Perhaps I was not entirely clear, I never said that I only thought of Jesus as a great teacher. I actually agree with Gerald’s understanding of the divinity of Jesus. I intentionally phrased my response in the alternative, so that I would be able to make the point that the life and example of Jesus is crucial to Christianity and to be emulated. His message is timeless. It is as relevant to society today as it was thousands of years ago. You cannot remove him from the faith, Whether you believe in his divinity or not, his teachings still hold power and legitimacy for modern man.

If you read the contemporaneous histories written at the time of Jesus, even historians who had every reason to disprove Jesus’ divinity could not. In particular, Josephus, a Pharisaic historian, acknowledged that Jesus did miracles and was raised from the dead. Tacitus, a Roman historian, also acknowledged the same thing. This was based upon the eyewitness accounts of thousands. Neither particularly wanted to arrive at this conclusion, but it was inescapable.

In the case of Josephus, being a Jewish elder, the last thing he wanted was for this nascent set of troublesome beliefs to gain power and influence and undermine the Jewish authorities. He ultimately concluded that the miracles performed by Jesus and his being raised from the dead was due to the fact that he made a pact with the devil. The people of the time found this conclusion laughable. As for Tacitus, he knew groups with potentially rebellious beliefs were the last thing Rome wanted. It could create further problems in its far-flung empire. They both had every reason to prove that Jesus was merely a man. The problem is that they couldn’t.

Then you have to look at the behavior of the 12 apostles and the many who would later become disciples after Jesus‘s resurrection. After his death, they all hid in fear. After his resurrection, they became bold and 11 of the apostles died horrible deaths. They went from timid men to courageous ones. What happened? We could debate this for days, but if your conclusion is based merely upon reading a couple Bible verses and superficially looking at other belief systems of the time, you have not done anywhere enough research to fully understand the miraculous nature of the events surrounding Jesus‘s life. In saying this, I am not entirely discounting other belief traditions. I think many people have had an experience of the divine throughout the ages which is shared in other sacred literature.

For whatever reason, God chose an insignificant little country 2000 years ago to bring his divinity to earth in the form of a man. That is the reason that billions have become Christians and why it continues to have power today.

The unfortunate thing is that what is good and pure about Christianity has been hijacked by too many who use it as a club to control others. They do not understand the message. They have distorted it for their own self-serving, self righteous and judgmental purposes. Their understanding is the exact opposite of what it means to be truly Christian. That is the issue that really needs to be addressed. Modern day evangelical beliefs are a gross caricature of the authentic faith. They are rightly rejected and condemned by most thinking people. Unfortunately, too many cannot discern the difference between the core beliefs of authentic Christianity and this evil obscenity, so they reject Christianity completely. This is unfortunate. When one takes time to understand how Jesus calls is to live and treat our fellow human beings, the message is quite simply life-changing.