he was not acquainted with the system of dictatorship
formerly employed by his Father. Occasionally Jesus denounced the ethics
of "them of old time", but he always referred to his Father as perfect.

The dilemma is that Jesus must be condemned either for claiming identity
with Jehovah (to whom he was really superior), or for accepting with
only slight improvements the tyranny of God as described in the Bible,
the Word of God. Of course if the Bible is not the Word of God, the
whole system of Christian theology falls to the ground.

_The Jewish Messiah_

Jesus claimed to be the Messiah expected by the Jews. "And the high
priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that
thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith
unto him, Thou hast said."[18] "Again the high priest asked him, and
said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus
said, I am."[19] "Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And
he said unto them, Ye say that I am."[20] "The woman saith unto him, I
know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come he
will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am
he."[21]

These acknowledgments by Jesus that he was the Messiah are important,
for if he claimed divinity when he was merely mortal, either under false
pretences or being self-deceived, he made a mistake of the most serious
character. His claim was not recognized by his own people, and many of
his followers today deny that he was the Jewish Messiah. Jesus said that
he came from God to save the Jews. Either he was truly the predicted
Messiah or he made an inexcusable error. In this as in other instances
to be cited, Fundamentalists will not admit any mistake, for they
believe in the supernatural events connected with the Son of God. But
Modernists, who reject the anointed Christ while clinging to the human
Jesus, may be at a loss to reconcile Jesus' claim to Messiahship with
their rejection of his divinity.

Jesus stressed his mission to save the world, saying "For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."[22]

_Eternal Damnation_

Whether Jesus was mistaken or not in his estimate of his close
relationship with God is for each person to decide; but his theory of
the disasters that would follow unbelief in his divinity leads to
serious difficu