The Case For Christ

saying, 'Who can forgive sins but God alone?' To my mind, that
is one of the most striking things Jesus did."
"Not only did Jesus forgive sin," I observed, "but he asserted
that he himself was without sin. And certainly sinlessness is an
attribute of deity."
"Yes," he replied. "Historically in the West, people considered
most holy have also been the most conscious of their own failures
and sins. They are people who are aware of their shortcomings and
lusts and resentments, and they're fighting them honestly by the
grace of a God. In fact, they're fighting them so
well that others take notice and say, 'There is a holy man or
woman.'
But along comes Jesus, who can say with a straight face, 'Which
of you can convict me of sin?' If I said that, my wife and
children and all who know me would be glad to stand up and
testify, whereas no one could with respect to Christ."
Although moral perfection and the forgiveness of sin are
undoubtedly characteristics of deity, there are several
additional attributes that Jesus must fulfill if he is to match
the sketch of God. It was time to progress to those. After having
started by lobbing softballs at Carson, I got ready to throw
some curves.
MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION
Using some notes I had brought along, I hit Carson in rapid-fire
succession with some of the biggest obstacles to Jesus' claim of
deity. "Dr. Carson, how in the world could Jesus be omnipresent
if he couldn't be in two places at once?" I asked. "How could he
be omniscient when he says, 'Not even the Son of Man knows the
hour of his return'? How could he be omnipotent when the gospels
plainly tell us that he was unable to do many miracles in his
hometown?" Pointing my pen at him for emphasis, I concluded by
saying, "Let's admit it: the Bible itself seems to argue against
Jesus being God."
While Carson didn't flinch, he did concede that these questions
have no simple answers. After all, they strike at the very heart
of the Incarnation-God becoming man, spirit taking on flesh, the
infinite becoming finite, the eternal becoming time-bound. It's a
doctrine that has kept theologians busy for centuries. And that's
where Carson chose to start his answer: by going back to the way