Jesus Christ Is The Answer [NOTE: Jeff Lowder does not necessarily endorse this, but thoug

Jesus Christ Is The Answer

[NOTE: Jeff Lowder does not necessarily endorse this, but thought it was 
interesting.]

Dear Believer!  You ask me to accept Jesus as my personal 
Savior;  yet his behavior and teachings often expose one who should be 
escaped, not sought.  I ask only that you read what follows in the spirit 
of open-mindedness taught in Prov. 15:10 NIV ("he who hates correction 
will die") and Prov 12:1 NASB ("he who hates reproof is stupid") 
because I seek to "Prove all things" (1 Thess. 5:21).

While on the Cross Jesus said "My God, my god, why hast thou 
forsaken me" (Mark 15:34).  How could Jesus be our savior when he 
couldn't even save himself?  Those aren't the words of a man voluntarily 
dying for our sins;  those are the words of a man who can think of a 
hundred other places he would rather be.

 Jesus said, "whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of 
hell fire" (Matt. 5:2).  Yet, he himself did so repeatedly, as Matt. 
23:17, 19 and Luke 11:40 and 12:20 show.  Shouldn't he be in danger of 
hell too?

 Except those of biased Christian writers there isn't one writing 
outside the Bible in all of ancient history that clearly refers to Jesus 
of Nazareth.

 Isn't Jesus a false prophet since he wrongly predicted in Matt. 
12:40 that he would be buried three days and three nights as Jonah was in 
the whale three days and three nights?  Friday afternoon to early Sunday 
morning is only one and a half days.

 Jesus' prophecy in John 13:38 ("The cock shall not crow, till 
thou [Peter] hast denied me three times") is false.  Mark 14:66-68 
shows the cock crowed after the first denial, not the third.

 How could Jesus be our model of sinless perfection when he denies he 
is morally perfect in Matt. 19:17 ("And Jesus said unto him, Why callest 
thou me good?  there is none good but one, that is God")?

 In 1 Cor. 1:17 ("For Christ sent me [Paul] not to baptize but 
to preach the gospel")  Paul said Jesus was wrong when he said in Matt. 
28:19 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them..."  
So how could Jesus be the fountain of wisdom?

 How could Jesus, whom the New Testament repeatedly refers to as the 
son of man, be our savior when this is clearly forestalled by Psalm 146:3 
("Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man in whom 
there is no help"), and Job 25:6 ("How much less man, that is a 
worm? and the son of man, which is a worm")?

 How can Jesus be God when he repeatedly said he was not God's equal, 
wasn't God?  Obvious examples are: John 14:28 (".. for my Father is 
greater than I"), John 20:17 ("I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, 
and to my God, and your God"), and John 7:16 ("My doctrine is not 
mine but his that sent me").

 While on the Cross Jesus said, "Forgive them Father they know not 
what they do."  To whom was he speaking?  They say, "God."  But I thought 
_he_ was God.  How can God speak to God if there is only one god?  
That's two gods.

 Jesus told us to "honor thy father and mother" (Matt. 15:4), but 
contradicted his own teaching in Luke 14:26 ("If any man come to me and 
hate not his father and mother ... he cannot be my disciple").

 In John 3:13 ("And no man hath ascended up to Heaven, but he that 
came down from heaven, even the Son of Man ...")  Jesus erred because 2 
Kings 2:11 ("... and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven") shows 
Elijah went earlier.

 In Matt. 16:28 Jesus said, "There be some standing here, which shall 
not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."  
Yet, they all died and he never came.

 Jesus told us to "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you" but 
ignored his own advice by repeatedly denouncing the opposition.  Matt. 
23:17 ("Ye fools and blind"), Matt 12:34 ("O generation of vipers"), and 
Matt 23:27 ("... hypocrites ... ye are like unto whited sepulchres...") 
are excellent examples of hypocrisy.

 Even many of the staunchest defenders of Jesus admit that his 
comment in Matt. 10:34 ("I came not to send peace but a sword") 
contradicts verses such as Matt. 26:52 ("Put up againthy sword into his 
place:  for all that take the sword shall perish with the sword").

 The Messiah must be a physical descendant of David (Rom 1:3, Acts 
2:30).  Yet, how could Jesus meet the requirement since his generations 
in Matt. 1 and Luke 3 show he descended from David through Joseph, 
who was not his natural father (the Virgin Birth)?

 Jesus told a man in Mark 8:34 that "whosoever will come after me, 
let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me."  What cross?  He 
hadn't yet died on the cross.  There was nothing to take up.  That man 
would have had no idea what he was talking about.

 In Mark 10:19 Jesus told a man to follow the Commandments.  Yet one 
of those listed by Jesus was "defraud not," which isn't even an Old 
Testament commandment.

 In Luke 12:4 Jesus told his followers to "Be not afraid of them that 
kill the body."  But how could they have been together in paradise that 
day if Jesus lay in the tomb three days?

 For Jesus to be executed for our sins make about as much sense as my 
son telling a judge that he would accept execution for my crimes.  
Although a nice gesture, it has nothing to do with justice.  What judge 
would agree?

 Lastly, in Matt. 15:24 Jesus said, "I am not sent but unto the lost 
sheep of the house of Israel," but later told his followers to "Go ye 
therefore, and teach all nations" (Matt. 28:19).  To whom, then, 
are they to go - only to the Jews, or everyone?

These examples expose only a few of the many reasons I can't 
accept Jesus as a Savior.  A far greater number can be found in 
the monthly publication, _Biblical Errancy_, which is "The 
only national periodial focusing on biblical errors, contradictions, and 
fallacies, while providing a hearing for apologists."  A free copy is 
available at 3158 Sherwood Park Drive, Springfield, Ohio 45505.  (513) 
323-6146.