Frequently Asked Questions

HomeWhen considering the Christian Faith many people have questions.  You can explore all areas of the Christian faith on a new website called reJesus.

Here we have attempted to answer some of the most common questions which arise.

FAQ: Wasn’t Jesus just a great teacher?

Many people would agree that Jesus was a great moral and religious teacher, and this is how he is often portrayed in school. The description is convenient, because it enables him to be taught on a par with those of other faiths within a secular environment. However, it is misleading for it contains a number of historical problems that suggest that he was either much more, or much less, than a great teacher.

Problem 1: The phenomenon of the crowds
 Jesus was incredibly popular. He attracted crowds of people. But the New Testament shows that this popularity could evaporate very quickly as he moved on to teach about the cost of true discipleship. This is in contrast to countless other excellent rabbis of the time, who built up their following much more gradually.

Perhaps one reason for the crowds was Jesus’ ability, time and again, to perform miracles: healing, raising from the dead, water into wine, multiplication of loaves and fish. These events would draw the crowds, who hungered for both marvel and meaning, but who then melted away when the challenge came for a changed lifestyle.

The phenomenon of the crowds points to Jesus as not only a teacher, but also as a miracle worker.

Problem 2: The perception of the politicians
The records indicate that Jesus was killed because he was in danger of causing too much of a disturbance for both the Roman occupying forces and the conservative Jewish establishment. The reason for this perception was that Jesus consistently acted as and claimed to be the Messiah of Israel. His claims were radical and disturbing. He spoke about destroying the temple and rebuilding it again in his way. He demonstrated his antipathy to what was going on there by driving out the moneychangers.

The perception of the politicians was based on Jesus’ own life and words. He claimed to be far more than simply a great teacher: he saw himself as the Messiah of Israel and Saviour of the World.

Problem 3: The manner of his death
Jesus frequently spoke about his coming death. He saw it as ‘a ransom for many’ (Matthew 20:28). He spoke of himself as ‘the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep’ (John 10:11). Long before it happened, Jesus interpreted his coming death as a sacrifice for the sins of all people.

This goes much further than the words of a teacher passing on instruction about how we should live. Jesus wasn’t merely telling us that we should ‘put others first’. He was pointing to his death as a crucial moment in the history of the world – a vitally important reason for his coming.

The manner of his death points to Jesus as one who saw his existence on earth primarily as an event, rather than being for the purpose of giving moral instruction.

Problem 4: The claims of his own words
 Jesus spoke and acted as one who was aware of having a special relationship with God. He claimed to be more than a teacher, and more than a prophet. He claimed to have existed in eternity with God, he claimed equality with God, and that he was the Son of God.

Of course it is well known that in ancient times the Jewish kings had been called ‘sons of God’, as had the Jewish nation. But Jesus’ sonship was never suggested as a title. It was more a fact of being. He said: ‘I and the Father are one’ (John 10:30); ‘I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father’ (John 16:21).

These are not, in fact, the levelheaded claims of a great religious teacher, for if they are untrue, then they have led millions of people astray over nearly two thousand years. They would put Jesus on a par with leaders of the most ridiculous cults.

On the other hand, if they are true, the claims of Jesus’ own words command worship, devotion and allegiance.

Problem 5: The preservation of his teachings
When Jesus died, he had just a handful of faithful followers. The authorities had hoped that their leader’s crucifixion would put an end to this dangerous movement once and for all. Within a short space of time, however, something happened which transformed this bunch of frightened followers into a powerful movement.

Even if we didn’t believe any of the Biblical records, the archaeological and historical picture speaks for itself: there are thousands of fragments of manuscripts of Jesus’ teaching, scattered around the Mediterranean world. The degree of precise verbal agreement between them is staggering, and they date to within a few decades of Jesus’ death. Why were people so motivated to keep the record of Jesus work and words?

The reason given by those people themselves was the impact of his resurrection and the power of his Spirit, to live in them and transform their lives.

The preservation of Jesus’ teachings points to someone who was far more than a man of words and ethical deeds. It suggests that Jesus claims about being the Son of God, his claims to have come to save and transform the world, society, individuals, his vision of his own death and resurrection as the turning point in human history – all stack up.

