Why is Jesus not a "madman"?

[Minimalist]

Nope.

[Drich]

I found this interesting. Lewis understands the latter choice and chooses the former. Why is Jesus not a "madman", as Lewis puts it?

Truth? Because Christ was who he said he was, it makes him legit. It's funny how truth is not even considered in your argument. It is almost like your trying to avoid it.

The Quran believes in Jesus as a messiah and yet not the son of god.

Actually: http://islam.about.com/cs/jesus/f/jesus_quran.htm
http://www.islamawareness.net/Christiani...quran.html
According to the Koran Jesus was a "good man" even to be considered a prophet/servant of God. This description was who CS Lewis was referring to in your quote.

Only the bible refers to Jesus as the son of god. Why would one of these books lie about that and, furthermore, how does one know which book is a more reliable source of what Jesus said or is or was?

Which source carries the narrative of Christ's life?

[naimless]

I found this interesting. Lewis understands the latter choice and chooses the former. Why is Jesus not a "madman", as Lewis puts it?

Truth? Because Christ was who he said he was, it makes him legit. It's funny how truth is not even considered in your argument. It is almost like your trying to avoid it.

Plenty of people have claimed to be god or have been sent by god - I have had experiences where I am god.

I have no argument. I'm simply trying to understand why someone would believe Jesus to be a more credible source than myself, a madman in some eyes.

Furthermore, as I have had an experience of god, how do I follow Christ's experience instead and distinguish mine as untrue?

Only the bible refers to Jesus as the son of god. Why would one of these books lie about that and, furthermore, how does one know which book is a more reliable source of what Jesus said or is or was?

Which source carries the narrative of Christ's life?

There are a few sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus

[Darkstar]

Plenty of people have claimed to be god or have been sent by god - I have had experiences where I am god.

I have no argument. I'm simply trying to understand why someone would believe Jesus to be a more credible source than myself, a madman in some eyes.

People were even more guillible and superstitious then than they are now. Of course, Drich is going to try to deny this somehow.

[naimless]

Plenty of people have claimed to be god or have been sent by god - I have had experiences where I am god.

I have no argument. I'm simply trying to understand why someone would believe Jesus to be a more credible source than myself, a madman in some eyes.

People were even more guillible and superstitious then than they are now. Of course, Drich is going to try to deny this somehow.

I don't know. Top sportsmen and sportswomen have superstitions. It's as if a part of the mind needs to be settled in order for them to perceive a 100% positive outcome, because a positive outcome isn't realistic and it could equally be negative.

Yet the blind belief in that positivity scientifically makes it more probable to happen because of visualisation. I think it is the same for some people believing in Jesus.

It isn't logically true. But, if that part of the brain has it settled that it is true then it makes a shitload of life a lot easier.

[Drich]

Furthermore, as I have had an experience of god, how do I follow Christ's experience instead and distinguish mine as untrue?

That is why we have been give this life, to make that determination. Follow Christ, follow yourself, follow allah, then wait for judgement.

Which source carries the narrative of Christ's life?

There are a few sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus

You asked a question. Of the two (The Bible and the Koran) Which book are we to follow when concerning Jesus.

My response was to ask: (Of the ONLY TWO You Listed) Which source carries the narrative of Christ's life?

[naimless]

Furthermore, as I have had an experience of god, how do I follow Christ's experience instead and distinguish mine as untrue?

That is why we have been give this life, to make that determination. Follow Christ, follow yourself, follow allah, then wait for judgement.

There are over 2000 documented gods and more than 7 billion different perceptions of them. I have a better chance of winning the lottery.

Which source carries the narrative of Christ's life?

There are a few sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus

You asked a question. Of the two (The Bible and the Koran) Which book are we to follow when concerning Jesus.

My response was to ask: (Of the ONLY TWO You Listed) Which source carries the narrative of Christ's life?

They both do to be honest.

[Angrboda]

Robert Price, in an essay I recently read, claims that there is no scriptural support for Jesus claiming to be God. (Although I understand it sounds like he came close.) I'm willing to accept Price's scholarship on the matter and accept that there is no unambiguous claim to divinity in the traditional new testament of western Christianity. So, claiming him to be mad for thinking himself the son of God may be going further than the evidence allows. (Moreover, one contends with both senses of "mad" in that one sense is composed of a regular, mental pathology, mental illness, which there's little indication that the character Jesus was possessed of, and the informal sense of being deluded or out of touch with reality, which is another matter.)

That being said, I understand there are additional options. For one, he could have been liar or lunatic at different points and in different ways; the two aren't mutually exclusive. Also, as Minimalist may have already pointed out, he may have been non-existent, and purely a fictional, mythical character. It's also possible that he was simply wrong. It's possible to believe something to be true which isn't actually true without being either intentionally dishonest, or mentally unbalanced; this is especially true given that while there are self-conscious frauds, there are many people who con themselves into believing untrue things, and this phenomena, as well as standards of credibility, were considerably different at that time.

Given what I've read, I'm inclined to conclude that Jesus never existed (in the way portrayed in the Gospels; if a person upon whose life the accounts were based existed, that doesn't make 'Jesus' any more real, because the character of Jesus is these legends, not that other man).

[Drich]

There are over 2000 documented gods and more than 7 billion different perceptions of them. I have a better chance of winning the lottery.

That sounds good Go with that.

They both do to be honest.

If they 'honestly did' then why was your first response to dodge the question and difer to wiki?

[Darkstar]

I don't know. Top sportsmen and sportswomen have superstitions. It's as if a part of the mind needs to be settled in order for them to perceive a 100% positive outcome, because a positive outcome isn't realistic and it could equally be negative.

Yet the blind belief in that positivity scientifically makes it more probable to happen because of visualisation. I think it is the same for some people believing in Jesus.

It isn't logically true. But, if that part of the brain has it settled that it is true then it makes a shitload of life a lot easier.

That is true, but no matter how hard you believe in god, it won't make him real. Also, there is a considerable difference between superstitions about sports and the unshakeable belief that someone is divinity on earth.