Quote:
Originally Posted by MS Fowler
This is another popular misconception.
Jesus, if the historical records are to be believed, did not leave you the option of accepting him as a goor moral teacher.
He made specific claims to be God.
He claimed that He was the only way to eternal life.
He was either the Creator-God who was made man, or he was a liar or a lunatic.
CS Lewis said it better than I:
C.S. Lewis 'Mere Christianity' page 56
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a good moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg-or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great moral teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
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This argument makes about as much sense if you substituted the word
Santa Clause for Jesus.
Of course there is all sorts of room between being a lunatic and god.
And one of the spots in between is a teacher.
There is no way that the bible can be a factual account of history.
Not possible.
You cannot literally interpret all that the bible says and come up with
any kind of coherent way to live your life.
Even the 10 commandments are absolutely impossible for even one
human being to adhere to, let alone all men.
You simply must see the stories of the bible as metaphors written to
teach moral stories.
At least if you plan to keep your sanity for very long.
RichC
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