Is Jesus really the Son of God or a Prophet of God?

In the four Gospels of the Bible there are a number of references to Jesus Christ as the "Son of God." The following are a few examples:

And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God."
Mark 15:39

And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God."
Luke 1:35

And they all said, "Are you the Son of God, then?" And he said to them, "You say that I am."
Luke 22:70

He trust in God; let God deliver him now, If he desires; for he said, "I am the Son of God."
Matthew 27:43

And whenever the unclean spirits beheld him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God." And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
Mark 3:11-12

And when he came to the other side, to the country of Gadarenes, two demoniac met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"
Matthew 8:28-29

In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke there are about 22 such references to Jesus as the Son of God, but in all of them not once did he call himself so. Matthew 27:43 quoted about refers to the allegation of the chief priest with the scribes and the elders who mocked him. It was not firsthand reporting of Jesus' own statement by the author of the Gospel. It was normally either madmen, the so called demoniac and unclean spirits, or pagan Roman soldiers who referred to him as the Son of God. His own preference was for the title of Ben Adam, which just meant man or son of man. That title is repeated about 80 times in the Gospels. His Jewish persecutors out of malice alleged that he claimed to be King of the Jews that he might incur the wrath of the Roman rulers, and that he claimed to be the Son of God to enraged to the Jewish people.

It should also be remembered that at the time of Jesus it was commonplace to invest with divinity not only non-existent mythological figures but historian mortals as well. Laertus, the pagan author of the Lives of the Philosophers, writes of a number of philosophers as being sons of God. Plato was described as being of divine parentage; and so was Pythagoras who was supposed to be the incarnate son of the god Hermes. Empedocles was also alleged to be an immortal god who healed the sick, and his followers worshipped him and prayed to him. Plutarch regards that Alexander the Great was of divine descent, and Romulus the legendary ancestor of the Romans was the Son of Mars, the god of war. He was supposed to have been raised to heaven in a cloud. An inscription of 48 B.C. refers to Julius Caesar as "god manifest offspring of Ares and Aphrodite and common savior of human life." Another inscription referring to Augustus Caesars says: "The Emperor Caesar, Son of God, god Augustus, overseer of land and sea."

These titles of "god," "son of god," and "lord" being common and widespread in the Mediterranean region about the time of Jesus could not but influence the general public who were not deeply infused with the Judaic monotheism. There were terms loosely used by all.

To return to the text of the Bible, when Jesus was brought before the court he refused to concur to the charge that he claimed to be the Son of God as madmen and pagans had been propagating about him; and the high priest stood up and said:

"Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?" But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus said to him. "You have said so. But I tell you hereafter you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."
Matthew 26:62-64

The three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke (called "synoptic" meaning common view because they agree in form and content) do not refer to Jesus as the "only" Son of God. It is the Gospel of John which lays special stress on the divinity of Jesus, and calls him, the Only Son of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwell among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
John 1:14

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

What is special about the use of the term Son of God? Going through the Bible we find such terms being used in reference to many others besides Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, all of it having been written before the birth of Jesus we find the following examples:

When men began to multiply on the face of the ground and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took wives such of them as they chose.
Genesis 6:1-2

On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Job 38:6-7

Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered, and in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people." It shall be said to them "Sons of the living God."
Hosea 1:10

Apparently, it was quite common practice before the time of Jesus even for Hebrew writers on religious subjects to use the term "sons of God" in reference to those who were beloved of God. An Italian biblical authority, Marcello Craveri, who wrote The Life of Jesus, however, believes that the term has in history undergone changes through mistranslation. He writes:

Actually, the Old Testament does contain the phrase ebed Yahweh, which means "the servant of God," "the slave of God," and "God's loyal subject." The Greek text of Septuagint translates it equivocally as pais Theou, in as much as pais, like the Latin puer, can mean either "little boy" or "slave," subsequently, it was quite simple to replace pais in the sense of "boy" with hyos, which means "son."

Indeed, in Hebrew literature even the term "god" seems to have been rather loosely used. In Exodus we read of God addressing Moses and telling him about the relation which would be between him and Aaron:

He shall speak for you to the people; and he shall be a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God.
Exodus 4:16

I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, you shall die like men and fall like any prince."
Psalm 82:6-7

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish.
Luke 6:35

In the Gospel according to Matthew Jesus is reported to say:

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.
Matthew 5:9

Paul in his letter to the Romans writes:

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Romans 8:14

The two men who are said to have done their utmost to ascribe divinity to Jesus Christ are John and Paul; and yet from the above quotation Paul definitely admits that Jesus was not the only son of God but "all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."

Let us see what John has to say, he who has coined the phrase, "the only son of God." In the course of an argument Jesus had with the Jews who wanted to stone him, he asked of them for which of the good works that he had shown them were they stoning him?

The Jews answered him, "We stone you for no good works but for blasphemy; because you being a man, make yourself God." Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in you law, I said, you are gods! If he called them gods to whom the word of God came, do you say of him of whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, "You are blaspheming" because I said "I am the son of God?"
John 10:33-36

In other words Jesus was pointing out to his Jewish persecutors that the term "Son of God" was no more blasphemous than the term "gods" which had been used in respect of others previous to him. At least that is what the writer of John's Gospel implies. Jesus' own personal preference was for the term "son of man," in Hebrew, Arabic, and Swahili: "Ben Adam," which just means "man." This is repeated no less than 80 times in the New Testament, mostly spoken by Jesus himself. Not once is he reported to categorically call himself the Son of God in any special sense.

Finally let us consider Christ's last words when he was about to ascend to heaven as related in the Gospel of John:

I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and you God.
John 20:17

It is very clear to understand what Jesus meant by this single sentence, that his son-ship was in no way different from the son-ship of all men.