Reflections From a Recent Conversation
I recently responded to a meme on Facebook about Jesus that was partially inaccurate. The content of the meme wasn’t as important as where the conversation that ensued led. My interlocutor claimed that Jesus didn’t claim to be the Christ. I then pressed him on the numerous passages in which Jesus clearly referred to Himself as the Christ, to which he replied, “...no humble man who put others first and performed miracles would ever proclaim to be “Christ” I feel it was more of a title given to him, none of this is based in fact, but I really don’t have a lot of faith in other people translating what happened thousands of years ago.”
Now, in retrospect, there was more than one way I could have responded to this, but this was one of those rare occasions where I feel that I responded in the best way. I could’ve gone with textual criticism and how it reveals a faithful transmission of the original texts in the New Testament, but I caught something more problematic fundamentally in his response.
Before you read on, go back and read the quote from my friend and see if you can find the problem.
Did you see it? He first says that no humble man who put others first and performed miracles would ever proclaim to be “Christ.” But I had already pressed him on the multiple places in the gospels where Jesus did proclaim to be the Christ; and here is where he went off the rails logically. The second part of the quote is him responding to the evidence. He says he doesn’t have a lot of faith in people translating what happened thousands of years ago. But wait! In the same breath he just said that Jesus was a humble man and a miracle worker who puts others first; but how does he know that? Unless... he does have at least some faith in the people translating what happened thousands of years ago. To his credit, you’ll notice that he did in fact say that these beliefs of his are not based in fact.
I felt that this conversation was interesting and a good reminder to look out for logical fallacies and missteps when debating skeptics. Two amazing books in particular have helped me to develop this analytic approach to thoughtful dialogue, and I hope you will utilize the wealth of information in them too! I have, of course, provided the links to these books below.
Christians, now more than ever, need to dig deeper into common issues that come under fire from our unbelieving friends, family, coworkers, and so forth, in order that we would be able to challenge the worldly mentality and provide good reasons for the hope that is in us.
Recommended Resources:
Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview by J.P. Moreland and William Lane Craig