And finally
Was Jesus just a great teacher? CS Lewis said he must be ‘mad, bad, or who he claimed to be’. The only way to check it out is to try for yourself. Follow his teachings and see whether they ring true.

But don’t simply try to live his lifestyle by ‘doing good to others’, because that’s merely a tiny fraction of what he taught. At least as crucial, if not more so, is to worship him personally, to review your life in his presence, and ask for his cleansing.

Treat him as he presents himself: as the Lord, the Saviour, the Son of God. And finally, ask for his power in your life; ask him to fill you with his Holy Spirit, the Spirit of cleansing, refreshment, power and service.

FAQ:

Religion has been the cause of so many wars and conflicts in the past – surely we should now just dump it and get on with our lives?

Religion has been at the root of many conflicts and wars over the centuries, but it is all too easy to be simplistic in our analysis of such situations. Here are some points to think about.

1. Religious wars are rarely, if ever, purely religious.
Whether we look at the Crusades, the wars of the Reformation, the conquest of Latin America, or Northern Ireland, we find that the causes of these conflicts are more to do with power, politics and economics than religion, even if religion is used to fuel the combatants’ zeal.

It is impossible to say, for example, how Philip II was motivated when he launched the Spanish Armada. Without doubt he was driven by his zeal for his faith, but with hindsight we would question whether he was truly motivated by God. Could he have behaved differently? It’s difficult to say. How could such a man in such a position even think himself into a different way of being? Like all of us, he was heavily conditioned by his culture, and blinkered from receiving the further light of God’s truth.

2. Is this what God intended for religion?
It is therefore pertinent to ask whether this is what God intended for religion. The fact that Christians – along with those of other faiths – have besmirched the name of God should not necessarily be held against him. If we agree that God, on the whole, does not condone ‘religious wars’, then perhaps that should cause us to focus more keenly on what he does want, rather than on giving up all together.

3. Shouldn’t God control his church more tightly?
Surely, however, if God has any influence on ‘his people’ then he ought to bear some responsibility for what they do. Why can’t he simply make them better people? According to the Christian faith, God is very generous with his gift of free will. Both before and after we become Christians we have the continuing option as to whether we will allow more or less of him into our lives. Our freedom is a quality of life that God prizes very highly in the world he’s created. The failures of the church, including the failure to rise above our culture and the failure to be open to God’s Spirit, all cause tremendous grief in the heart of the Creator God. Yet, for him to become a ‘fat controller’ and us to become robots is even more unacceptable.

4. Can we be trusted with religion?
Lord Acton said: ‘Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ We can see this in almost every institution, including the church. It is amazing, therefore, that God entrusts us with the business of religion: we make such a mess of it and handle power so badly. Yet we do this in every other area too, and the reason, in theological terms, is called ‘original sin.’ We handle politics badly; we handle scientific progress badly; we handle art badly; we handle education badly. In all these areas and more there is abuse, neglect, unnecessary war and conflict. Yet still God trusts us with them. The challenge, therefore in every generation, is to address them in a godly manner, with true humanity and true godliness.

5. After all, we don’t ‘just dump’ politics!
People say we should ‘just dump religion’, but why don’t they say it about any other area of life? Politics, economics, social ideals, family loyalties all cause war – and probably much more so than religion. Furthermore, religion has probably done as much as, if not more than, all of them to promote peace. We don’t dump these aspects of life, so why should religion be dumped?

No. Religion should not be dumped, but it needs to be challenged afresh in every generation by true faith and by the Spirit of the living God.

FAQ:

‘I’m not a bad person and I never try to hurt anyone, so why do I need to do any more?’ 

If you sometimes think this then you are definitely not alone! 

When someone says this to me, I am often tempted to try and find fault: ‘If only I could try and make this person feel bad!’ But frequently, as I listen to their story, I find that they are a genuinely good person, hard working, often sacrificial for their parents or their family, dutiful, and conscientious.

Yet this objection to ‘doing any more’ can be a terrible blockage to drawing close to God. Sometimes it springs from ‘scripts’ buried deep inside us, rather than in true response to the message God wants us to hear. We say it when we are tired from fulfilling all the ‘oughts’ in our lives, and we’re looking for encouragement from God. If you are asking this question, then I hope that the answer given below will eventually give you the encouragement you deserve. But first, I must point out three traps that this question will lead you into if you persist with it.

