Christological Argument - Argument From The Claims of Jesus To Divinity

Argument From The Claims of Jesus To Divinity

See also: Lewis's trilemma

A related line of evangelical argument addresses the notion that Jesus Christ was a great philosopher and ethicist, but not God. It draws on the Trilemma as postulated by C. S. Lewis and others, which argues that Jesus claimed to be God, and either this claim was true and Jesus was in fact divine, or else he was a charlatan or a madman. Assuming the trilemma to be accurate, the argument proceeds in stating that neither a charlatan or a madman could be considered a great moral teacher and that therefore the possibility of Jesus being merely a great moral teacher is excluded.

The argument conditionally argues for the existence of God; it relies on the premise that Jesus was a great moral teacher. The structure of the argument is as follows:

  1. Jesus claimed to be God
  2. Jesus was a wise moral teacher
  3. By the trilemma, Jesus was dishonest, deluded or God
  4. No wise moral teacher is dishonest
  5. No wise moral teacher is deluded
  6. By 2 and 4, Jesus was not dishonest
  7. By 2 and 5, Jesus was not deluded
  8. By 3, 6 and 7, Jesus was God
  9. By 8, God exists

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