Was Jesus Just a Good Teacher?

<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW139050362 BCX4"> <p><span data-contrast="auto">Jesus of Nazareth is one of those rare historical figures who nearly everyone wants to claim. You might say that just as God made us in His image, people return the favor and remake Jesus in our image. In fact, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it became academically popular to claim to know what Jesus taught while assuming the Gospel accounts, especially the miraculous parts, were not true. An assumption that was simply taken for granted is that Jesus never claimed to be God. </span><span data-ccp-props= "{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":160,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">Though the scholarly world has largely progressed past these scholars and their “scholarship,” Jesus is still reimagined by many as something other than Christ. He’s embraced as a political avatar or lifestyle coach, or in a role for which He was ill-suited: that of merely a “good teacher.” Christians know there’s more to the Jesus story. But how should we respond to false claims about Him, especially those based on little knowledge of what the Gospels</span> <em><span data-contrast= "auto">actually</span></em> <span data-contrast= "auto">say? </span><span data-ccp-props= "{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":160,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">A recent video in the</span> <a href= "https://whatwouldyousay.org/was-jesus-just-an-ancient-teacher/"><span data-contrast="none"> <em>What Would You Say?</em> series</span></a> <span data-contrast= "auto">tackled this question and offered three points to keep in mind. First, the Scriptures clearly tell us who Jesus was and what He claimed to be. </span><span data-ccp-props= "{"134233279":true,"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":160,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">"People who reject that Jesus was God have to reject some of the things that the Gospel writers claim about Jes