Then why did you cut out the remainder of my post in which I proceeded
to do so?
>The premise is that Jesus was an
>historical figure whose words are generally preserved in the bible. If
>this is true, the only options are:
>
> 1) Jesus thought He was NOT the Son of God (DECEIVER)
And if he was, so what? Perhaps that was his one character flaw -- his
eccentricity, if you will. He was a good man who did everything in his
power to bring peace to the world, but he also liked to have a little fun
by pretending to be the son of a supernatural being. Where's the harm in
that?
> 2) Jesus thought He was the Son of God but wasn't (DELUDED)
Again, if he was, so what? People can believe in something irrational and
still be relatively normal and well-balanced otherwise. But, of course,
I went over all of this in the parts of my post which you deleted. Did you
even read it?
> 3) Jesus thought He was the Son of God and in fact was/is (DEITY)
>
>Now *ALL* the Lunatic/Liar/Lord concept says, or rather should say, is that
>1) and 2) are the only alternatives for a person who does not accept 3).
>The dilemma is in the fact that neither of these two seem likely to be true
>of a person whose statements comprise arguably the most sagacitous and
>lofty moral teachings of all time.
Why not? Why is it hard to believe that a person can be incredibly wise and
resourceful in some areas, and completely irrational in others?
Albert Einstein is commonly regarded as one of the most brilliant physicists
ever to live -- and I think rightfully so. He developed two of the cornerstones
of modern physics (special and general relativity) pretty much on his own. And
yet this brilliant, extraordinary physicist refused to accept the overwhelming
evidence for the nature of quantum mechanics. Why? Because "God doesn't play
dice
with the universe". Now that was an irrational argument, and one that led him
into a delusion. Did it make him a lunatic? No. Does it take away any of the
respect we have for his accomplishments? No. It merely reminds us that he was
only human.
_____________________________________________________________
| Russell Stewart |
| http://www.rt66.com/diamond/ |
|_____________________________________________________________|
| Albuquerque, New Mexico | diamond@rt66.com |
|_____________________________|_______________________________|
2 + 2 = 5, for very large values of 2.