19 Jun '06 18:24>
If someone was pretending to be me or taking my identity you would quite rightly expect me to stand up for myself. You would not expect me to say something like " I am knightmeister but he could also be knightmeister , oh and he could be sort of knightmeister" . You WOULD however expect me to say " I am knightmeister and these other guys are fakes , there is only one knightmeister and I'm it".
Now you might already see where I'm going with this.If Jesus really was who he said he was we shouldn't be too surprised to hear lots of definite , exclusive statements from him like "I am the truth , the life and the way" or " no-one comes to God except through me". We would also expect him to warn harshly against false christs and deceivers (" and when they say 'I am the christ' do not follow them"😉. So we may find Christ's claim to be the only way to the truth hard and arrogant but if he is the living God incarnate then it would not be right for him to say anything else , he has no choice if he is to be true to himself.
This is why I personally find Christianity to be 'repulsively' compelling. On one hand it repulses me when this guy sounds so arrogant but on the other hand it's compelling because at least it's congruent. The Buddha might have said " all ways lead to God" , Islam respects Jesus as a great Prophet (which is highly misleading and patronising). No such woolly fudging nonsense from Christ though. He calmly proclaims that the judgement of the whole world will be given over for him to perform and no-one else. What! ?You might say , but this is exactly the kind of shocking arrogance you would expect from the real God. It's his very exclusivity that makes him convincing. Inclusivity may be nice and cuddly but it muddies the water as well. So next time you find yourself thinking "what right has this guy to say these sorts of things" then remember that it's probably a healthy thought. He's put you on the spot as only the real deal can. You have to dismiss him or accept him , which is how the truth should be.
Now you might already see where I'm going with this.If Jesus really was who he said he was we shouldn't be too surprised to hear lots of definite , exclusive statements from him like "I am the truth , the life and the way" or " no-one comes to God except through me". We would also expect him to warn harshly against false christs and deceivers (" and when they say 'I am the christ' do not follow them"😉. So we may find Christ's claim to be the only way to the truth hard and arrogant but if he is the living God incarnate then it would not be right for him to say anything else , he has no choice if he is to be true to himself.
This is why I personally find Christianity to be 'repulsively' compelling. On one hand it repulses me when this guy sounds so arrogant but on the other hand it's compelling because at least it's congruent. The Buddha might have said " all ways lead to God" , Islam respects Jesus as a great Prophet (which is highly misleading and patronising). No such woolly fudging nonsense from Christ though. He calmly proclaims that the judgement of the whole world will be given over for him to perform and no-one else. What! ?You might say , but this is exactly the kind of shocking arrogance you would expect from the real God. It's his very exclusivity that makes him convincing. Inclusivity may be nice and cuddly but it muddies the water as well. So next time you find yourself thinking "what right has this guy to say these sorts of things" then remember that it's probably a healthy thought. He's put you on the spot as only the real deal can. You have to dismiss him or accept him , which is how the truth should be.