A Postmodernist Before His Time -- Thomas Jefferson on Jesus
Monday, November 28, 2005

The effort to separate the "Jesus of History" from the "Christ of Faith" is one of the hallmarks of theological liberalism -- and a point of contact between liberal theology and postmodern secularism. Made famous by successive "quests" for a merely historical Jesus, this effort represents an attempt to recover Jesus as a figure in history, stripped of all claims to deity.

The Jesus presented by those committed to this methodology is not the incarnate Son of God, deity in human flesh. To the contrary, he is a Judean folk philosopher, a radical religious reformer, or a teacher of enlightened morality.

The miracles, claims to deity, and supernatural dimensions are simply denied -- relegated to those who believe in the "Christ of faith." Out are the virgin birth, all miracles and healings, the resurrection, and the forgiveness of sins. What remains is a secularized and humanized Jesus -- a religious teacher whose teachings may still retain value -- not the Christ of historic biblical Christianity.

The rest-Albert Mohler