Are there many people out there that believe in god but not that Jesus was his actual son ? See below .

[ginorwine]

A few people in my local church believe in god but think that Jesus was a profit like any other such as Buddha. I have always thought that the whole premis of christianity was based around the reserection . I have found that the unitarian church accepts the view that Jesus was a human and an inspired and loving phropet and healer and Christian . This makes sense to me .i would feel more comfortable if this could be discussed as it seems almost a taboo way of seeing Jesus. I'm very intrested to hear others views around the view that you can believe in god as see Jesus as a historical figure rather than god on earth in the literal sense .

[Dutchoma]

It depends a bit on how you understand 'son'. I think people sometimes struggle with the idea of the relationship between God and Jesus and the nearest they come is to see that relationship as one of father and son.
I have heard that for Jewish people 'father' ad 'son' are really acting as one and in that respect I think the relationship between God and Jesus should be seen
Jesus is God in the flesh, come to earth to share our humanity and finally to take our sin onto the cross, then rising from the dead, so that it is possible for us to be forgiven and have a relationship with God.
You are right to say that the resurrection is the focal point of Christianity and without that there is no point to it.
Now, Jesus could never have done what He did if He was not God, it would not have worked if He was just a good man or a prophet.
Hope this helps.

[4boysxhappy]

Have alway thought if you believe that the son of god sent his son to earth you are christian and if you are still waiting you are Jewish. My Jewish family believes that Jesus was a profit / story teller so are still waiting.

Mind you as every Jewish grandmother I know believe their son or grandson is the coming of Jesus that kind of mucks the whole thing up :O)

[biscuitsandbandages]

Thats how muslims see Jesus. One of the greatest of the prophets and a wise and kind teacher but human and not God.

[weegiemum]

As I see it, in order to be a Christian, your central theological belief is that Jesus is the Son, as part of the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The main "event" if you like, was Jesus' death on the cross, even he said "It is Finished!". The resurrection is a wonderful extra gift, and promise for the future for us.

It's fine to think Jesus was "just" a prophet, but really that means you're not a Christian in a mainstream way. The special nature of the person of Christ is that Jesus was "fully, truly human; fully, truly God" (my Christology lecturer would be very proud I remembered that!!).

I'm not sure if I'm answering your question. These questions about the nature of God, were argued over for hundreds of years in the early church, which is where a lot of creeds came from (eg the Nicene creed came from the church council in Nicea). Some churches, like you point out, the Unitarians, have different beliefs but they don't have the same theology as more mainstream churches.

[ginorwine]

Thankyou all for your replies .

[Pregnantberry]

A lot of Unitarians think that- not surewho else but I'm sure there are others.

[ginorwine]

Any other views appriciated :)

[4boysxhappy]

The old testament is basicly the Jewish beliefs Moses, 10 comandments, etc.

Where as the New testament which is used by Christians is about the life of Jesus.

Anyone following the New testament must surely think Jesus is the son of God ???

[HowardTJMoon]

The question hinges on whether you regard Jesus's claim to be the son of god as something that was meant literally or metaphorically. The Lord's prayer asks us to pray to "Our Father" - doesn't that mean we are all children of god?

[TheSarcasticFringehead]

All my Jewish family! They don't believe Jesus was the son of God, or that the Messiah will be the actual son of God, for that matter.

[greeneggsandjam]

Yep I could never get my head round that Jesus was God or his son or both or whatever. I could only see him as a man, a person when I was younger and no one could explain to me how he could be both so I gave up trying to understand.

Islam makes it all a lot easier in my opinion.

[sashh]

The word Christian means follower of Christ doesn't it? And Christ means messiah.

Jews and Muslims see Jesus as a prophet not the son of god but I didn't know any christian denominations did.

Things you learn on MN

[Dutchoma]

Not sure any mainstream Cristian denominations do sashh.

[Dutchoma]

Unitarians, as far as I can see are not a Christian denomination

[HowardTJMoon]

Unitarianism certainly started as a Christian sect. The Unitarian church has become less prescriptive over time but there is still a lot of Unitarian church members who regard themselves as Christians (eg, www.unitarianchristian.org.uk/).

It's always difficult to have sharply delineated lines of which beliefs are mandatory before you are allowed to claim you are a follower of a particular religion. There are always so many schisms, sects and disagreements. It can smack of "You're not part of my gang" playground stuff.

[DioneTheDiabolist]

I believe in god, but I don't believe that Jesus was god or god's son. To me, it's about the message more than the man. I am a regular church goer.

[aubreye]

These are similar to the Jewish beliefs. Jews believe of a God's existence but they believe the Messiah is still to come and that Jesus is as you put it, just a prophet.

[vdbfamily]

We actually had a sermon about this on Sunday and it was based on the C.S Lewis claim that you have to accept that Jesus was either Mad,Bad or God.He cannot just be a good man/prophet. Jesus claimed lots of things in the New Testament. He forgave peoples sins.He said 'I and the Father are one' 'no-one comes to the Father but by me' etc etc. He was either lying(Bad) deluded (Mad) or God . We are not left with the option of him being just a good man.

[AbbieHoffmansAfro]

It's been controversial for a long, long time!

[niminypiminy]

The heresy that Christ was only human and not divine is called Arianism not Nestorianism -- which is a quite different idea about the relationship between Christ's divine nature and his human nature.

You can't be a Christian and not believe that Christ was both divine and human. That's the bottom line.

[AbbieHoffmansAfro]

I wasn't suggesting that what OP is describing is Nestorianism, only that people have disagreed about this and pondered it for as long as Christianity has been around, really.

[niminypiminy]

Except that Christians have been clear for around 1600 years that Christ is both divine and human. It's not really controversial in the sense that there is a live debate about whether or not Jesus was both a man and the son of God.

[ThatBloodyWoman]

I've come across quite a few people who think this, without belonging to or identifying with an actual off shoot (or whatever its called) of the church.

[DioneTheDiabolist]

VSBfamily, I am absolutely fine with the idea that Jesus was "a good man". As are many non Christians and some followers of his philosophy.

[DayLillie]

Christadelphians are not trinitarians either.