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(The purpose of this page is to relate C.S. Lewis' argument that it is not
rational to claim that Jesus was merely a great moral teacher, but nothing
more.)
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<B><FONT SIZE=+2>Was Jesus Merely a Great Moral Teacher?</FONT></B>
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<I><BIG>There are many today who prefer to place Jesus Christ in a category
with other "great religious leaders" such as Buddha, Mohammed, etc.
Their attitude is that there have been many great religious leaders, including
Jesus, who have been helpful to the human race by encouraging good morals,
etc. But they would believe that these men were, after all, mere
men.</BIG></I>
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<I><BIG>Perhaps you would prefer to believe that Jesus was a great religious
leader, but certainly not God Himself. If so, the following excerpt from
C.S. Lewis's book, Mere Christianity, should help dispel that notion. These
words are worth some serious meditation!</BIG></I>
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<BIG>"Yet (and this is the strange, significant thing) even His enemies,
when they read the Gospels, do not usually get the impression of silliness
and conceit. Still less do unprejudiced readers. Christ says that He is 'humble
and meek' and we believe Him; not noticing that, if He were merely a man,
humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we could attribute
to some of His sayings.</BIG>
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<BIG>"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing
that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral
teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we
must <I>not</I> say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things
Jesus said would <I>not</I> be a great moral teacher. He would either be
a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else
he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man
was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. <I>You
can shut Him for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or
you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with
any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not
left that open to us. He did not intend to.</I>"</BIG>
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<BIG>(C.S. Lewis, <I>Mere Christianity</I>, pp. 55-56)</BIG>
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