Was Jesus just a good man?

The historical information we have on Jesus is found primarily in four first century accounts which claim in various ways to be based on eyewitness testimony. Collectively known as the Gospels, these documents received wide circulation during living memory of the events described, and opened themselves to challenge by other eye-witnesses. The four documents present a coherent but diverse picture of Jesus..

In recent years, the popularity of the 'Da Vinci Code' has given widespread currency to the claim that an alternative picture of Jesus is presented in the Nag Hammadi Codices, and specifically in the so-called Gospel of Thomas. In fact there is no evidence that any such gospel existed before the middle of the 2nd century. In other words, 120 years passed between the death of Jesus Christ and the appearance of these documents. Although Dan Brown's book became an international best-seller, the Nag Hammadi Codices do not give any new information about Jesus Christ that has any historical validity.

The claims Jesus made about himself

People sometimes say that Jesus never claimed to God or the Son of God. In fact, in the Gospels Jesus not only claims to be the Son of God (Matthew 26:63-64), but others around him also described him as calling himself Son of God (eg Matthew 27:40). He also allows people to worship him (Matthew 14:33, Luke 24:52, John 9:38), and, crucially, he called himself by the divine name "I AM" which was considered so sacred by the Jews that to pronounce it was to face the death penalty (John 8:55-59) . The other claims that Jesus made about himself was that he was the "light of the world" (John 8:12), and that people who trusted in him would have eternal life and would rise from the dead.

Was he right or wrong?

Jesus's claims about himself run right through the Gospels, and it is impossible to come up with any kind of picture of Jesus which remotely connects with the evidence that does not involve these claims. Faced with these claims, we have to accept that they were either true or untrue. If what he said was true, then we can no longer see him as just a 'good man'. Because the claims Jesus made about himself have a direct impact on our own lives. Anybody who accepts this really has to move straight towards becoming a Christian. Click here to read more on this >>>

What if he was wrong?

So what if Jesus was wrong about his claims? Could we see him as essentially a good man who made some incorrect claims?

What if he was wrong and knew it?

What if Jesus knew that he was not the Son of God, but told people he was anyway? Could he still have been a good man? People sometimes argue that Jesus made false claims with good intentions. But this really won't wash - if he was lying, then Jesus did not slightly mislead people for their own good. Of the original twelve disciples, ten were executed for their faith. One committed suicide because he had betrayed Jesus. The remaining disciple lived most of his final years in a concentration camp for his faith. In the first two-hundred years of the Christian church, tens or hundreds of thousands of Christians were put to death for their faith. During the 20th century, it has been estimated that hundreds of thousands of Christians died each year for their faith. All these people died in the confidence that faith in Jesus would give them eternal life. This is not just an unfortunate consequence of Jesus's teaching. He explicitly instructs his followers to be willing to lay down their lives for him.

If Jesus was not the Son of God, and he knew it, then he was one of the most despicable liars in history, and the religion he founded was the world's most damaging confidence trick. Nobody could call such a person 'good' in any real sense of the word.

What if we was wrong, but believed it himself?

But what if Jesus was not the Son of God, but sincerely believed that he was? In other words, what if he was misguided or deluded on the subject? Most people are misguided or deluded on some subject.  For example, people play the Lottery in the belief that eventually their numbers will come up, although statistically the vast majority of people will lose money. However, when people have delusions about their own identity, they are considered to have severe problems with what in mental health is called "sense of reality". I might be misguided or deluded about the likely results of the Lottery, or the winner of a horse race, or whether or not my team will win the league. But if I am misguided about whether or not I am the Son of God and divine myself, then I am suffering from the most profound mental disorder. If Jesus was in fact misguided, then he also suffered severe hallucinations. For example, the story of Jesus resisting the devil in the desert in Luke 4 could only be an account that he gave himself to his disciples. If Jesus was not the Son of God, but believed that he was, then he was completely mad, to the extent that he could not possibly have led any kind of a normal life.

So which was he?

Jesus Christ was either mad, lying, or he really was the Son of God. There have been a lot of attempts to discredit the teachings of Jesus at various times, but nobody has ever made a successful case for saying that he was mad. In fact, all the evidence from his teachings would suggest that Jesus Christ was the sanest, most balanced person who ever lived.

At the same time, nobody has ever come up with a convincing argument for saying that Jesus was a liar. The simple reason is that Jesus Christ was put to death because he refused to deny his claims.   We could imagine a great confidence trickster claiming to be the Son of God in order to gain fame, fortune and success. There have been several people in the 20th and 21st centuries who claimed to be gods of various kinds, or who founded religions and became wealthy as a result. But a great confidence trickster would not die for their lie. In fact, there is no record of Jesus ever becoming wealthy. His popularity stemmed from his teaching and his authoritative personality — all the evidence suggests that his claim to be the Son of God made him less popular not more popular. What's more, although Jesus clearly stated that the was he Son of God, most of the time he referred to himself as 'Son of Man'. Unlike a confidence trickster selling his story, Jesus actually held back his most outstanding claims.

Logically speaking, we are left with just one choice, if he was not mad, and if he was not a liar. But this is a choice with profound implications for our lives. Click here to find out about how to become a Christian >>>

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