Argument From The Wisdom of Jesus
The essential structure of this argument is as follows:
- The character and wisdom of Jesus is such that his views about reality are (or are likely to be) correct.
- One of Jesus' views about reality was that God exists.
- Therefore the view that God exists is (or is likely to be) correct.
Discussion of this argument generally focuses on point 1.
Some forms of evangelism take this approach. Potential converts are introduced to Jesus as a historical character and the merits of Jesus' teachings are discussed. In such a context, the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth is a crucial factor in assessing the argument.
The principal objections to (1) are the suggestions that:
- The reports of Jesus' character in the Bible are not reliable.
- Jesus' views about reality are not (or not likely to be) necessarily correct. Bertrand Russell, in his essay "Why I Am Not a Christian", criticized Jesus' personal character and philosophical positions on various grounds.
- Even supposing that Jesus was correct, wise, and knowledgeable about a great many things does not imply that he was knowledgeable about everything. A deep knowledge of moral philosophy and the iniquities of the human condition, for example, do not necessarily imply any valid expertise on astrophysics, Phoenician literature, or the literal existence of God.
Read more about this topic: Christological Argument
Famous quotes containing the words argument, wisdom and/or jesus:
“You have such strong words at command, that they make the smallest argument seem formidable.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“How can he get wisdom that holdeth the plough, and that glorieth in the goad, that driveth oxen, and is occupied in their labors, and whose talk is of bullocks?”
—Apocrypha. Ecclesiasticus 38:25.
“I fear it is the effect of this ordinance to clothe Jesus with an authority which he never claimed and which distracts the mind of the worshipper.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)