Mark 2:15-17

[cartesiandaemon]

“Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”This is another of the famous quotes, and one I quite like

Comments

[cartesiandaemon]

I remember hearing about the supposed trilemma of Jesus -- liar, delusional, or God but only recently seriously thought about it. But when I thought about it, it didn't surprise me at all that a charismatic leader of a big movement might be both (a) moved by social justice and (b) delusional: in fact, I'd almost expect it, lots of great people have some really weird aspects, and the trope of "someone who seems totally whacked out, but turns out to be right surprisingly often" is common in stories and to some extent in the real world.

It's not like "mad" is a uniform category that invalidates everything you say. Someone may be completely unable to communicate sensibly. Someone else may have had some very weird visions they're able to fit into their belief system, but otherwise be perfectly normal -- I don't think "mad" covers everyone who experiences sleep paralysis, etc.

It's also possible that Jesus didn't claim _consistently_ to be God -- maybe he started out preaching stuff, and then later on slowly realised or admitted that he thought he was God (whether he really was or not).

I don't know, that's somewhat controvertial, but it was bubbling under the surface for a while.

[atreic]

Well, yes, I think 'he said sensible stuff about being nice to each other, so clearly wasn't mad about being God' argument has so many holes in it you can use it as a sieve, but it's worth thinking about.

[cartesiandaemon]

:) I'd agree a bunch of stuff that seems right/true/sensible/good earns someone at least a good hearing for their more outlandish claims. But when you put 'he said sensible stuff about being nice to each other, so clearly wasn't mad about being God' that starkly it doesn't sound like a seive any more, it sounds like the hoopy bit of of the seive but without any of the wire mesh in the middle :)