The big question
Liar, lunatic, legend, or Lord?
Jesus forgave people's sins, which his critics said only God could do. He said, “Before Abraham was born, I am!” That is the name God gave himself at the burning bush, and his listeners picked up stones. On trial for his life, he said he would sit “at the right hand of the Mighty One,” and the high priest called it blasphemy. Nice teachers don't talk like that. So which is he? Weigh each option.
Historians outside the church, like Tacitus and Josephus, wrote about him. And his biggest claims aren't late additions: they're already in Mark, the earliest Gospel.
Mark 2:5–7 · Mark 14:61–62Liars lie to get something. This claim got Jesus condemned and crucified, and he never took it back to save himself.
Mark 14:61–64Read the Sermon on the Mount and ask if it sounds like someone out of touch with reality. Two thousand years later, the world still quotes it on love, enemies, and forgiveness.
Matthew 5–7If the other three don't fit, one option is left. Christians say God settled the question himself: Jesus was “appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead.”
Romans 1:4