Jesus Essay, Research Paper

The nazarene: A Modern Sokratic Dialogue & # 8211 ; Sokrates, Lucretius, immature pupil of Sokrates, Jesus, Paul, apostle of JesusThe Scene: Classical AthensSection 1. Meeting in AthensLUCRETIUS: I hear that the adult male from Jerusalem has arrived, Sokrates. The one whose followings so aloud denounce our metropolis. SOKRATES: And me every bit good, I & # 8217 ; m told. My fellow Athenians dub me agadfly, but these followings of Jesus detest me far more bitterly. Lucretius: How strange, so, Sokrates, that this Jesus has cometo speak with you. Possibly he & # 8217 ; s non like his followings. [ Enter Jesus and Paul. ] SOKRATES: I would offer you welcome to our just metropolis, sirs, but myeagerness for doctrine overcomes me. Many, many people havetold me that you have knowledge of all things. I can non near thatlevel of penetration, but I am wise plenty to at least recognize my ignorance. JESUS: Many thanks for your welcome, so. You seem to cognize agreat trade about me, but I & # 8217 ; ve heard merely of your wisdom and yourmodesty, Sokrates.PAUL: And his impiousness, Lord! Why must we halt here, maestro? We & # 8217 ; ve nil to derive from these traitorous 1s. Jesus: Patience, Paul. What injury can come to good or truththrough free treatment? Put aside so your biass, Paul, andrecognize wisdom wherever it may lie, even in an opposition. SOKRATES: I beg your forgiveness, but I wasn & # 8217 ; t cognizant that we wereopponents. First we must hear your instructions, so analyze them, so support or oppose them as the instance may be. If I may be so bold, I & # 8217 ; vitamin Ds like to get down on a inquiry that & # 8217 ; s challenged me before. Section 2. The Question of KnowledgeLUCRETIUS: Would that be the inquiry of cognition, Sokrates? SOKRATES: You guessed right, immature Lucretius, which makesme think I & # 8217 ; ve been over this inquiry a few excessively many times. Buthaving ne’er been satisfied in the past, I must seek one time more. State me, Jesus, what is knowledge? I & # 8217 ; ve heard that you answer that knowledgeis religion, but I want to hear you province it in your ain manner to avoid anymisunderstanding. Jesus: Beloved Sokrates, you & # 8217 ; ve heard right. Over-proud work forces saythat ground gives them cognition, but I say that true knowledgecomes from God, and that God sends that cognition by religion. SOKRATES: Please decelerate down, Jesus, if you wouldn & # 8217 ; t head. Mymind is a small slow, and I can merely believe on one issue at a clip. Let & # 8217 ; sback up and do certain that we & # 8217 ; re replying the right inquiry. Myoriginal question was, what cognition is. But you seem to hold told meinstead where cognition comes from. Paul: My maestro Jesus & # 8217 ; purpose was obvious plenty. He meant thatknowledge is faith, as was obviously plenty to any hearer non seeking todistort his words. You Greeks blather on and on about words ; butwhat do they count? It & # 8217 ; s the spirit that affairs. Lucretius: When words are imprecise, so is thought ; or is rigor toodifficult for you work forces from Jerusalem? You talk a batch about & # 8220 ; thespirit & # 8221 ; ; but it seems to me like you possess the spirit of angry animals and lackthe spirit of good sense. SOKRATES: Hold, Lucretius. Paul & # 8217 ; s reply was just plenty, if hisexpression a small provocative. Is Paul & # 8217 ; s statement what you had inmind, Jesus? Jesus: It was. SOKRATES: Very good so ; we have a starting point. Knowledge isfaith. And may I inquire more about the nature of religion? For some saythat religion is trust in God, others that religion is mystical intuition, stillothers that religion is belief in the absurd and the impossible. Jesus: You Athenians are fond of differentiations, I see. Well, Isuppose so that I am with the first group, the 1 that holds thatfaithis trust in God.SOKRATES: Very good. Now like I said my head is non so speedy, andI may necessitate a few inquiries to hold on your intending clearly. Knowledge, you say, is faith ; and religion is trust in God? JESUS: Precisely. SOKRATES: How so, if I may inquire, make we come to cognize aboutGod? Jesuss: By religion, of course. SOKRATES: But in order to swear person, and in peculiar toequate that trust with cognition, we would certainly hold to cognize of