Part 1 (1/2)

The Mistakes of Jesus.

by William Floyd.

FOREWORD

The tradition regarding Jesus is so glamorous that it is difficult to review his life and character with an unbiased mind. While Fundamentalists and Modernists differ regarding the divinity of Christ, all Christians and many non-Christians still cling to preconceived notions of the perfection of Jesus. He alone among men is revered as all-loving, omniscient, faultless--an unparalleled model for mankind.

This convention of the impeccability of Jesus is so firmly established that any insinuation of error on his part is deemed a blasphemy.

Doubting Jesus is more impious than mocking G.o.d Almighty. Jehovah may be exposed to some extent with impunity; a G.o.d who destroyed 70,000 of his chosen people because their king took a census[1] is too illogical for any but theologians to wors.h.i.+p. But the Son of G.o.d, or Son of man, is sacrosanct. Jesus is reverenced as the one man who has lived unspotted by the world, free from human foibles, able to redeem mankind by his example.

Respect for the principles of Jesus is so inbred in American people of all faiths that an attempt to disparage his worth is denounced as bad taste. The detractor is suspected of being an immoral person, no matter how convincing may be the proof which he presents. A conspiracy of silence is directed against any system of ethics advanced as superior to the Sermon on the Mount. In popular opinion Jesus never made a mistake; all his teachings were infallible; no other view is tolerated.

_Face the Facts_

This unwillingness to acknowledge the shortcomings of Jesus is partially due to fear of sustaining a great loss. The familiar answer to heretical arguments is that faith should not be destroyed unless something can be put in its place--ignoring the fact that something always may be subst.i.tuted for beliefs destroyed. That subst.i.tute is faith in the world as it really is. And our modern world, with all its shortcomings, is infinitely preferable to the earth, or even the heaven, of the first century. We now know that man can do more to eradicate sorrow than Jesus ever thought of. We can have greater confidence in the world as revealed today than in the doubtful traditions of Biblical times.

But suppose there were nothing to subst.i.tute for the myth destroyed, should that deter the Truthseeker from continuing his investigation?

Scientists do not hesitate in their research because the result of a new discovery may be disastrous. They seek the facts regardless of consequences; they want to know the Truth about the physical world.

Ethicists should have a similar desire concerning the metaphysical world. They should have confidence that the Supreme Intelligence (as Edison called it) will lead on to better things.

_The True Jesus_

If Jesus was what his followers believe, no arguments will destroy their faith in him; but if Jesus was not perfect, according to modern standards, it is important that his status as G.o.d, or man, should be revised. Loss of confidence in an erring idol is not loss of a true ideal.

When an iconoclast a.s.serts that Jesus lacked supreme intelligence, the natural question is, ”How do you know that you are right in your appraisal, 'lest haply ye be found even to fight against G.o.d'?” The answer is that we do not claim omniscience, but merely request everyone to use his or her own judgment, with intellectual honesty, examining each act or saying of Jesus without regard to presupposed ideas or tradition.

_Scriptures Unauthentic_

The consensus of scholars.h.i.+p has rejected the creation of the universe in six days in 4004 B.C., science having proved the existence of the world for millions of years. Higher Critics refuse to credit the book of Genesis, according to the first chapter of which the trees, beasts and fowls were created before man, but according to the second chapter after man. It is not a.s.suming too much for the humblest writer to say that Moses was mistaken concerning many things he described in the Pentateuch. It follows that if one important portion of the Bible is untrustworthy, other parts of that same book may not be the infallible Word of G.o.d. The New Testament, as well as the Old, may be examined critically, and if the gospels contain numerous contradictions, the statements of the authors on any point, including the life of Jesus, are open to question. A conscientious person should reach conclusions based upon the best knowledge obtainable from all sources.

If anyone is convinced that Jesus made mistakes, he is not necessarily compelled to become an atheist. All other G.o.ds that have been wors.h.i.+pped by men have been found imperfect. The oft exposed errors of Jehovah do not prevent Christians and Jews from professing belief in G.o.d. Those who require support from outside themselves cling to the symbol of deity though not thoroughly crediting any personality ever described in any sacred scriptures. Except Jesus.

An Evolutionist pa.s.ses beyond the negative denial of G.o.d to the construction of a new philosophy in which Truth is his guide, Truth being the nearest approximation to reality obtainable with our present knowledge. Belief in the world as it is now, and as it is going to be, is a sufficient creed.

_Faith in Jesus_

With Jesus entrenched in popular opinion, there is small probability that faith in him will be shaken unless there is a preponderance of evidence against his divinity. No one need abandon faith in Jesus until convinced that something better has been found. No one should even expose himself to heretical arguments unless he is a devotee of Truth.

Then only can he rejoice at a revelation of error in confidence that the more nearly the universe is understood the better can man adjust himself to his surroundings. A wors.h.i.+pper of Truth fears no destruction of false G.o.ds, nor any facts that may cause him to throw over treasured superst.i.tions. He is willing to prove all things and hold fast to that which is true. He rejoices when his idol is shattered, knowing that he is approaching nearer to the true way of living, a way that Jesus did not adequately explain.

Any attempt to censure the character of Jesus will meet with the ridicule it deserves unless substantiated by doc.u.mentary evidence. The mere improbability of events contrary to natural laws does not destroy the ethical value of the teachings of the Nazarene. Anything might have happened in the eerie days of old; the critic must do more than deny the historicity of Jesus and the inspiration of the Bible. To be convincing he must derive from the scriptures in which Christians believe whatever proof can be deduced to unveil the superst.i.tion of a redeeming Savior.

_Doc.u.mentary Evidence_