The tradition regarding Jesus is so glamorous that it is difficult to
review his life and character with an unbiased mind. While
Fundamentalists and Modernists differ regarding the divinity of Christ,
all Christians and many non-Christians still cling to preconceived
notions of the perfection of Jesus. He alone among men is revered as
all-loving, omniscient, faultless--an unparalleled model for mankind.
This convention of the impeccability of Jesus is so firmly established
that any insinuation of error on his part is deemed a blasphemy.
Doubting Jesus is more impious than mocking God Almighty. Jehovah may be
exposed to some extent with impunity; a God who destroyed 70,000 of his
chosen people because their king took a census[1] is too illogical for
any but theologians to worship. But the Son of God, or Son of man, is
sacrosanct. Jesus is reverenced as the one man who has lived unspotted
by the world, free from human foibles, able to redeem mankind by his
example.
Respect for the principles of Jesus is so inbred in American people of
all faiths that an attempt to disparage his worth is denounced as bad
taste. The detractor is suspected of being an immoral person, no matter
how convincing may be the proof which he presents. A conspiracy of
silence is directed against any system of ethics advanced as superior to
the Sermon on the Mount. In popular opinion Jesus never made a mistake;
all his teachings were infallible; no other view is tolerated.
_Face the Facts_
This unwillingness to acknowledge the shortcomings of Jesus is partially
due to fear of sustaining a great loss. The familiar answer to heretical
arguments is that faith should not be destroyed unless something can be
put in its place--ignoring the fact that something always may be
substituted for beliefs destroyed. That substitute is faith in the world
as it really is. And our modern world, with all its shortcomings, is
infinitely preferable to the earth, or even the heaven, of the first
century. We now know that man can do more to eradicate sorrow than Jesus
ever thought of. We can have greater confidence in the world as revealed
today than in the doubtful traditions of Biblical times.
But suppose there were nothing to substitute for the myth destroyed,
should that deter the Truthseeker from continuing his investigation?
Scientists do not hesitate in their research because the result of a new
discovery may be disastrous. They seek the facts regardless of
consequences; they want to know the Truth about the physical world.
Ethicists should have a similar desire concerning the metaphysical
world. They should have confidence that the Supreme Intelligence (as
Edison called it) will lead on to better things.
_The True Jesus_
If Jesus was what his followers believe, no arguments will destroy their
faith in him; but if Jesus was not perfect, according to modern
standards, it is important that his status as God, or man, should be
revised. Loss of confidence in an erring idol is not loss of a true
ideal.
When an iconoclast asserts that Jesus lacked supreme intelligence, the
natural question is, "How do you know that you are right in your
appraisal, 'lest haply ye be found even to fight against God'?" The
answer is that we do not claim omniscience, but merely request everyone
to use his or her own judgment, with intellectual honesty, examining
each act or saying of Jesus without regard to presupposed ideas or
tradition.
_Scriptures Unauthentic_
The consensus of scholarship has rejected the creation of the universe
in six days in 4004 B.C., science having proved the existence of the
world for millions of years. Higher Critics refuse to credit the book of
Genesis, according to the first chapter of which the trees, beasts and
fowls were created before man, but according to the second chapter after
man. It is not assuming too much for the humblest writer to say that
Moses was mistaken concerning many things he described in the
Pentateuch. It follows that if one important portion of the Bible is
untrustworthy, other parts of that same book may not be the infallible
Word of God. The New Testament, as well as the Old, may be examined
critically, and if the gospels contain numerous contradictions, the
statements of the authors on any point, including the life of Jesus, are
open to question. A conscientious person should reach conclusions based
upon the best knowledge obtainable from all sources.
If anyone is convinced that Jesus made mistakes, he is not necessarily
compelled to become an atheist. All other Gods that have been worshipped
by men have been found imperfect. The oft exposed errors of Jehovah do
not prevent Christians and Jews from professing belief in God. Those who
require support from outside themselves cling to the symbol of deity
though not thoroughly crediting any personality ever described in any
sacred scriptures. Except Jesus.
An Evolutionist passes beyond the negative denial of God to the
construction of a new philosophy in which Truth is his guide, Truth
being the nearest approximation to reality obtainable with our present
knowledge. Belief in the world as it is now, and as it is going to be,
is a sufficient creed.
_Faith in Jesus_
With Jesus entrenched in popular opinion, there is small probability
that faith in him will be shaken unless there is a preponderance of
evidence against his divinity. No one need abandon faith in Jesus until
convinced that something better has been found. No one should even
expose himself to heretical arguments unless he is a devotee of Truth.
Then only can he rejoice at a revelation of error in confidence that the
more nearly the universe is understood the better can man adjust himself
to his surroundings. A worshipper of Truth fears no destruction of false
gods, nor any facts that may cause him to throw over treasured
superstitions. He is willing to prove all things and hold fast to that
which is true. He rejoices when his idol is shattered, knowing that he
is approaching nearer to the true way of living, a way that Jesus did
not adequately explain.
Any attempt to censure the character of Jesus will meet with the
ridicule it deserves unless substantiated by documentary evidence. The
mere improbability of events contrary to natural laws does not destroy
the ethical value of the teachings of the Nazarene. Anything might have
happened in the eerie days of old; the critic must do more than deny the
historicity of Jesus and the inspiration of the Bible. To be convincing
he must derive from the scriptures in which Christians believe whatever
proof can be deduced to unveil the superstition of a redeeming Savior.