hisexistence. Jesus: Undoubtedly, Sokrates. Are inquiries like these the onesthat make my followings hate you so? They seem mild plenty, thoughperhaps they cost a batch of clip compared to the benefit they bring. SOKRATES: Their clemency and their benefit we shall see in the terminal. So you concede that before we can swear person, we must cognize oftheir being? JESUS: Yes, yes. SOKRATES: And we know of God & # 8217 ; s being by religion? Paul: As Jesus already told you. SOKRATES: And religion is trust in God? Paul: Yes! Isn & # 8217 ; t one reply sufficiency? SOKRATES: Possibly, Paul. Forgive me, Jesus, but I am puzzled. For you have told me that before we could swear person, we wouldhave to cognize of their being ; and you have told me that religion istrustin God ; and you have told me that we know of God by religion. I amafraid we are in a barbarous circle here ; for unless we knew of God bysome manner other than religions, we could non utilize religion to set up hisexistence. Jesus: I am non certain I understand. Lucretius: Let me to clear up. Sokrates merely pointed out that yourreasoning was round and inconsistent. You use faith to defineknowledge, and God to specify religion. But your system doesn & # 8217 ; t permitknowledge of God, since cognition of God has to come before religion. At this point, you have a few picks. You can either make up one’s mind thatknowledge International Relations and Security Network & # 8217 ; T religion, or that faith International Relations and Security Network & # 8217 ; t trust in God, or that youdon & # 8217 ; tneed to cognize that person exists in order to swear him. Paul: Even the Athenian male childs are filled with wickedness and impiousness! Youwould make better to hold more religions and inquiry it less. Jesus: Gentle Paul, the male child & # 8217 ; s mode may be impious, but I detectno wickedness in him. Asking inquiries is the manner of Athens, non ofJerusalem ; but since we are in Athens, why non demo them that wecan make every bit good as they at their ain game? Lucretius, I trust, has laiddown my options reasonably, has he non, Sokrates? SOKRATES: I think he has, Jesus. So which premiss do you chooseto cast aside, so we can acquire back down the path of cognition? Jesus: I leapt excessively rapidly to confirm that religion is trust in God. Faithisbroader and deeper than trust in God entirely. Faith is what gives ustrust in God, but its bounds are so much broader. Paul: All that returns from uncertainty is sin, and all that returns fromfaith is righteous. Faith justifies us and cleanses us of our wickedness, thesinthat all of us bear. Lucretius: The wickedness that all of you bear is vagueness of address andlaziness of idea. Why Don & # 8217 ; t you keep to the topic? S0KRATES: Possibly Jesus would be good plenty to maintain to it if youwould merely allow him. I believe that he was merely traveling to revise hisdefinition of religion, for we had concluded that religion was non trust inGod. Make you so say that it is belief in the absurd and the impossible? JESUS: No, no. Faith teaches us nil absurd, but merely simpleand empyreal truths. But I think, Sokrates, that you mentioned anotherview of faith.SOKRATES: Yes, there are some who say that religion is mysticalintuition, although I confess that what they mean by this is far fromclear. Paul: Well, intuition is merely knowledge that does non proceedindirectly, as in a deductive statement ; but alternatively it proceedsdirectly, by analyzing a premiss itself. LUCRETIUS: Well-spoken, Paul. So what you mean is thatsometimes, we learn that something is true because we deduce itfrom other premises which we know to be true. But this could notalways be the instance, because finally we must cognize some premisesto be true which are non derived from other premises. Indeed, sinceproof Begins with the most apparent truths and moves to less well-known 1s, it follows that what we know best of all can non be proven. Nor so would such a cogent evidence be necessary, for it would take to aninfinite reasoning backward. SOKRATES: I fear that Lucretius may be seting his ain reply intothe oral cavities of our invitees. State me, Jesus, do you intend now to defendthe position that religion is mystical intuition? JESUS: Most surely. And I think that Paul spoke good, as didLucretius. SOKRATES: Possibly. But as you notice, both Paul and Lucretiusdescribed the module of intuition, and Lucretius went further and

