Why didn't Jesus Outdo Greek Scientist?

Spectrum

If I wanted to prove to a bunch of tribal ignoramuses that I'm the Big Boss I'd show them a few scientific tricks that would have dazzled them. Like electricity, how the brain really works, higher mathematics, tell them how a star is formed since he created them, set up a fusion reactor for eternal energy source.
He did none of this. He walked on water, see that might impress the odd shepherd or two back then but it leaves nothing for us to go on today as we can just reject it out of hand as a myth. But telling us the inner workings of the brain or a star, now that's something that can grab your attention. Even the atheist would stop and think.

jeanniebeanz

Possible answers...

1. Couldn't because he didn't exist. It is very difficult for non-existent people to leave any real proof of their existence. See: Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, and Leprechaun

2. Couldn't because it fit the divine plan much better to leave people fighting and killing each other over his vague teachings and evidences for the past 2000 years. Spelling it out is something that logical humans do not divine Schizophrenic deities. It's just more fun to throw a few hints at people, confuse a few fishermen and sheepherders and then blow the joint.

3. Professional courtesy. It would have been rude. Scientists gotta eat too, ya know.

J

MungoBaobab

"Rabbi, the Greeks teach us the nature of the world is that of a sphere. Tell us, if you truly have the knowledge of the true God, is this so?"

And Jesus answered him, "Don't be such a square, man! Let's all crash this dude's wedding in Cana and get really, really wasted! Know what I mean, man? And get me that Mary Magdelene chick's number, too."

tetrapod.sapien

spectrum,

good post.

Even the atheist would stop and think.

yes indeed. it's actually very little to ask of an omnimax god.

here's an article that applies to me as well as the guy who wrote it:

The Theist's Guide to Converting Atheists

from the article:

Scientific knowledge in holy books that wasn't available at the time.If the Bible (or any other religious text) contained some piece of knowledge that the people of the time couldn't possibly have known but that is now known to be true, that would be highly convincing to me. A passage about the atomic theory of matter or the heliocentric solar system would be interesting, but not conclusive, since the Greeks, for example, proposed those ideas long ago independent of any claim to divine revelation. A mention of the theory of evolution would have been impressive. A reference to the germ theory of disease, or the laws of electromagnetics, would have been compelling. But what would be indisputable proof would be an elucidation of a truly modern theory of physics, such as relativity or quantum mechanics - not just something that the people of the time couldn't possibly have known of, but something so counter-intuitive that the odds against guessing at it correctly would be staggering. Just think: What if Jesus had said something like this?
"Verily, verily, I say unto thee that thine energy is as thine mass times the speed of light multiplied unto itself."
Of course people of the time would have been baffled, but just imagine how many souls it would have saved today. As with the prophecy item, there must be independent verification that the piece of knowledge was written in texts that existed well before it was actually discovered by science.

cheers,

TS

tetrapod.sapien

And Jesus answered him, "Don't be such a square, man! Let's all crash this dude's wedding in Cana and get really, really wasted! Know what I mean, man? And get me that Mary Magdelene chick's number, too."

LOL!!

Clam

Good question Spectrum.

This has made me imagine Jesus as the central character in Mark Twain's A Yankee at the Court of King Arthur. I wonder what those who think he was a visiting astronaut think about this? Were his mission instructions just to "go easy" on the miracles and education? Maybe if he had proven he was so powerful and knowledgable they would have been so impressed that they would have accepted him as the Messiah and not crucified him. Then of course he couldn't be the Messiah because he wouldn't have fulfilled the Hebrew prophecies. (scratches head).

Maybe the scribe who was following him around didn't have a Pitman short-hand equivalent of "Verily, verily, I say unto thee that thine energy is as thine mass times the speed of light multiplied unto itself.", and along with other countless gems he left it out of the final draft. ??

Spectrum

Tetra,
nice link thanks

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee that thine energy is as thine mass times the speed of light multiplied unto itself."

Let's say he really did say this how would it have been interpreted over the centuries. I think there is a bit of trinity in that statement!!

Certainly explaining DNA and say how the brain stores information would be a clincher for me.

Spectrum

Clam
Glad you like this thread

but reqarding ...
"Then of course he couldn't be the Messiah because he wouldn't have fulfilled the Hebrew prophecies. (scratches head)."

...it might not be a problem because you can always re-interpret the prophecies to suit your needs eg when Christ evetually did go back to Heaven they could say that, "well it was immense suffering for him to leave this wonderful world of ours and return to heaven via three days in hades.

LittleToe

You don't think that walking on water and turning water into wine would be pretty cool today, too?

Just because you now assume they are myths, doesn't necessarily make them so

AuldSoul

Suppose Jesus just said something really cool in response to a Pharisee.

One of his disciples asks, "Why did you answer that way?"

Jesus says, "I could tell by the elevation of body temperature and the pattern of electrical activity in the brain that they were trying to trap me."

Disciple, "Jesus H. Christ! WTF does that mean?"

Jesus sighs heavily and says, "I have many things yet to tell you, but you are not ready to bear them. Let's just say...I read their intentions."

"Oh, okay," says disciple, thinking to himself, "Intentions come from the heart, so he discerned the thoughts of their heart by some means! Amazing! I have to remember to write that down someday."

Just one instance, as an example. Not offered as an apologist stance, but just as an insight into how we humans tend to interpret what we experience through a filter of our prior experiences. Exceptional knowledge handed to a civilization too poorly developed to use it responsibly leads to atrocities like those seen during World War I and II.

Respectfully,
AuldSoul

Why didn't Jesus Outdo Greek Scientist?

Share this