Through the graciousness of Ed Komoszewski, I had the opportunity to preview his forthcoming book (coauthored with Bob Bowman) Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ. Here is my review …

Each generation of the church produces less than a handful of works destined to become timeless classics. I believe this book is one of those. The authors go far beyond mere proof-texting that the New Testament explicitly refers to Jesus as God. As they so eloquently state in the concluding chapter,

“The case for the deity of Christ does not rest on a few proof-texts. The popular notion that some fourth-century Christians decided to impose on the church a belief in Jesus as God and wrenched isolated Bible verses from their contexts to support their agenda is a gross misrepresentation of the facts. The framers of the orthodox doctrines of the Incarnation and the Trinity did have an agenda, but it was not to replace a merely human Jesus with a divine Christ. Their agenda was to safeguard the New Testament’s clear teaching of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ in a way that did equal justice to three other clear teachings of the Bible: there is only one God; Jesus is the Son and not the Father; Jesus is also a human being. In this book, we have touched at various places on the biblical evidence for these three teachings, while our focus throughout has remained on establishing the truth of the deity of Christ.”

Methodically and exhaustively the authors build a powerful case for the deity of Christ pointing out that focusing alone on proof-texts which explicitly declare Jesus is God, ignores some 99 percent of the biblical evidence for the deity of Christ. In depth, they review the overwhelming evidence that:

1) Jesus shares the honors due to God.
(“”We are to honor, glorify, worship, pray to, sing to and about, believe in, fear or reverence, religiously serve, love, and obey Jesus as we would God”)
2) Jesus shares the attributes of God.
(“”No one is exactly like God; yet Jesus is exactly like God.”)
3) Jesus shares the names of God.
(“If a figure is affirmed to be God, or is called God in a confessional or religious context, and is given a variety of other names for God in contexts that show such names to be applied to him in the same way they apply to God, those are positive indicators that the figure is, indeed, God.”)
4) Jesus shares in the deeds that God does.
(“Jesus does everything for us that God does.”)
5) Jesus shares the seat of God’s throne.
(“If, however, a figure is positioned permanently in God’s place, sharing his throne, exercising the prerogatives of God from that position, and receiving in that position honors properly due to God, then he is certainly functioning as God.”)

The book goes beyond mere apologetics; rather it serves to brilliantly frame the true Biblical picture of precisely who Jesus Christ is - fully God and fully man, One with the Father and yet distinct in role from the Father. Amidst a confusing time with so many differing and conflicting answers to the age-old question of who Jesus is, this masterful book shines with crystal clarity. If one is seeking to accurately grasp who Jesus Christ is, look no further. The concluding chapter is powerful. Far more than a summary, it is the most potent defense for the deity of Christ I have ever read. It alone is worth the price of the book. I appreciate the section dealing with the Deity of Christ in the Nicene Creed. There is a wonderful appendix with an immensely useful summary table. Finally, the endnotes are a treasure trove.

The web site for the book has more information.

Bob
Fides Quaerens Intellectum
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Bob Pratico
Fides Quaerens Intellectum
(my Sojourn blog)