argued that we did so possess it. JESUS: Truly they did, Sokrates. Did your ain student misspeak? SOKRATES: Possibly, though I found nil in his statement tocriticize at the minute. But Paul and Lucretius told me lone ofintuition ; but you said

that faith is mystical intuition. You haveidentified knowledge with only the narrower species, and not the wholegenus. I confess that I am at a loss to explain how the mysticalintuition differs from intuition proper. JESUS: Mystical intuition goes beyond human reason. It revealsthings to us that human reason unaided could never see. But I seethat you will say that I am telling you about mystical intuition ratherthan defining it. So let me say that mystical intuition is intuitionwhichoperates under the inspiration of divine guidance. PAUL: And God forbid that His guidance should ever be taken fromus, as it has been taken from these Greeks. SOKRATES: I’ll welcome God’s guidance or anyone else’s, as soonas I’m convinced He knows where He’s going any better than I do. But let us focus on Jesus’ second definition. Could you explain for us,Jesus, what the “inspiration of divine guidance” is?JESUS: It is when God leads us to truths that we could not see on ourown. SOKRATES: And how does God lead us to these truths?JESUS: He puts a holy feeling into us when we encounter his truths. SOKRATES: And this “holy feeling” – it is knowledge, or, as it seemsto be, one of the passions?JESUS: The holy feeling leads to knowledge, but you are right thatthe feeling is not itself knowledge. SOKRATES: What you are saying seems strange to me. I hadalways assumed that the passions needed to be checked by theintellect, for they often lead us in the wrong direction. PAUL: Of course, the weak mortal passions need to be controlled; butnot the sacred passion of love of God and His works. SOKRATES: But would you not agree, Paul, that the faithful of otherreligions have passions very much like yours?PAUL: [hesitant] No… They have deceptive feelings. SOKRATES: But were you not at one time a traditional Jew ratherthan a follower of Jesus?PAUL: Yes… SOKRATES: And did you not experience religious passion before youmet Jesus?PAUL: In a way… SOKRATES: And did your passion give you truth then?PAUL: No, it led me to horribly struggle against the goodness ofJesus’ message. SOKRATES: Because at that time your feelings were deceptive?PAUL: Yes. SOKRATES: Did your feelings feel deceptive at the time?PAUL: No. SOKRATES: Nor less intense?PAUL: Perhaps… SOKRATES: So would it be fair to say that the only difference is thatyour passions were different at different times?JESUS: Let me spare Paul and try to answer for him. What is yourobjection, Sokrates?SOKRATES: Well, I think that I shall drop this line of questioning andget on to my real objection. JESUS: Which would be?SOKRATES: You have explained that mystical intuition is intuitionwhich operates under the direction of divine guidance. JESUS: I have. SOKRATES: And without this divine direction, we should still lackknowledge. JESUS: Correct. SOKRATES: Which means that if we considered these claims bereftof divine direction, we would not see their truth. JESUS: True enough, Sokrates. SOKRATES: So in themselves these claims do not seem evident toour reason. Do they seem to be false, or merely undecided?PAUL: Of course they seem false to your sinful minds!SOKRATES: Does Paul’s answer accord with yours, Jesus?JESUS: No, I would say that they merely seem undecided to theintellect bereft of divine guidance. SOKRATES: So they are never contrary to human reason?JESUS: I should think not. LUCRETIUS: But what of your doctrines of the “divine mysteries”? Do you not call them mysteries because they seem to human reasonto be false?JESUS: Well, we must not be presumptuous and assume that ourintellects are superior to God’s, young Lucretius. LUCRETIUS: Naturally not — assuming that God’s existence andteachings are already known. But just as before, you and Paul arearguing in a circle. JESUS: How so?LUCRETIUS: You begin by saying that knowledge is faith, and thatfaith is mystical intuition. You add that mystical intuition gives usknowledge of claims that seem unclear or even – as you tacitly admit -false. When