Monday, October 03, 2016

Was Jesus a poached egg?

Jesus stands out from every other person in history. He has no equal or even any similar. His story is unique, His character is unblemished, His justice is unassailable, His power is unlimited, His wisdom is unequaled, His love is relentless. He is surprising, accepting, shocking, encouraging, unconventional, frustrating, incomprehensible, compassionate, uncompromising, just, comforting, disconcerting, affirming, convicting, authentic, frustrating, inspiring, patient, sorrowful, joyful, angry, inviting, consistent, unpredictable, greatly loved, hated, forgiving, judging, kind, truthful, trustworthy, humble, confident, and above all, He is LOVE. C. S. Lewis argued cogently that the alternative to believing that Jesus is God is to believe that He was insane or demonic: “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 great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the 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 patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to . . . Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.” (Mere Christianity, 55-56) Was Lewis’ logic sound? This blog argues “yes.” https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/justintaylor/2016/02/01/is-c-s-lewiss-liar-lord-or-lunatic-argument-unsound/ Whatever people believe about religion, Bible interpretations, dogma, Christians, or the church, they must still reckon with Jesus. He stands above and over them all. They must all be defined by Him, not vice versa.

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