The Relevance of the Deity of Jesus Christ Today.
		Another Look at Lord Liar Lunatic

	The era of modernism is over, and people are no longer 
persuaded by compelling logical argument.  One such common argument 
was referred to as the "Lord, Liar, Lunatic Argument".  Today it 
allegedly has been augmented with other options that soften its 
impact. This brief article will consider some of these options to 
note if the weight of their objections will stand the scrutiny of 
the diagram below. 


                         Jesus Claims to be God!
            Not "a god", but Yahweh, the Creator God.
                       	        |
                    His Claim is either False or True.
       _________________________|_________________   
      |                                       	 |
Assuming His Claim is False    	  If True, We have two choices.
We have two choices.                	 ________|_________
      |                                 |                  |
    Either                    	    We can Accept   We can Reject
  ____|____________________         Him as LORD       our God.
 |                 	   |                   			
He KNEW his         He did NOT KNOW               
claim was False.    his claim was False
 |                  	   |
He made Deliberate     He had Delusions of
Misrepresentation.       Grandeur.
 |                  	   |
He is Histories        He is Histories most
Greatest LIAR          Celebrated LUNATIC   
         



		About the Chart


The chart above is an adaptation of a diagram used by
Josh McDowell in the book "Evidence that Demands a Verdict"
Volume One. The logic originates back to the early church
and was popularized in modern times by C.S. Lewis in the
book "Mere Christianity" using these similar titles to show
the slippery track one is on, when refusing the orthodox
and historical view of Jesus expounded in the New Testament.
The common view refuted here was that of mainline liberalism. 
The view that Jesus was simply "a good moral leader," or an 
"inspiring teacher", or "a lofty visionary of goodwill" but certainly 
not much beyond this. Yes, a dynamic individual of world history, 
but not the Creator of the universe, the second person of the Holy  
Trinity, the Lord of the Universe. People liked to think of Jesus as 
a model, an example, gentle, meek, mild, gracious, but not as anyone 
to whom they would ultimately have to deal with at a final judgment.

The strength of the diagram shows that this option (the mere mortal
with mushy mega-love alone) is not an option that Jesus allowed us
to entertain. The strength of his claims and the way he described his
identity and role in history are far too lofty and grand for a mere
mortal to make, and be considered seriously. One would have to
be crazy to make such claims for ones self, if they were not true.
Crazy, or a manipulative liar.  More likely crazy, because when his
life was on the line for such things, he did not deny or defend
himself against the massive misunderstanding.

Jesus did not leave the feel good, self help, teacher image as the one 
which we could neatly reduce him to being.  His claims and actions
close that door tightly as the diagram illustrated effectually for the
rationally inclined.

Some attempts have been made to avoid the strong case made
by the above logic. These we shall briefly consider. Some have 
attempted to:

1) Say Jesus was only a LEGEND and never existed in history.

2) Say the claims of Jesus were all confined to a few texts
   in the gospel of John and were ADDED by the early church, and
   never stated or implied by Jesus himself.

3) Say that Jesus was some less than the Creator kind of a near
   deity; like Michael the Archangel, the spirit brother of Lucifer,
   an alien, a guru, etc.



Below is a response (briefly) to each of the above three points,
respectively:


1) Denial of the historicity of Jesus, is not academically accepted.
   It is not endorsed by the major encyclopedias, most of which list 
   the secular evidence for the existence of Jesus and attest that
   such records of Tacitus, Pliny, Josephus and others is massive by
   comparison to many well known persons of similar antiquity. The
   "legend" option works well as an acrostic with "Lord, Liar, Lunatic"
   but any further similarity with the data of the New Testament books,
   early church writings, or mention by Jewish, Greek, and Roman
   historians NOT sympathetic to making a case for christianity, is
   woefully wanting.

2) The attempts to re-invent Jesus seem more modern than 1st or 2nd
   century.  In his book "Why should anyone believe Anything at all?"
   Dr. Jim Sire points out the enormity of Jesus' self-consciousness
   of being the bearer of all the sin and evil and suffering in the
   world and from all of human history. Sire's case is made exclusively 
    from Jesus' words recorded in the synoptic gospels, e.g.
    not John, but Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and he concludes that
    the claim of Christ (a Jewish man) to Deity is strongly implied herein.
   
