/is God but took upon himself the physical, corruptible human body.

Look, if Christ was susceptible to things like getting tired, dehydrated, or hungry, then he was part Man. He just was. Man was part of him. Otherwise, what would be interesting about him? The interesting thing about him is that he is/was just like one of us. He got it. He understood what it was like to get tired on a hot day and then be asked to help someone out when he could just go skinny dipping in the Jordan instead.

There is simply nothing wrong with a God mixing blood with a mortal. There is nothing wrong with a half-breed man-God.

[_just me]

There is simply nothing wrong with a God mixing blood with a mortal. There is nothing wrong with a half-breed man-God.

Happens all the time. Take Hercules, for example...

[_Quasimodo]

There is simply nothing wrong with a God mixing blood with a mortal. There is nothing wrong with a half-breed man-God.

Happens all the time. Take Hercules, for example...

That's true. No hero of the ancient world could be taken seriously if at least one parent wasn't a god/ goddess. Perseus, Heracles (Hercules), Romulus... a very long list.

[_zeezrom]

So here is the question: Are Christians so afraid of looking like pagans that they come up with this crazy Full Man, Full God stuff?

[_Quasimodo]

So here is the question: Are Christians so afraid of looking like pagans that they come up with this crazy Full Man, Full God stuff?

It is confusing. My personal belief is that Jesus didn't become "divine" until much later versions of the Gospels in an effort to convince Greeks and Romans that he was just like the heroes they were used to believing in (Apollo, Mythra, etc.).

Maybe that became "uncomfortable" to later Christians and they needed to find a different explanation.

[_Joseph]

The guy is a superhuman myth so it really does not matter.

[_Buffalo]

So here is the question: Are Christians so afraid of looking like pagans that they come up with this crazy Full Man, Full God stuff?

It is confusing. My personal belief is that Jesus didn't become "divine" until much later versions of the Gospels in an effort to convince Greeks and Romans that he was just like the heroes they were used to believing in (Apollo, Mythra, etc.).

Maybe that became "uncomfortable" to later Christians and they needed to find a different explanation.

Yes, Jesus seems to have been gradually promoted from messiah to deity.

[_Quasimodo]

Yes, Jesus seems to have been gradually promoted from messiah to deity.

Yes, yes! The difference between the Jewish "Messiah" and the Greek "Christos" (avatar). A concept lost on most Christians.

[_Buffalo]

Yes, Jesus seems to have been gradually promoted from messiah to deity.

Yes, yes! The difference between the Jewish "Messiah" and the Greek "Christos" (avatar). A concept lost on most Christians.

Yes, Jesus in no way resembles the prophesied Jewish Messiah, not the least of which because the Messiah was never intended to be any sort of deity at all.

[_Aristotle Smith]

Which may or may not be the correct interpretation. Didn't Chalcedon come many years after the initial councils? Could it be that error heaped upon error. Who really knows?

Chalcedon was in 451, Nicea was in 325, with Constantinople I and Ephesus in between. It's one of the seven ecumenical councils, I don't know what you mean by initial councils.

Like all things divine, you are ultimately dealing with something beyond comprehension.

Hey my friend, you know how in that one thread certian pet peeves bug you. Well this one bugs me too. No matter what the source. Why would a God make things about him incomprehensible to what is supposed to be his top notch creation?

If it bugs you, then you need to tell Mormons to stop doing it too. Mormons will always play the mystery card when you start asking things like, "Why did God command Joseph Smith to sleep with other men's wives?" or "Why did God tell the brethren to keep priesthood from blacks?" Sure, they might say "We don't know" or "God's ways are not our ways," but it's functionally equivalent to "It's a mystery." Personally, I can handle the greatness of God being mysterious, and it seems a bit easier to swallow than mystery surrounding Joseph Smith Jr's sex life.

By the way, my personal faith that I have left for Jesus is that he was fully God and human at the same time.

That's fine, just realize you are using the terms vastly differently than orthodox Christians are. When a Mormon says "fully God" he/she means something completely different than does an orthodox Christian.

By the way, I think that Mormons get into all kinds of trouble in interpreting the New Testament because they play so fast and loose with Christology.

I think this is a bit unfair. Most Mormons I know believe Jesus is fully God and Man. I think also some LDS scholars such as Ostler and Paulsen do well wrangling with such issues.

See above. In any case, Ostler is way off the reservation when it comes to mainstream Mormon beliefs.