What do you think about this C.S. Lewis quote?

C. S. Lewis, a converted atheist, wrote in Mere Christianity...





"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg-or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

What do you think about this C.S. Lewis quote?
It makes no difference to me what C.S. Lewis said. I have my beliefs and you have yours. Let's just leave it at that. You've preached enough tonight. Aren't you tired yet?
Reply:I choose neither, I have no reason to believe the biblical jesus ever existed.
Reply:That's a fine quote and all, but CS Lewis has some other quotes that are total heresy and rejection of Biblical truth. People love to use that quote, but forget that some of the things he wrote and taught, were openly false doctrine.
Reply:You cannot answer the above without doing the following;


1. Read more of CS Lewis and find the whole context in which he says that.


2. Break each sentence down into a very simple thought, then answer each thought.





When Lewis said this, it was in a larger context than just the above quote. He also contradicted himself a large number of times during his life as he went from agnostic to Christian. You therefore will have to find exactly when he wrote it, then see where he was in his hunt spiritually, then Analise the particular quote measured against his spiritual development.
Reply:one day ever soul will know that Jesus is who he said he was when they knee down at his feet and confess his name i just hope that before it to late i pray they have already done so!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply:Lewis was right on about a lot of stuff; including this.
Reply:Interesting, but logically flawed. It is quite possible to beleive that Jesus was both wise -and- insane. They are not mutually exclusive concepts. You may also beleive that Jesus was a great moral teacher, and that subsequent religious types have inserted teh religion into his teachings for their own ends. To say that there are only two ways to think about anything is to deny the basic creativity of mankind.
Reply:Only someone already converted entirely would see such a foolish dichotomy.





We don't know who Jesus really was. We don't know if he even existed. If he did, we don't know Paul got it right. Afterall, he apparently made Mary a virgin because he incorrectly translated an Old Testament prophecy.





It could be that Jesus really did exist, and if he did, he was morally way ahead of his time. That's enough for me, and I'll leave Lewis's false dichotomies at the door.
Reply:I agree completely. that is one aspect of alot of "followers of Christ" taht i do not like. You are either for Him or against Him. There is NOT a gray area in this situation.
Reply:That sounds frighteningly close to blasphemy. He said the words and actions of Jesus were comparable to those of a madman. How can such a sick minded person call himself Christian?
Reply:John 3:16, Psalm 13:1, Prov. 1:7, Prov. 14:9,
Reply:I totally agree with the quote. I know this quote fairly well (or a paraphrase of it) and use it often when someone tries to tell me that Jesus was a great moral teacher. I prefer to hear someone say that He did not exist. I can work with such persons.
Reply:C.S. Lewis was not the final authority on the matter and his opinion is expressed as if he was the final authority.





I believe Jesus was (and is) the Son of the living God - and I believe Jesus was a prophet as foretold by Moses, and I believe as the Apostle Paul said, that Jesus is the sole mediator between God and man. AND I believe there is no way to the Father except through Jesus.





However - I would challenge anyone to show me where JESUS HIMSELF said "I am God!". He made a statement.., "I AM" but this references his prior existance as 'The Angel of the Lord' who acted as God's spokesman speaking from the burning bush (which explains why Stephen before being stoned said an angel appeared in the burning bush). ACTS 6:30





Indeed Jesus was with the Father in the beginning and was the first of all God's creations. He was the central head figure and known as 'the Angel of the Lord'. read your old testament.





People who believed they saw God were in awe that they didnt die. Why? They saw God through the Angel of the Lord - who looked like God and walked in his authority, speaking the words of God. Just as he did when he was born of a virgin and continued to be God's representative..., and explains why the demons knew him - they recognized him from the ancient days in the time before the foundations of the Earth were laid.
Reply:Great quote. I think people these days are so intent on believing what they want to believe (which is merely an excuse for bad behavior), that they summarily dismiss Jesus as a moral leader or great prophet or a good teacher. I agree with Jack(C.S.Lewis).
Reply:I'm with C.S.Lewis,you're with the philistines.
Reply:I completely agree. We shouldn't doubt at all what Jesus has said and what has been said in the Bible. No questions asked.
Reply:First, C. S. Lewis wasn't so much a converted Atheist, as he was a Christian who lapsed for eighteen years.





Second, this Quote doesn't make sense- all he's saying is that people who disagree with him are stupid. You sort of forgot to quote the part where he demonstrated why he thought Jesus must be Son of God.





Third, style wise, it's a little pretentious and redundant.





So, I think it's a very, very ineffective piece of writing.
Reply:"Either this man was and is, the Son of God:"


That was his point! Dont you get it?
Reply:It's Lewis's version of "all or nothing." He left me no room in which to operate. I simply can't accept "all." So Lewis leaves me with "nothing." But I'm okay with that.
Reply:this is just a different form of pascal's wager doug and you know it shame shame shame on you doug
Reply:Lol, I think it discredits Muslims' beliefs and claims of Jesus. The quote that is.
Reply:Why "must we" avoid saying that? That is his interpretation, not mine or anyone else's. And Lewis was a genius and a hell of a great writer, but we're all equally able to form an opinion.





Also, as a polytheist, I see that Lewis left out my option. I think Jesus is one God among many, albeit a very overworked God asked to do contradictory things.
Reply:AMEN!


The truth


†
Reply:I believe that he is a moral teacher but is not the Son of God.
Reply:Personally I think you are very weird for asking this question. I have no i dea what you are talking about. C.S. Lewis is the author of Narnia!!!!