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I’m Glad You Asked: Keep those ideas coming!

 
Carl Laferton | 12 Apr 2011

Thanks for those of you that have got in touch with helpful illustrations or stories that helpfully illustrate the biblical answer to some tough questions Christians often face.

Please do keep them coming.

Question number three: Wasn’t Jesus just a great teacher?

How would you answer?

Andrew

12:01 PM GMT on January 8th
thanks for the blog, i've been following it for a month or so now and it's been interesting and encouraging a number of times. I was recently struck by a verse in Mark 2 with regards to the idea of Jesus being just a good teacher and wrote it up here:

http://lipsforchips.blogspot.com/2011/03/messiah-or-very-naughty-boy.html

May or may not be useful but my meanderings almost inevitably ended up at CS Lewis' mad, bad or god trilemma. I think that is a good way to go when considering this question... If you did go down this route it might be interesting to go further and respond to the criticism of Lewis' construct, that the biblical Jesus isn't historical (i.e. the claim that the trilemma is false, and there are 4 choices - Liar, Lunatic, Lord or Legend). Not given it much thought, but i think there must a pretty solid response that can be constructed to show that "legend" really doesn't carry the same weight as an option for consideration - when looking at Gospel correlation, historical evidence outside of the bible, early gospel manuscripts to show that Jesus' claims of Deity were not later additions, etc.

Ian Foster

12:01 PM GMT on January 8th
If you take ALL that Jesus said, rather than just pick the bits you like, then you can't ever imagine he was just a good teacher. Even the single claim like "unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins" John 8:24 This cancels out all the good teaching UNLESS he was who he said he was.
As Andrew says above, you have four ways to respond to Jesus revelation of who he is.

Carl Laferton

Carl is Editorial Director at The Good Book Company and is a member of Grace Church Worcester Park, London. He is the best-selling author of The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross and God's Big Promises Bible Storybook, and also serves as series editor of the God's Word for You series. Before joining TGBC, he worked as a journalist and then as a teacher, and pastored a congregation in Hull. Carl is married to Lizzie, and they have two children. He studied history at Oxford University.