March 21, 2008

Today is the first day of spring- those of you in Michigan will find that hard to believe since you're getting snow even as I'm typing this. :) It's also Good Friday, the day that C's remember JC's death, and what it means for us. It might be interesting for some of you to know that JC is a historical figure- not someone who was made up, a figment of someone's imagination. His life is well attested outside of C literature, and also his death was interesting enough to be commented on by several ancient historians. You can poke around for yourself on the internet if you're interested in reading the writings of Josephus, or others who were historians of that time frame.

This weekend is a good time to just take a second to think about JC 's life and death- his teachings are unique, and were very controversial during his time, perhaps more so even than in ours. The claims he made about himself and about Gd were striking, insulting to some even. Given how well documented his life and death were, I think it's good to consider whether his teachings were right or not. There are basically 3 options to investigate in determining whether his teaching was true or not. If we want to get down to the truth we have to ask ourselves some questions about each of these options:

1. He was lying. If he wasn't Gd's son, then he lied about the whole thing, deceived his 12 closest friends (or else they lied along with him), and when he died his friends just kept up the lie. But those 12 men died cruel deaths as well, some tortured to death, many imprisoned. Did they endure that because they didn't want to tell the truth?

2. He was out of his mind, totally insane. He had some sort of complex that made him think he was Gd's son, and somehow his friends went along with it. But the same question about those friends has to be asked- not just the 12 closest ones, but hundreds who believed that what he taught was true. Were they all deceived by his lunatic teaching? Does his teaching seem like something a person who was insane would teach? Why did people believe him, and why did the rlgious leaders of his time feel he was threatening enough to have put to death?

3. He was telling the truth. Upon close investigation, I think he was telling the truth. The accurate accounts of his life, the dramatic and unusual way that he died, and his being physically seen by over 500 people after his death are just a few reasons that I think that.

Over the weekend I hope you'll take a second to think about this unusual man, and maybe investigate a little for yourself. You might be surprised at what you find.