Who was Jesus?

[Ahriman]

Well I was raised Catholic, and us kids were taught to believe Jesus was a very, even ineffably, holy man, and that thinking we could be like Him, was delusional. That's what one of our teachers said, that thinking we could be like Jesus, was "a form of delusion". I know our teacher meant well, but that whole idea of being "delusional", is what put me off Catholicism, post-adolescence. I still love the Church, and have been to Mass a handful of times since my formative years. I think Jesus was an excellent man. He turned water into wine. That's my favorite miracle. i love wine.

See! Right there! You just presented two different Jesuses (or Jesi as I like to call them). Seeing him as some "out of reach holy man" didn't resonate with you. But that's precisely what many perceive him to be.

I like wine too. And I much prefer wine to water. Since you brought up miracles, I'm curious. How much stock do you put in the miracles of Jesus? Do you think they were real events? Allegory maybe? And what if they did turn out to be embellishments that other people made up?  Would that alter how you perceive Jesus? Would you still think he is an "excellent man"?

Jesus wouldn't have needed to perform miracles, for me to consider Him an excellent man. His miracles are just icing on the cake. It's like, if you just know your grandfather is a good man, based on how much he sacrificed for his family, or his good energy, or whatever, then you don't need him to give you gifts, to know that he is a good man. Jesus went to His death, believing He was doing the right thing, that He was sacrificing Himself for the good of mankind. Let's say He was wrong about that......would it really matter? Would you look down on an Army cadet, who willingly joined the military, to fight for his country, even if his judgment about what he was really doing, was misguided?