Jesus Is: Lord, Liar, Lunatic…..Or Maybe Mistaken?

Was Jesus a liar? A crazy man? Or God in the flesh?

This trilemma seems to have been a fairly effective way in the past to bring people to a decision point on Jesus, but I don’t think the Lord, Liar, Lunatic trilemma is very effective today. I suspect the trilemma would be more effective today if the “lunatic” option were expanded to include any and all honest mistakenness, so instead of Lord, Liar, Lunatic people could be invited to wrestle with Lord, Liar, Mistaken. That mistakenness could be a result of madness or reading the situation incorrectly or even a result of us receiving inaccurate reporting about Jesus. I think the upside of this tweak to the old trilemma is that it invites someone considering who Jesus is to wrestle more honestly and deeply with all the claims about him. Where the old Lord, Liar, Lunatic trilemma seeks to quickly close the deal and strongarm someone into choosing the Lord option, this Lord, Liar, Mistaken trilemma shows respect to the person to whom it’s being presented and it invites a slower, more careful process of belief.

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