we protest, you instruct us that we must not place ourintellects above God’s. But unfortunately, in order for your argumentto work, your claims would have to seem neither indifferent nor false,but true. Or in other words, in order to make us believe in your”mysteries,” you must convince us in a way which is not itselfmysterious; for otherwise, your view simply becomes the absurd onethat we should first believe something that seems false, and thenother seemingly unclear and false claims will seem to be true. SOKRATES: I think that Lucretius speaks for myself as well. PAUL: Both of you will burn in hell for your lies! Why can’t yousimplyhave faith in God’s word?SOKRATES: Perhaps we would, if only we understood what the twoof you meant by “faith.”PAUL: “Faith means the assurance of what we hope for; it is ourconviction about things that we cannot see.”SOKRATES: And I assume that you include not only literal sight, butthe intellectual sight we possess through our reason?PAUL: I do. SOKRATES: And could faith give you conviction about things that weseem to see to be false. PAUL: If God says it, then I believe it. He created my reason to besubserviant to him. LUCRETIUS: So if God said you were ten feet tall, would you believeit?PAUL: I would. LUCRETIUS: And if God said that doubt was sin, would you believeit?PAUL: I would and I do. LUCRETIUS: And if God said that two and two make five, would youbelieve it?PAUL: Without hesitation. LUCRETIUS: So you seem to have finally leapt to the third view offaith. JESUS: Which view was that?LUCRETIUS: It was the view that says that faith is belief in the absurdand the impossible. JESUS: Now I would not want to say that. LUCRETIUS: Ah, but I think you must. Did Paul answer myquestions as you would have?JESUS: Yes. LUCRETIUS: So if God said that two and two make five, you wouldbelieve it?JESUS: If God said it, then I would. But why would God saysomething so clearly false?LUCRETIUS: But you have no standard outside of your God’scommands to judge them! So your own view requires that you mustgive your believe even to the most absurd and impossible claims. PAUL: And why should that bother us? Why should the “wisdom ofthe world” matter to us, Jesus, when we have received our instructionsdirectly from God? We must not let their earthly standards infect ourcertainty in the Word of God! Tell them, Jesus! Tell them![Jesus seems troubled.]Section 3. ConclusionPAUL: What is happening to you, dear precious Jesus? Why are youtesting me?JESUS: Testing you, Paul?PAUL: Yes, that must be it! All this has been arranged to test myfaith in you and God. Now I see. But I pass the test, Jesus! Ibelievein you with all my heart and all my soul, and no mortal words will eversway me! Let us begone with their vicious, wicked Athenians, andspeak to those who are open to the truth. LUCRETIUS: “Open to the truth”? It is you are closed to the truth,Paul, by your own words. JESUS: If you say that, you cannot know Paul. No one loves truth ashe does. LUCRETIUS: Loves truth, you say? Paul despises truth. He lovesonly his faith, no matter what lies it tells.JESUS: Faith does not lie, young man! What have you beenteaching these young men of Athens, Sokrates? Perhaps Paul is rightto say that you wean these babes of Athens on irreligion!SOKRATES: I train them to raise questions about all things, includingreligion, if that is what you mean. PAUL: His own words convict him of hatred of God. Let us go speakto the humble people who will listen to us, Jesus. JESUS: Very well, Paul. We will pray for your soul Lucretius. LUCRETIUS: And what of Sokrates’ soul?PAUL: We shall pray that it burns in hell![Jesus and Paul leave.]LUCRETIUS: They seemed to be rather wicked men after all, didn’tthey, Sokrates?SOKRATES: That would bring us to the question of virtue. But Isuspect that you would turn out to be right. LUCRETIUS: So they have gone to speak to the people of Athens. Do you think that they will find any converts?SOKRATES: Quite possibly they shall. LUCRETIUS: What will become of the world if their ideas spread?SOKRATES: The prospect is too frightening for me to contemplate. What would you say, Lucretius?LUCRETIUS: If their ideas spread to enough of the people, the wholeworld will become the hell to which they damned you. SOKRATES: Dear Lucretius, I suspect that you are correct.