Quote:
Originally Posted by Makarov
I'm afraid that you're missing the entire point. I propose to file Jesus under the heading "people who hear voices, etc.) On what pricipled basis can one distinguish between his supernatural claims, the Dalia Lama's, and the claims of the guy on the bus?
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ahh, I see, I was missing your point. I would imagine people tested what Jesus said in that day too (assuming his existence and the correctness of the gospels). I don't know how people tested what he said, except against scripture (as he does quote scripture - Old Testament).
on what basis can one distinguish between Jesus, the dali lama and the bus guy?
I'm not sure.
people in Jesus time would have seen his miracles, so to me that would be one test (and likely the most significant). if he actually did the miracles that the bible says he did, that's more than the bus guy or the dali lama.
his teaching gets at the heart of what God wants from us, and wasn't for his gain (he knew on some level he would be crucified for what he was saying).
also the scripture prophecies he fulfilled, like where he was born, how he died (on a cross) and rose and other things.
the miracle of him arising from the dead when everyone would have said he was dead.
people then did criticize what he said, the pharisees (the religious elite of the time) wanted to crucify him for what he said (probably more because he was becoming more popular than them and called them a brood of vipers etc though).
the idea of him being the sacrifice has alot of context when you look at old testament requirements of sacrifice for sin. Matthews whole gospel was about trying to prove to the Jews that Jesus was the messiah they had been waiting for and had been prophesied.
maybe it isn't fair to weigh the guy on the bus against Jesus, but don't think everyone just accepted what Jesus said and didn't question it. I am not sure how you would test the guy on the bus, but maybe if he did some miracles or fulfilled some prophecies I might be more inclined to believe what he says.