Americans are faced with questions and issues that never existed before. Stresses are building to levels which are destroying relationships, impacting communities and causing significant emotional reactions. How are Christians to deal with these questions and issues?
The Built on Truth Series offers powerful suggestions to Christians about how to deal with difficult questions and issues in a transparent and consistent way. Others may not like or agree with the outcomes, but they should be able to understand how they were attained.
Some foundational assumptions of Christianity are God exists and is active in the world, God created everything, and the Bible was provided by God so people can know what to believe, how to make choices and how to live according to God’s standards.
A good next step is to find direct and indirect Scriptures pertaining to the subject at hand.
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One of the most foundational beliefs of Christians is that Jesus is the Son of God. Because of this, he has the authority to interpret Scripture, and give new commandments and teachings.
According to Mark 14:61-62, at the trial of Jesus, Caiphas asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” The “Blessed One” is a euphemism for God, since the Jews often refrained from using his name. The question of Caiphas is actually two different questions, “Are you the Messiah? Are you the Son of God?”
The first question had at least two purposes. It was against Roman regulations for someone to claim to be the Messiah. That was rebellious talk punishable by death. Also, the people believed the Messiah was to live forever, so crucifixion would prove to them that Jesus was not the Messiah.
The second question was a ploy to get Jesus to commit blasphemy. By admitting he was the Son of God and quoting the verses from Daniel, Jesus was claiming to be God himself. This was blasphemy, a crime punishable by death according to the Jewish law. However, the Jews did not have the power to enact the sentence.
