Does All His Teaching Befit Divinity?

Abstract

The word ‘all’ in the chapter title must be mentally underlined, for there is no intention here to question the sublime nature of ‘nearly all’ the recorded teaching of Jesus, and indeed it is within the context of a profound appreciation of that teaching in general that we must nevertheless make fairly severe criticisms of some particular aspects of it. Admittedly, it may seem petty-minded to focus entirely on the mistakes or disputable utterances of ‘one of the greatest teachers humanity has ever had’, to quote Gandhi’s warm tribute to Jesus,¹ but in view of dogmatic claims that he came to earth as God incarnate, bringing the supreme revelation of divine love and human duty, and that the reported content of this revelation helps to confirm his Sonship, it is imperative to ask if his teaching was wholly free from serious error or misguided counsel. The negative answer we must give to that question in the present chapter must be counterbalanced, however, by the positive portrait of Jesus in the following chapter, if we are to grasp something of his real stature as a moral and spiritual leader.