Biblical scholar attempts to prove Jesus was sole Messiah

Jesus Week took on a scholarly twist last night when Robert Newman, a professor of the New Testament at the Biblical Theological Seminary, presented a lecture on the coming of the Christian Messiah. "One of the visions that we had this year was to bring in someone to address the intellectual aspects of Christianity," said Nursing senior Jill Mogenson, co-chairwoman of Jesus Week. "We want to disprove the assumption that Christians feel but don't think." About 150 students attended the event, held in Stiteler Hall. In his lecture, entitled "The Testimony of Prophecy and History," Newman addressed definitions of the Messiah in both the Old and New Testaments. He then used this evidence to prove that Jesus Christ was the only Messiah. "Agreeing on who the Messiah is has been controversial among Christians, Jews and secularists," Newman explained. "I want to determine who is right by analyzing both the Bible and the history of mankind." In his talk, Newman analyzed passages from the books of Isaiah and Micah. "There have been many people over the past thousands of years claiming to be the Messiah," said Newman. "Only [Jesus], however, started a world religion for the Gentiles." Using a Biblical timeline and other numerical data, Newman attempted to prove that the timing of Christ's existence corresponds exactly to the Old Testament's predictions. In his conclusion, Newman urged the audience to have faith in Jesus as the only Messiah, reiterating the textual proof that he had presented in his lecture. "If you trust in Jesus, his suffering can count for you," Newman added. A question-and-answer session allowed the audience to question Newman's assertions. While many attendees agreed with what he had to say, some disputed his argument. Students shared mixed responses about the speech. "For Christians, it was a good talk because it gave us evidence that proves what we believe," College freshman Michelle Lloyd said. "At the same time, I'm not sure how my non-Christian friends felt about it." Wharton senior Tanya Welch had a different take. "I think that [the lecture] was based on a lot of facts," she said. "Not only did I learn about Biblical tradition, but I found out about Jewish beliefs as well."