Pagans/Atheists/etc - do you believe Jesus was a great moral teacher?

Just wonderin.....

But here is the thing when you say that Jesus was a great moral teacher and nothing more. He spoke against lying, but you say that he was not the Son of God because you think there is no God. Therefore, you must think Jesus lied. How can you be a great moral teacher if you are a hypocrite (which Jesus also spoka against)?

Like I said, just wonderin why you all say stuff like that :-p

Well I dont think the popularised version of Jesus existed, but I think he was a good moral teacher, and maybe he was'nt lieing, maybe he thought he was the son of god.

Originally posted by DanD9
Just wonderin.....

But here is the thing when you say that Jesus was a great moral teacher and nothing more. He spoke against lying, but you say that he was not the Son of God because you think there is no God. Therefore, you must think Jesus lied. How can you be a great moral teacher if you are a hypocrite (which Jesus also spoka against)?

He also spoke against casting judgements on people.. you have concluded that I MUST think Jesus is a liar because I'm an atheist.. your whole post is designed to 'trip' atheists up.. you ask a question yet have already answered it for us. Whats the point in that?

In answering your 'question'.. I consider him another great philosopher [assuming that Jesus actually said these things and they weren't ripped off Buddhist teachings] so I'm unconcerned with his paternity. Now.. before you got on a tangent and talk about how Jesus' teaching being relayed from god [his 'father'].. that is not relevent as Jesus' moral teachings were neither unique or original.. so if he was the 'only son' of god.. there must've been several other gods passing the same messages to their only children as well.

[edit on 30-6-2005 by riley]

He also spoke against...

Darn it Riley - you said everything I wanted to say already!

In addition...

Jesus was a teacher. Every teacher I've ever known hasl occasionally slipped up with their speech; this is without the added bonus of having your words mistranslated throughout the centuries.

Buddha had great lessons. Jesus shared some of these, and made 'em available to others. No doubt Jesus also had a few of his own.

The world isn't black or white; being a "good moral teacher" does not mean that you're perfect, or that you have the odd failing.

most of what is attributed to Jesus is morally sound teaching.

you're premise is faulty, though. quite frankly, it is disingenious, at best...I won't use the descriptors that first came to mind.

you start with an implied "fact" (really nothing more than a belief) that the stories of what Jesus taught were actually taught by a single person as they are relayed in the N.T. Nope. I may have been born in Arkansas but it wasn't yesterday!

This may be an example of some kind of intellectual Darwinistic trap - you'll only catch the really stupid with this kind of trap. In fact, if it works, I thank you for trying to cleaning up our little "gene pool".

Added this:
I strongly believe in God - ONE God, not 3 or any God you can cut into 3 pieces as it suits you.
I definitely do not believe in the divinity of any person to have walked on this planet.
I am not at all certain (or uncertain) whether there was any such Jesus as the Christians portray - it could have been all just legend or it may have been a real person who was assigned a bunch of legends, or it may have been a combination of the many Jesus characters of that day, or something else.
Of one thing I am positive: the myths of how this Jesus fullfilled all the prophecies of the O.T. has been so thoroughly and completely debunked as to be laughable.

[edit on 30-6-2005 by Al Davison]