The Truth About the Founder of Christianity/Part 3

Ed. note: This article is based upon the transcript from programs produced by the John Ankerberg Show. Additional material has been added for this print version.

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Great Minds Speak About Jesus

The contemplation of things as they are, without substitution or imposture, without error or confusion, is in itself a nobler thing than a whole harvest of invention.—Francis Bacon

Today, most people who are uninformed about Christ tend to place Him in the same category as other great religious leaders and prophets. They assume He was no different from the rest. Most people also believe that religion everywhere is largely the same and that it doesn’t make a great deal of difference what one believes. One poll indicated that even 42 percent of born-again Christians had apparently adopted our culture’s relativistic outlook. They agreed with the following statement: “It does not matter what religious faith you follow because all faiths teach similar lessons about life.”^[1]

Those having such an outlook usually assume that all paths lead to the same God. If there is an afterlife, almost everyone is going to get there regardless of his/her beliefs, as long as he/she was not a terribly evil person. So it really doesn’t matter what one believes religiously and, perhaps whether or not one believes at all.

In light of such assumptions, many people wonder if any religious prophet or leader could have final relevance for today. Aren’t these prophets dead and gone? And do their teachings really offer anything unique or special? Can’t their instruction be summed up by the fundamental principles of moral living that everyone already knows? Why should anyone be interested in someone like Jesus when He lived 2,000 years ago and has no apparent relevance for today?

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Notes

1. ↑ Cited by Douglas Groothuis, “When the Salt Loses Its Savor,” Christian Research Journal, Winter 1995, p. 50.