   Further, the gospel of John is not alone, nor of as late a
   compilation as more skeptic scholars once thought. Strong 
   demonstration of Divine perogative infuse nearly every part
   of Jesus' identity and actions throughout the New Testament's
   books and letters, and from many from eyewitness sources most
   if not all of whom gave their tortured dying breathe stating
   its truthfulness, thus ruling out an ivory-towered hypothetical,
   frivolously invented myth-faith.
 
3) This is the point about conceding a compromise and having a Jesus 
    who was a kind of highlander, superhero, near Deity, but not quite.    
    This too seems at first glance a bit more in tune with alien 
    infatuations and the paranormal craze of the 90s than the view
    of the first century followers.

   Though some might charge that it is pajorative to say so, most
   of these groups that advocate these positions; Michael the Archangel,
   the spirit brother of Lucifer, one of the best Zen masters, the first
   psychic healer, etc, etc, are all out there.  They are way out of the
   mainstream of Christian orthodoxy, view themselves as a relatively
   newfound recovery of the "true" faith once totally lost, and
   now found thanks to them exclusively.  They are considered by
   most as a cult, relating more to their founders' imaginations than to 
   the christian faith in historic continuity with the New Testament,
   New Testament teaching, and as believed by a remnant of Believers
   throughout every age inspite of lapses, apostacies, and bleak times
   not unlike today. 

   An exception to this would be the relatively new religion of Islam
   which views Jesus  (Isa) as a prophet and the Christian writings
   as valuable. Little is said beyond this. But again, even here
   we will note the attempt to carefully minimize Jesus' claims to
   LORDship and his lifestyle and miracles to back the claim. These
   are replaced by a desire to honor him but on the terms of being 
   a prophet among prophets, but certainly not a living Savior and King. 

   Look at the chart again & you will see that Jesus clearly did not give us
   these options either. They make for an interesting mental game but not
   a conviction that serious men and women would be willing to risk their
   lives defending. Yet this is precisely what the early followers did. They
   were so very convinced that he rose from the dead to immortality and
   that they would live again beyond the grave through faith in him. They
   knew the whole truth would crumble easily if the Roman powers and
   the religious powers of that day would just simply produce the body
   of the dead Jesus. But alas, they not only couldn't but Jesus was    
   appearing to individuals, small groups, and large groups, alive, and
   as one who inspired their worship. 

Here then are the options for the honest seeker, as I see them. 

1. Anti-intellectual unbelief and living as if the God of the universe is 
irrelevant to anything and everything, and that Jesus inspite of all 
evidence never existed, or that his existence was so quickly, thouroughly, 
and masterfully distorted that even his partners could be uniformly duped 
to the point of martyrdom. Jesus can be disregarded as relevant to all of 
life today.  In short, rejecting Christ totally and completely. 

2. Become an adherent of one of the many common, newfound cults today.
Get ready to refuse blood transfusions, drive around on bikes in black suits
and ties selling books, start warming up the tamborine, get ready for the 
commune.

3. Seriously consider joining the religion of Islam and seeking Islamic law
as the solution to global and personal evil. Do the prayers, the fasting and 
the trip to Mecca. Raise your daughters and sons to worship Allah. 

4. Become convinced, like much in occultism and Satanism, that Jesus and 
his followers were insane. And that the truly sane folks are those who 
weild power for "good". And "good" is that which you formerly thought was 
evil.

5. Better yet, give another, adult look at the claims of Jesus in the 
primary source materials, the gospels. Read Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.  
I'd recommend a serious reading of the gospel of John.  Ask yourself who 
Jesus really is.  It is my strong conviction that if you give an honest 
shake at this option, you will find that Jesus is in fact Lord and that 
this realization will bring mega blessing to your life both now and in 
the afterlife. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

For additional sources on this subject please visit this web site:

http://home.earthlink.net/~jbw7

Or email Joseph B. Whitchurch at jbw7@earthlink.net