OT: Bible Discussion (Split from Real World Sensitivities)

[thejeff]

Agreed in general. I'm not a Christian, as you may have gathered. I do not accept the Bible as any form of revealed truth or however you wish to phrase it.

I don't believe Jesus was a prophet of God. I don't really believe much of anything about Jesus. And as I understand the Liar, Lunatic or Lord argument, it's not aimed at Christians (or those claiming to be Christian if you wish) who don't believe Jesus was divine. It's aimed at unbelievers. It's a good argument if you accept the premises, but those who accept the premise are likely to already believe the conclusion.

Jesus's divinity is a core issue of your interpretation of Scripture, not of every ones. Most Jews, at least, would deny that the divinity of Jesus is a central theme of the Old Testament. That belief wasn't settled, although widespread, even among Christians until several hundred years after his death. Nor was any such theme evident beforehand - Jewish Messiah expectations, which certainly existed, were much more secular and nationalistic than the later Christian interpretations of the same passages.