Trap 1: The question focuses on self-justification as the way to being right with God. It is as if we have to prove ourselves before Him, and this of course is based in the truth that each of us will be called to account. However, what God revealed in Christ was that self- justification will never be the way to get right with God, for it is Christ who justifies us.

Jesus told a story of two people who went to pray. The first person began by telling God all the good things he had done; he thought there was nothing left he had not covered. The second person simply said, ‘God have mercy upon me, a sinner.’ Jesus said it was the second, rather than the first, who went away right with God: He received his justification thanks to God’s grace and mercy.

We may have done many, many good things – and God is well aware of them – but in the teaching of Jesus, God revealed that we are put right with him solely through his mercy. Justification given through Christ, rather than self-justification, is the way to get in a right relationship with God.

Trap 2: The question focuses on earning salvation rather than on receiving it. We all have a part of us which thinks we ought to be able to earn God’s favour, and there is much about every person which causes him great delight. But St. Paul was gripped by life-changing insight when he wrote, ‘the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ Ultimately, none of us can ‘earn’ the right to be accepted by God. Every good thing we do is merely the product of how he has made us. Acceptance by God, or eternal life, is nothing less than a freely given gift.

Think about it: where would you draw the line? Is it a matter of just tipping the balance so that the good in your life just outweighed the bad? That sounds like it might be fair. But then, where is the parity between those whose good far outweighs the bad, and those whose good only just outweighs the bad?

St Paul lived the first part of his life as a strict Pharisee. He did everything in his power to fulfil God’s law. Yet later, as he considered this issue of salvation, he recalled the ancient words of Isaiah: ‘There is none who is righteous - no not one,’ and thus came to the sobering conclusion that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ Why is it that the most holy people are always more aware of their sin than they are of their goodness?

The fact is that salvation is never something we can earn. On the contrary, salvation, or acceptance by God, is a gift that we can only receive.

Trap 3: The question does not take into account our blind spots.

Jesus met a rich man who asked, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ Jesus replied, ‘You know the commandments.’ The rich man said, ‘Of course! I have kept them since I was a boy.’ And he reeled them off. However, what the rich man didn’t realise was that he missed out the command against covetousness: he had a blind spot which affected his attitude to money. Jesus told him to go and sell all he had and give to the poor. And the man left, very unhappy, because he was very rich.

All of us have blind spots – not the bad things we are aware of, but those we are totally unaware of. And if God were really to point them all out we would be utterly mortified. Some may be perspectives on life we are totally ignorant of; some may be the ways we are caught in webs of economic exploitation that we do little or nothing about; some may be deeply ingrained attitudes or prejudices. Blind spots are, by definition, almost impossible to spot.

People often say, ‘I’m not a bad person and I never try to hurt anyone, so why do I need to do any more?’ But when we do so we frequently fall into the trap of forgetting that we still have many, many blind spots that we know nothing of.

And now the Good News!

God does want to accept you – and he doesn’t want you to ‘do’ anything else first, except to receive him as Lord and God. His first word, therefore, is ‘Welcome.’ He is well aware of all the good things you’ve done, and he’s delighted with them. But he’s even more interested in you – simply you – as a person.

What God really wants for us to receive his salvation is that we come to him laying down all the good things, all the bad and all the unknown, at his feet. ‘This is my stuff, Lord: the good, the bad, and the unknown. Now I stand before you - just me. I believe the words of Jesus, that you want to receive me just as I am, if I receive you just as you are. Me: human being (most of the time); You: God.

The Apostle John was fascinated by relationships. As he reflected on what we have to do in order to please God he wrote, ‘this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another.’ In the end, you see, what God actually wants us to do is first of all to relate to him as God – to receive the gift from him of being received by him. This gift is freely ours through the grace, the mercy, the cleansing and the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Biography

Richard Dormandy is Vicar of Holy Trinity, Sydenham in London. He is married to Ruth and they have two sons.

This article is © 2000 Richard Dormandy.