What If Jesus Wasn't the Son of God?
When it comes to the most famous people ever to exist on the face of the Earth, none have become as well known as a simple Jewish carpenter who lived 2,000 years ago in what is today Northern Israel. This man, who the world knows as Jesus, has had quite the long list of descriptions and attributes associated with him, the greatest of which claimed he was the Son of God!
I have to wonder how much the title of "Son of God" would influence and maybe even skew the memory of an individual? Over the course of history it seems common that the legacy of a famed individual will continue to grow until the reputation of that person becomes "larger than life." We can see this occurring in the lives of people who lived much more recently than Jesus as historians are now revealing that events like Lady Godiva's famed nude horse back ride likely never happened, or that Betsy Ross, although a documented flag maker for the colonial United States, most likely did NOT make the very first American flag. There even exists a famous story of the Roman Emperor Nero fiddling while Rome burned even thought the fiddle didn't exist until hundreds of years later.
If such exaggerations can take place about so many others, then why would it not make sense that some of these things can and have occurred with the most famous human of all? Keep in mind the stuff of legends surrounding these people was through no fault of their own but the people who came after them. It is human nature to build things up to the point of folklore.....just ask your average fisherman.
So when it comes to Jesus, what if we gave skeptics permission to consider the idea that maybe he wasn't the "Son of God?" What if the miracles were, like so many other stories surrounding characters if history, simply exaggerations and lore? What would be the effects of such a thing?
After all, how many times in your life have you immediately stopped taking a story seriously as soon as you heard an impossible fact mentioned. The old, "Yeah right!" moment. How many people in todays world immediately stop listening as soon as things like walking on water or multiplying loaves start getting brought up?
But what would happen if we took someone like Jesus and stripped away all of the supernatural allure surrounding him? All that would really be left would be his teachings. Teachings about love, about forgiveness, about living in the moment, about accepting one another. One of the amazing things about Jesus is that these teachings, if applied by everyone, would change the world, it would literally create a Heaven on Earth if we all lived our lives like he taught. But....that fact is obscured by miracles and stories of the fantastic. Stories that now have his followers more interested in moving mountains and performing feats than simply learning to love someone who is different than they are.
As for me, do I believe Jesus was the Son of God......the answer is "yes." But I don't believe this because of the miracles.......I believe it because what He taught has so much power to change the world that he didn't need the miracles.
I have to wonder how much the title of "Son of God" would influence and maybe even skew the memory of an individual? Over the course of history it seems common that the legacy of a famed individual will continue to grow until the reputation of that person becomes "larger than life." We can see this occurring in the lives of people who lived much more recently than Jesus as historians are now revealing that events like Lady Godiva's famed nude horse back ride likely never happened, or that Betsy Ross, although a documented flag maker for the colonial United States, most likely did NOT make the very first American flag. There even exists a famous story of the Roman Emperor Nero fiddling while Rome burned even thought the fiddle didn't exist until hundreds of years later.
If such exaggerations can take place about so many others, then why would it not make sense that some of these things can and have occurred with the most famous human of all? Keep in mind the stuff of legends surrounding these people was through no fault of their own but the people who came after them. It is human nature to build things up to the point of folklore.....just ask your average fisherman.
So when it comes to Jesus, what if we gave skeptics permission to consider the idea that maybe he wasn't the "Son of God?" What if the miracles were, like so many other stories surrounding characters if history, simply exaggerations and lore? What would be the effects of such a thing?
After all, how many times in your life have you immediately stopped taking a story seriously as soon as you heard an impossible fact mentioned. The old, "Yeah right!" moment. How many people in todays world immediately stop listening as soon as things like walking on water or multiplying loaves start getting brought up?
But what would happen if we took someone like Jesus and stripped away all of the supernatural allure surrounding him? All that would really be left would be his teachings. Teachings about love, about forgiveness, about living in the moment, about accepting one another. One of the amazing things about Jesus is that these teachings, if applied by everyone, would change the world, it would literally create a Heaven on Earth if we all lived our lives like he taught. But....that fact is obscured by miracles and stories of the fantastic. Stories that now have his followers more interested in moving mountains and performing feats than simply learning to love someone who is different than they are.
As for me, do I believe Jesus was the Son of God......the answer is "yes." But I don't believe this because of the miracles.......I believe it because what He taught has so much power to change the world that he didn't need the miracles.
I've been thinking about this post for awhile now, Will. Back in the late 1990s when I began studying the Bible and decided to become a Christian, I asked my pastor this question, "What if Jesus wasn't the Son of God? What if he was just a good guy who said so many amazing things? Why do I have to believe them both? Why can't I just believe what he said?" My pastor's answer at the time was: "He claimed to be the Son of God; if he wasn't, then he was a liar. If he lied about this, how can you believe anything else he said? Either he was the Son of God and everything he said was true, or he was a liar, and we can't believe anything he said." That answer has never sat well with me. I know the Bible is supposed to be divinely inspired, but isn't it possible that the later writers embellished? Or, isn't it possible that Jesus said things like "I am the son of God, we are all children of God," but his words were changed later for effect? That kind of either/or all or nothing thinking is what scares me away from most churches. I'm no Biblical scholar, but I think the overall message of Love should be more important than the legalistic details. Isn't that what Jesus meant, anyway?
ReplyDeleteHey Fran!
ReplyDeleteI think this one has a lot to do with the importance of faith as a pillar in Christianity (well any religion really).
As you know I tend to slant my writings toward appealing to the skeptic and skeptics have a hard time with some of the more fantastic claims of Christianity. What many people don't realize is that most of the miracles Christ performed were extremely symbolic and unfortunately many miss the real meaning of the story because we get caught up in the supernatural aspects of the story.
What I really like about your comment is your complete honesty about your thoughts and concerns. It shows you are thinking all this through for yourself and not just basing your faith on what someone else says. I think God is big enough to handle this even though it seems to have been discouraged through the centuries.
We do have to remember that the Scriptures do need to have some credibility if they are to remain believable so there is a tension there we have to maintain when we are consider the validity of something we base our faith.
You are right, all or nothing can be a dangerous mindset but so can picking and choosing. That's what makes Christianity so beautiful as it requires a personal and intimate involvement in your own growth.