I overheard a Christian intellectual discussing his views about the “historical Jesus” today. I didn’t hear the complete conversation, nor did I involve myself in the discussion. However, I added the arguments in with what I have read and heard from progressive Christians over the last six months to a year. This is not an argument meant to convince you of Jesus divinity, only the Holy Spirit can accomplish that. This is about the efficacy of Scripture within the church.
What he said was that Jesus had a certain set of teachings on humanity, many based in the Torah. But that after his death his followers, in the interest of keeping the movement alive, attributed words and actions to him that didn’t happen. One of his arguments was that the writings followed, in his words, “a hundred years after Christ died.” I felt the urge to correct him at that point, considering that the latest,the Gospel of John, was an eyewitness account. Estimates say c. 100 A.D., and since John was an adult when he walked with Jesus, this seems like a late date. The earliest estimates are for Mark, in the 60’s, 30 years after the crucifixion. So he based his argument on a lie (he has a Ph.D. and is ordained, so he knows better), and went from there.
This goes along with the meme that Jesus’ early followers didn’t believe that he was divine, but his later followers attributed it to him. But that is easily refuted by the works of Paul and Luke. Even if you question Paul’s authorship of all 13 epistles, the ones we agree on were all written before 65 A.D., when he was executed by the Romans. Also, it is believed by some that because the Acts of the Apostles, written by Paul’s follower Luke, did not include an account of his death, it and Luke’s gospel were also written before 65. The first written account of Christian theology is from Galatians, Romans, and 1&2 Corinthians, written from 48-56. It is quite clear that the early followers believed, and the Apostles taught, Jesus’ divinity.
Beyond that, if Jesus wasn’t divine, there is no reason to follow him. That means there was no resurrection, which means there is no power in the blood, no point to the crucifixion. It means there is no hope in him, and that we have no revelation of God. If he’s not divine, what’s the point in following his teachings? What’s the reward?
I try to live a moral life out of gratitude for the gift of salvation. If Jesus wasn’t divine, there was no gift given, only a philosophy. And frankly, there are more logical philosophies out there. But that fact doesn’t bother me, because I believe that Jesus is God. And I believe what Paul says in 1 Corinthians:
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel�not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[c]Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.1 Cor. 1:17-25
Now that you’ve read the whole thing, let that bold text ring in your ears. The wisdom of man, which is foolishness to God, robs the cross of its power. Paul is telling us that people are going to say and teach all sorts of things that redirect the attention and the emphasis and the glory from Christ and his work on the cross.
Qoheleth would tell us that if Jesus wasn’t divine, all of the good works we do in his name, and the people we bring to his teachings, and the wisdom we amass about him and about our world, are meaningless. Where then would our hope be?
“‘Vanity of vanities!’ says the Preacher. ‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.’”
Related: On Conversation..., I Don’t Think I Want to Be Christian Anymore, To Err Is Human...Inerrancy Is Divine.
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[...] This is the heart of it. The upper echelons of Episcopal Church authority have begun to set the Bible’s “lesser teachings” aside in favor of a policy that goes something like, “Love your neighbor, even if that means ignoring some of Jesus other commands.” I don’t know what other issues will arise in the future, but right now we have a large number of Christians who believe everyone on earth is saved, regardless of their acceptance or rejection of the Gospel; many who believe that the idea of Jesus’ divinity was added in later. This break isn’t about ordination, it’s about theology and the position of the Bible in the church. [...]