Q. Perhaps Jesus was neither God nor a liar. Perhaps He sincerely believed He was God.
A.But if Jesus wasn't really God, then He was still a bad man, even though sincere. He was not morally bad (He did not deliberately deceive people); He was mentally bad (He was deceived himself). A lunatic may not be wicked, but he is not much more trustworthy than a liar.
As in either Jesus believed His own claim to be God, or He did not. If He did, He was a lunatic. If He did not, He was a liar. Unless, of course, He was (is) God.
Q. Why could He not be either a liar or a lunatic?
A.Because of His character. There are two things everyone admits about Jesus' character: He was wise and He is good. He wisely and cannily saw into people's hearts, behind their words. He solved insolvable problems. He also gave totally to others, including his very life. A lunatic is the opposite of wise, and a liar is the opposite of good.
If on the other hand, Jesus was a liar, then He had to have been the most clever, cunning, Machiavellian, blasphemously wicked, satanic deceiver the world has ever known, successfully seducing billions into giving up their eternal souls into His hands. If orthodox Christianity is a lie, it is by far the biggest and baddest lie ever told, and Jesus is the biggest and baddest liar.
Q. But in every way Jesus was morally impeccable.
A. Correct. He had all the virtues soft and hard, tender and tough. He was unselfish, loving, caring, compassionate, and passionate about teaching truth and helping others to truth.
Further, He died for His "lie". What would motivate a selfish, evil liar to do that? Liars lie for selfish reasons, like money, fame, pleasure or power. Jesus gave up all worldly goods, and life itself. We have never known anyone who thought Jesus was a deliberate liar. That would be more bizarre than calling Mother Teresa a party animal.
But if Jesus must be either Lord, liar or lunatic, and He cannot be either liar or lunatic, then He must be Lord.
Q. Wow! Ok. So let's summarise all of what we've said so far because I have to admit these arguments are totally new to me but I really like them!
A. So. Jesus claimed to be God. Either He was, or He wasn't. If He wasn't, He either knew that He wasn't or He didn't. These are the only possibilities. The first means He is Lord, the second means He is a liar and the third means He is a lunatic.
Q. He couldn't be a liar because...
A. Because He has the wrong psychological profile giving up all the benefits we know that lies are intended to achieve. It brought Him hatred, rejection, misunderstanding, persecution, torture and death.
Secondly, He could not have hoped that His "lie" would be successful, for the Jews were the least likely people in the world to have worshiped a man, and Jesus, as a Jew, would have known that. In fact, we see Him at every step of His life's way fully knowing and predicting His own execution and claiming that He came to earth precisely for that reason: to suffer and die.
To be continued...
Happy Pentecost Sunday!
4th June 2017