Catholic Replies
Editor’s Note: This series on Apologetics is based on the book Catholicism & Reason. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. You can send them either to the postal mailing address or to the email address below, and we will interrupt this series to answer them.
Special Course On Catholicism And Reason (Chapter 5)
Jesus Christ is the most influential Person who ever lived. No one has made a greater impact on human history. The year in which we live is measured from the date of His birth. More than two billion people throughout the world call themselves His followers. Thousands of books have been written about Him. Dozens of movies have focused on His life and teachings. On the negative side, He is the only Person in human history whose name is used as a swear word to express anger or surprise.
Jesus is different from any other famous religious leader, like Mohammed or Buddha, in four ways: (1) He is the only Person in history whose birth was announced hundreds of years before He was born, in the Old Testament writings of the Prophets Isaiah, Micah, and Zechariah. (2) He divided all human history into two periods, the one before His coming (BC, before Christ) and the one after His birth (AD, Anno Domini, in the Year of Our Lord). (3) He came into the world not to live, but rather to die for our sins on the cross. (4) Unlike Mohammed and Buddha, who were just ordinary human beings, Jesus claimed to be God.
Many people think that Jesus was not God, but just a “good man” who went around being nice to people and telling them to love each other. But Jesus said that He was God, most especially when He was on trial for His life and was asked by the chief priest, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I am,” knowing that such an answer would mean His death. If Jesus were not God, then He was a liar, and a liar is not a good man. If Jesus were not God and risked His life by saying that He was God, then He was crazy, and a crazy person is not a good man. So there are only three possibilities: Jesus was a liar, He was a lunatic, or He was the Lord.
There is no evidence in all His teachings and actions that He was a liar or a lunatic. He was a very good speaker and debater. When the chief priests sent soldiers to arrest Him, the soldiers returned empty-handed and said, “No man ever spoke like that before.” When the chief priests tried to get Jesus to condemn a woman caught in adultery, which was punishable by death, He said, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” The woman’s accusers all walked away, and He told her to “go and do not sin anymore.”
Jesus was a great story-teller who could keep the attention of thousands of people for hours. His parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son are still used today to illustrate our duty to help those in need and to forgive others. He urged His followers to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned, saying that “whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.” And He warned that whoever failed to perform these acts of love would be cast “into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.”
Jesus was the perfect Man whose personal qualities attracted thousands to Him when He was on Earth and millions more since then. His followers were impressed by His tenderness and compassion for the sick and the suffering, by the mercy and forgiveness He showed toward sinners, by His courage and fearlessness in the face of those who hated Him, and by His moral code as expressed in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount in chapters five to seven of Matthew’s Gospel.
He forbade murder and stealing, adultery and impurity, anger and hatred, revenge and rash judgment. He encouraged prayer and fasting and sacrifice and said that “whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
Jesus’ flawless personality is one of the strongest arguments in support of His claim to be God. We will discuss His miracles as further proof in the next lesson.
List Of Answers:
ADULTERY
BIRTH
COMMANDMENTS
COMPASSION
COURAGE
CROSS
GOD
HELL
JESUS
MERCY
MESSIAH
PERSONALITY
PRODIGAL
SAMARITAN
SERMON
SPEAKER
Quiz:
1.___ is the most influential Person who ever lived.
- Jesus’ _ was announced hundreds of years before He was born.
- Jesus was not just a good man; He said He was _.
- He said yes at the trial for His life when asked if He were the __, the Son of the Blessed One.
- Jesus was a very good _______________and debater.
- He refused to condemn the woman caught in __, but told her to sin no more.
- One of His famous stories was about the Good _.
- Another famous story was about the _ Son.
- Jesus said that those who fail to help needy brothers and sisters will be cast into _.
- Jesus showed tenderness and __ for the sick and suffering.
- He showed __ and forgiveness toward sinners.
- He showed __ and fearlessness toward His foes.
- His moral code can be found in the Ten __ and in the __________on the Mount.
- He said that those who wish to follow Him must take up their own_______.
- Jesus’ flawless __ is a strong argument in support of His claim to be God.
