> "Only if you already have decided that this is the conclusion you want to reach" That is not a very charitable interpretation of my comment. I don't draw th

> "Only if you already have decided that this is the conclusion you want to reach" That is not a very charitable interpretation of my comment. I don't draw the conclusion because I want to. I draw the conclusion because I've studied the texts in great detail. > "Jesus states that he hands Peter the keys to heaven, which following this logic then turns Peter into God." Only if you haven't studied the texts in great detail. If you have, you'll recognize the parallel to Isaiah 22 -- Eliakim taking over Shebna's role, not as king, but as palace administrator. That's very different from the role Jesus claims in Matthew 7. > "Jesus instructs his followers to forgive sins, which according to your logic turns them all into God." Again, you're missing some nuance. The Lord's Prayer mentions forgiving sins "against us". I can forgive sins against me and you can forgive sins against you. In Mark 2, Jesus claims to forgive sins against God, which is why the crowd considers it blasphemous. Again, these sorts of claims permeate all four gospels. They're things that, if you have a thorough grasp of the Old Testament, jump out of the text. But if you're not that interested in the details, you might totally miss it (and, to reverse your uncharitable take on my position: if you have already decided Jesus makes no divinity claims, you can surely rationalize it all away.)