_Documentary Evidence_
The documents most generally accepted by Christians are those collected
in the King James Version of the Bible. The Apocrypha and other early
manuscripts are unreliable. None of the thirty or more writers who
described events around Jerusalem in Jesus' time gives any account of
his teachings. The only life of Jesus is found in the four gospels; the
numerous biographers of Christ have had no other reliable source of
information. It is deceptive for the publishers of revised editions of
the Bible to claim that "original manuscripts" have been consulted. Not
one of the original manuscripts is in existence, the earliest extant
dating from the fourth century A.D., while the most ancient portion of
the New Testament in any museum was transcribed in the sixth century.
Accepting, therefore, the King James Version of the New Testament as the
most reliable source of information, the question arises as to what
portion of the chapters therein may be considered authentic. Scholars
have rejected the entire gospel of John as less reliable than the
synoptic gospels; and the sixteenth chapter of Mark as an addition after
the original papyrus had broken off. Modernists, being confronted, in
spite of these deletions, with inconsistencies in the gospels of
Matthew, Mark and Luke, have assumed the further privilege of rejecting
any verses which appear at variance with their beliefs. Liberals of this
class contend that the supernatural side of Jesus may be disregarded and
yet that Jesus will remain Our Lord. They reject certain evangelistic
passages that conflict with modern thought, but accept other statements
by the same authors as authoritative.
As the Christian churches have not accepted any abbreviation of the
Bible as a substitute for the King James Version, it seems proper for
the critic to have recourse to that translation as the most authentic
description of the life and teachings of Jesus. He is justified,
moreover, in considering every word in the supposedly inspired gospels
as equally reliable. His only concern should be to interpret each verse
as nearly as possible as the original writers intended their words to be
understood, allowing for Eastern hyperbole and the custom of the times.
_Retain the Good_
In preparing a critical analysis of the character of Jesus, it is freely
admitted that many of the thoughts attributed to the son of Mary are
superlatively fine. They will live forever whether the personality of
Jesus be rejected as a divinity or not. That these beautiful preachments
are ignored here is not due to any desire to belittle admirable
sentiments or to disparage right living. The loving side of Jesus has
been emphasized again and again and will be borne in mind by the reader
when other less admirable traits are criticized. The intent of this
criticism is not to destroy idealism but to assist the spirit of true
progress.
_Christianity Must Go_
The significance of this investigation lies in the changes that would
have to be made in religious thought if it should be found that Jesus
was not perfect. If Jesus was in error concerning conditions of his own
time and exhibited no knowledge of our modern problems, his authority
will be lessened. Searchers after the true way of life will not continue
to worship a person whose conception of the physical and spiritual world
was erroneous. If Jesus made mistakes, he is neither the Son of God nor
an infallible man.
So long as people feel compelled to worship what has been proved
imperfect, or to evade important doctrines of their creeds for fear of
losing faith in old traditions, their minds will not be receptive to
changes in social conditions that require abandonment of established
customs. Christians are imbued with a psychology derived from a
completed revelation. The firmer their belief in Jesus, the greater
their resistance to new ideas. Catholics are more reluctant to join
progressive movements than Modernists and Modernists than Evolutionists.
Religious people are apt to be afraid of the new world; they doubt the
possibility of eliminating war, poverty and injustice--customs as deeply
rooted in the social world as belief in Jesus is in the religious world.
If the chief reactionary bulwark of the past is abandoned, there will be
greater possibility of accepting new revelations.
What would happen if Christians should discover that their leader was
not an incomparable guide? Absolutely nothing at first. Those accustomed
to lead a moral life would continue to do so. Members of Christian
churches are the very people who most wish to do what is right. They
will not lose their character because Jesus has lost his fictitious
divinity. On the contrary, they will search for the most elevating
principles to substitute for the personality that has been found
deficient. It is difficult for people to be superior to their gods.
These same church-going individuals, when freed from the fetters of
antiquated supernaturalism, will gradually learn to serve mankind with
the same devotion they now render to a misunderstood God. They will no
longer be limited by the defects of their paragon in their efforts to
make the most of life. They will seek to solve modern problems in a
rational way instead of deciding such matters as birth control, divorce,
war and prohibition by reference to the scriptures, as they do now. For
the first time they will make their decisions according to the best
knowledge obtainable today.
Jesus was in advance of his time. He declared that such revengeful
theories as an eye for an eye must be supplanted by forgiveness. But as
the world has evolved, Jesus has stood still. His teachings, superior as
they were to those of the ancient Israelites, are now found to be
inferior to the best ethics culled from the wisdom of the ages, brought
down to date. It is heartening to feel that we can appropriate the
superlative principles of all time instead of worshipping a deified
personality who was limited to the best that men of his own generation
could conceive.
This examination of the life and character of Jesus will be based upon
the accounts in the New Testament. Each passage will be construed as
appears to the writer to have been originally intended. The reader may
substitute his own interpretation, but should in no instance pass
lightly over a situation as immaterial. Every word or action of Jesus is
an important link in the chain of his divinity, or of his exalted
position as a moral guide. Each argument should be met by acceptance or
rejection, never with indifference. No reader of the following pages
should ever say, "What difference does it make?" Everything concerning
Jesus is of vast consequence in determining whether he is or is not a
divine Savior, or a perfect guide.