C.S. Lewis wrote a book entitled Mere
Christianity; originally it was given as a series of Radio Talks during
World War II and later published as a book. It is Christianity’s answers to the
most difficult questions facing the human race, such as Where did we did we come from?
What are we doing here? How did this world get so messed up? Lewis
believed that Christianity provided the most logical answers to these and other
pertinent questions. He believed the Bible’s answers were more cogent than
other philosophies and rival religions. One of the greatest misconceptions of
Christianity according to Lewis is exactly who is Jesus. Was he a lunatic, a
good moral teacher or was he indeed God himself? Here is Lewis’ answer to that
question:
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 not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said
would not 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 it your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of
God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up 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]
This is without a doubt the most quoted paragraph in all of Lewis’
writings. It is Lewis at his best. Lewis is completely right here. Jesus was
either a complete liar, or he was God, but nothing in between. He promised too
much, did too many extraordinary things, and said some of the strangest and
bazaar things such as “I have the power to forgive sins.” Even his enemies knew
that only God had that power. So logically speaking Jesus could not be just a
good moral teacher showing us how to live. He was either an impostor of the
greatest category, or he was who he really said he was—God himself.
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