Who is Jesus?

“I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.” – HG Wells

“As the centuries pass, the evidence is accumulating that, measured by His effect on history, Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on this planet.” – historian Kenneth Scott Latourette

“Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place he was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of his divine manhood. While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. He was turned over to his enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth while he was dying – and that was his coat. When he was dead he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through thte pity of a friend. Such was his human life – He rises from the dead. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the Centerpiece of the human race and the Leader of the column of progress. I am within the mark when I say that all the armies othat ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life.” – James C Hefley

“Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only 3. Yet the influence of Christ’s 3 year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men who were among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity.” – unknown

“I have read in plato and Cicero syaings that are very wise and very beautiful; but I never read in either of them: ‘Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden’.” – Augustine

“Buddha never claimed to be god. Moses never claimed to be Jehovah. Mohammed never claimed to be Allah. Yet Jesus Christ claimed to be the true and living God. Buddha simply said, “I am a teacher in search of the truth.” Jesus said “I am the Truth.” Confucius said “I never claimed to be holy.” Jesus said, “Who convicts me of sin?” Mohammed said “Unless God throws his cloak of mercy over me, I have no hope.” Jesus said “Unless you believe in me, you will die in your sins.” – unknown

Fundamentally, our Lord’s message was himself. He did not come merely to preach a Gospel; He himself is that Gospel. He did not come merely to give bread; He said “I am the bread.” He did not come to shed light; He said, “I am the light.” He did not come to merely to show the door; He said “I am the door.” He did not come merely to name a shepherd; He said “I am the shepherd.” He did not come to point the way; He said “I am the way, the truth and the life.” – J Sidlow Baxter

“Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.” – Phillip Schaff

“I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.” – Napolean

“As a child I received instruction in the bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene. No one can read the gospels without feeling the actual presence of jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.” – Albert Einstein

“A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” – CS Lewis

“Jesus Christ is to me the outstanding personality of all time, all history, both as son of God and as Son of man. Everything he ever said or did has value for us today and that is something you can say of no other man, dead or alive. There is no easy middle ground to stroll upon. You either accept Jesus or reject him.” – Sholem Asch

“I testify that He is utterly incomparable in what He is, what He knows, what He has accomplished and what He has experienced. Yet movingly, He calls us His friends.” – Neal Maxwell

“Having studied the life of Jesus Christ in the Gospels – his person, character, wisdom and work, and having walked with Him now for some 45 years and seen his power, I can say without reservation He is in a category all by Himself. The revelation of Him coming to earth and mankind in general is amazing in itself; but even beyond this specifically to individuals is an extraordinary phenomenon the likes of which is expressed in the millions of testimonies and changed lives – one of which is my own.” – Skye Alison