A Rational Case for Jesus

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Is Jesus of Nazareth the son of God? Did Jesus of Nazareth even exist? There are really four main views on these questions. Many people simply answer no to the second question and leave it at that. Other people say that yes, Jesus of Nazareth did exist historically, but they believe he was simply a good moral teacher. Some other people agree that Jesus existed, but instead of him being merely a moral teacher they see him as a prophet of God. The final group of people answer yes to both questions. They believe that not only did Jesus of Nazareth exist, but that he is the son of God. These viewpoints are completely incompatible with each other, and there is no way to compromise a solution.

There is only one right answer, and that is that Jesus did exist historically, and that he is the son of God.

This issue is important because the way someone answers these questions is foundational to their world view. It is also important because answering yes to both questions is the foundation of the worlds largest religion, Christianity. This author is a Christian, and a deacon at Windfall Christian Church. However, that has not always been the case. For over ten years the author searched for spiritual answers. He searched for something to believe not because someone else, or some book, said that he should, but because it made sense logically and rationally. This search ended back where it started, with the belief that Jesus of Nazareth did exist historically, and that he is the son of God.

However, many people disagree with this view. Some of them believe that he could not possibly be the son of God, because he never existed. Why is it that these people believe this? Some of them claim that there is a lack of historical evidence for exis...

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...clusion that they can come to; that Jesus did exist historically, and that he is the Son of God.

Works Cited

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author

Khan, M. Z. (1978, June). Jesus: Prophet of God. Retrieved June 27, 2011, from Al Islam website: http://www.alislam.org/library/books/prophet-of-God/

Lewis, C. S. (2001). The shocking alternative. In Mere Christianity (Harper Collins ed., pp. 48-52). New York, NY: Harper Collins. (Original work published 1952)

Zindler, F. R. (1998). Did Jesus even exist? Retrieved June 27, 2011, from American Atheists website: http://www.atheists.org/Did_Jesus_Exist%3F

Zindler, F. R. (n.d.). Brief biography of Frank R. Zindler. Retrieved July 13, 2011, from The Secular Web website: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/frank_zindler/bio.htm

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