Jesus, the Crazy Liar-Lord
“Why do the heathen rage?”
Well there’s an interesting question, I suppose. Granted, it’s phrased perhaps a little harshly, or maybe it’s just language we’re not used to. In fact, it’s a quote from the Bible in good old King James English. It actually reads “Why do the nations rage?” (“Heathen” was common parlance for “nations” back then, I guess.)
Still, it’s a pretty weird picture coming out of the scriptures:
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? Psalms 2:1
I would never really think about things this way. But God does. And He says why it happens:
The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
“Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.” Psalms 2:2-3
If Jesus isn’t God, then is he a liar?
Why would Jesus perpetrate a hoax among the Jews, where it would be the hardest to sell? Why not in Egypt, which was polytheist at the time and would find it much easier to adopt another “god” into a pantheon of gods?
Perhaps he’s crazy?
Consider Jim Jones: he had a lot of people die for him. How do we know Jesus isn’t crazy as well?
The answer is obvious: Jones was wild-crazy, ranting and raving in the most ludicrous and incoherent manner. Not so for the teachings of Jesus. His teachings are considered a great model of emotional health by psychologists and even great secular thinkers up to the modern era–Jesus taught essential factors that build successful relationships. All this from a lunatic?
Making Sense of Jesus Christ
Consider this option:
but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. John 20:31
Jesus said* to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how canJohn 14:9
You say, ‘Show us the Father’? Jesus could be just precisely that: God the Father Himself, just as He claims.
- The Laodicean Revolution
- The Crux of Church Growth
You have no idea if Jesus said or did not say the things you think he said. The earliest manuscript of the new testament only goes back to fourth century, and with good reason I am sure…the church did not want the originals to continue in existence. Fact is, you cannot prove that Jesus even existed. All you have for evidence is your Bible and a quote from Josephus that most scholars, Christian and non, consider a forgery.
Your entire argument is vaccuous. I hope you awaken.
Sign me
Ex-Christian
Al, it sounds like you had a bad experience somewhere with Christianity. I’m interested in hearing more about that. Were you raised in a Christian home?
As for your dates and historical assertions, I can safely say you’d be in the vast minority among historians and archaeologists, especially since there’s more than 20,000 extant manuscripts of the New Testament, thousands of which significantly undermine your time-line. As a case in point, consider the Ryland fragment of John’s gospel which was in widespread distribution as far as Egypt–no later than 125 AD, and possibly as early as 90 AD. To be honest, I’m unaware of any serious scholarship secular or otherwise which doubts the historicity of Jesus Christ. It requires a great leap of faith to believe 4th-Century forgers were brilliant enough (or able) to coordinate all the numerous historical landmarks provided by the Gospel writers. These authors–if forgers–were intimately familiar with the details of early 1st Century Palestine, its people and culture.
I could go on, but I’m really more interested in your personal experience with Christianity…