In the Gospels, Jesus makes numerous references to his divinity:
John 8:58: Jesus takes the divine name "I AM" for himself, from Exodus 3:14.
John 6:48: Jesus says, "I am that bread of life".
John 10:14: Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd".
John 8:12: Jesus says, "I am the light of the world".
John 11:25: Jesus says, "I am the resurrection, and the life".
John 14:6: Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life".
Mark 2:23-28: Jesus claims to be the Lord of the Sabbath, with authority over it.
Matthew 11:27 and John 14:1-7: Jesus says that the way to the Father is through him.
Many atheists and even some progressive Christians have argued that Jesus was not divine. Instead, they claim he was merely a wise teacher, but the above passages make it clear that Jesus said he was much more than this. If what Jesus said was incorrect, if he was just a mere man, then he must have been either delusional or a conman.
But the conman argument doesn’t hold up at all. First, there are the healings and miracles that he reportedly performed. If he was a fraud, if he did not perform any miracles, then why would such large crowds flock to him wherever he went (which was clearly enough to alarm the Jewish authorities). There is no other plausible explanation as to how he was able to attract so many followers. It is also telling that the Jewish authorities never claim that Jesus was unable to heal people. They never challenged the authenticity of the miracles that occurred. Wouldn’t this have been the best line of attack? We have to conclude that enough people witnessed Jesus’s miracles that there was no plausible way anyone could deny their legitimacy.
There is another problem with the idea that Jesus was a conman. Why would a conman have set himself up to be crucified? If Jesus did not believe he was the Son of God and that his crucifixion was necessary, then why would he have willingly taken a path that he knew would lead to his death?
This leaves us with the “delusional” argument, that Jesus incorrectly believed he was the divine Son of God. However, this also is problematic. Why? Because Jesus as depicted in the Gospels consistently displayed a very high level of intelligence, the kind of intelligence that a delusional person could not possibly have had. Consider the numerous debates Jesus had with the Jewish authorities in which he managed to outwit them at every turn (The most notable of these was “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s”). The many parables that Jesus spoke were also brilliant, and some of them had multiple meanings. And what about the Sermon on the Mount? Do any of these seem like they could have been uttered by someone who was delusional or a madman?
When you take all this into account, the “delusional” argument seems absurd. The only remaining possibility is that Jesus was indeed divine.
Of course, some will respond to this article by arguing that Jesus was a myth or, if he was indeed a real person, that the story of his resurrection was fabricated by others. My response to these allegations is in another article on this site: The case for the legitimacy of the Gospels and that Jesus was not a myth.
John 8:58: Jesus takes the divine name "I AM" for himself, from Exodus 3:14.
John 6:48: Jesus says, "I am that bread of life".
John 10:14: Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd".
John 8:12: Jesus says, "I am the light of the world".
John 11:25: Jesus says, "I am the resurrection, and the life".
John 14:6: Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life".
Mark 2:23-28: Jesus claims to be the Lord of the Sabbath, with authority over it.
Matthew 11:27 and John 14:1-7: Jesus says that the way to the Father is through him.
Many atheists and even some progressive Christians have argued that Jesus was not divine. Instead, they claim he was merely a wise teacher, but the above passages make it clear that Jesus said he was much more than this. If what Jesus said was incorrect, if he was just a mere man, then he must have been either delusional or a conman.
But the conman argument doesn’t hold up at all. First, there are the healings and miracles that he reportedly performed. If he was a fraud, if he did not perform any miracles, then why would such large crowds flock to him wherever he went (which was clearly enough to alarm the Jewish authorities). There is no other plausible explanation as to how he was able to attract so many followers. It is also telling that the Jewish authorities never claim that Jesus was unable to heal people. They never challenged the authenticity of the miracles that occurred. Wouldn’t this have been the best line of attack? We have to conclude that enough people witnessed Jesus’s miracles that there was no plausible way anyone could deny their legitimacy.
There is another problem with the idea that Jesus was a conman. Why would a conman have set himself up to be crucified? If Jesus did not believe he was the Son of God and that his crucifixion was necessary, then why would he have willingly taken a path that he knew would lead to his death?
This leaves us with the “delusional” argument, that Jesus incorrectly believed he was the divine Son of God. However, this also is problematic. Why? Because Jesus as depicted in the Gospels consistently displayed a very high level of intelligence, the kind of intelligence that a delusional person could not possibly have had. Consider the numerous debates Jesus had with the Jewish authorities in which he managed to outwit them at every turn (The most notable of these was “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s”). The many parables that Jesus spoke were also brilliant, and some of them had multiple meanings. And what about the Sermon on the Mount? Do any of these seem like they could have been uttered by someone who was delusional or a madman?
When you take all this into account, the “delusional” argument seems absurd. The only remaining possibility is that Jesus was indeed divine.
Of course, some will respond to this article by arguing that Jesus was a myth or, if he was indeed a real person, that the story of his resurrection was fabricated by others. My response to these allegations is in another article on this site: The case for the legitimacy of the Gospels and that Jesus was not a myth.