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

Read more about this topic:  Christological Argument

Famous quotes containing the words argument, claims, jesus and/or divinity:

    “Because a person is born the subject of a given state, you deny the sovereignty of the people? How about the child of Cuban slaves who is born a slave, is that an argument for slavery? The one is a fact as well as the other. Why then, if you use legal arguments in the one case, you don’t in the other?”
    —Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)

    “It is not God that is worshipped but the group or authority that claims to speak in His name. Sin becomes disobedience to authority not violation of integrity.”
    —Sarvepalli, Sir Radhakrishnan (1888–1975)

    “What is this? A new teaching -with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
    —Bible: New Testament, Mark 1:27.

    Of Jesus after he had exorcized an unclean spirit.

    “A physician’s physiology has much the same relation to his power of healing as a cleric’s divinity has to his power of influencing conduct.”
    —Samuel Butler (1835–1902)