WHERE WE ARE

For a brief summary of what has been covered in Part 3 through Part 15 of this series, see the “WHERE WE ARE” section at the beginning of Part 16 of this series.

For a brief summary of what has been covered in Part 16, Part 17, and Part 18, see the “WHERE WE ARE” section at the beginning of Part 19 of this series.

In their second point against Jesus being a lunatic, Kreeft and Tacelli offer two similar arguments. I call the first argument the Feeling-Superior argument:

21. When a mentally healthy person meets an insane person (a lunatic), they feel uncomfortable, and they feel that way because they feel superior to the insane person.

24. When mentally healthy persons met Jesus, they felt uncomfortable and this was NOT because they felt superior to Jesus.

THEREFORE:

5B. Jesus was not a lunatic.

My current focus is on evaluating premise (24) of this argument by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli. In Part 19 of this series, I reviewed thirteen examples of people interacting with Jesus from Chapter 5 of the Gospel of Mark (which I had selected randomly from the first five chapters of that Gospel). Here are the conclusions I reached about those examples:

Out of thirteen different examples, four are irrelevant to an evaluation of premise (24), and of the relevant examples, seven examples neither confirm nor disconfirm premise (24), one example provides some disconfirmation of premise (24), and only one example provides some confirmation of premise (24).

This is VERY WEAK support for premise (24) from thirteen examples of groups or individuals having contact with Jesus in Chapter 5 of the Gospel of Mark. If the review of examples from other Chapters of Mark produces similar results, then we can reasonably conclude that the available evidence FAILS to show that premise (24) is true, and that this premise is DUBIOUS.

It is now time to review examples of people meeting Jesus from Chapter 10 of the Gospel of Mark (a Chapter I selected randomly from the middle Chapters of that Gospel).

PEOPLE INTERACTING WITH JESUS IN MARK CHAPTER 10

There are eleven examples of people interacting with Jesus in Chapter 10 of the Gospel of Mark:

1. “crowds again gathered around him” (Mark 10:1)
2. “Some, testing him, asked…” (Mark 10:2-9)
3. “the disciples asked him…” (Mark 10:10-12)
4. “People were bringing children to him…” (Mark 10:13-16)
5. “a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him…” (Mark 10:17-22
6. “Jesus…said to his disciples…” (Mark 10:23-27)
7. “Peter began to say to him…” (Mark 10:28-31)
8. “He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them…” (Mark 10:32-34)
9. “James and John…came forward to him and said to him…” (Mark 10:35-40)
10. “Jesus called them [“the ten”] and said to them…” (Mark 10:41-45)
11. “Bartimaeus…a blind beggar…began to shout out…” (Mark 10:41-45)

Jesus’ disciples already knew Jesus, so they were NOT meeting Jesus for the first time. Thus, six of the above examples are irrelevant because they are about interactions between Jesus and his disciples:

1. “crowds again gathered around him” (Mark 10:1)
2. “Some, testing him, asked…” (Mark 10:2-9)
3. “the disciples asked him…” (Mark 10:10-12)
4. “People were bringing children to him…” (Mark 10:13-16)
5. “a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him…” (Mark 10:17-22
6. “Jesus…said to his disciples…” (Mark 10:23-27)
7. “Peter began to say to him…” (Mark 10:28-31)
8. “He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them…” (Mark 10:32-34)
9. “James and John…came forward to him and said to him…” (Mark 10:35-40)
10. “Jesus called them [“the ten”] and said to them…” (Mark 10:41-45)
11. “Bartimaeus…a blind beggar…began to shout out…” (Mark 10:41-45)

That leaves us with just five examples of people or groups of people, meeting Jesus:

1. “crowds again gathered around him” (Mark 10:1)

2. “Some, testing him, asked…” (Mark 10:2-9)

4. “People were bringing children to him…” (Mark 10:13-16)

5. “a man ran up and knelt before him…” (Mark 10:17-22)

11. “Bartimaeus…a blind beggar…began to shout out…” (Mark 10:41-45)

EXAMPLE #1: “crowds again gathered around him” (Mark 10:1)

Nowhere in any Gospel do people say “I am uncomfortable around Jesus” or “I am uneasy around Jesus”. So, the idea that some people felt uncomfortable or uneasy around Jesus must be INFERRED from their words and actions. There are NO indications that the people in this crowd felt uncomfortable around Jesus. The fact that they gathered at this location to see and hear Jesus, however, is an indication that they did NOT feel uncomfortable around Jesus, so example #1 provides some evidence AGAINST premise (24).

Furthermore, even if the people in this crowd did feel uncomfortable on meeting Jesus, there is NO indication that they felt superior to Jesus in any way. So, this example definitely does NOT provide evidence in support of premise (24).

EXAMPLE #2: “Some, testing him, asked…” (Mark 10:2-9)

One or a few people in the crowd asked Jesus a question about divorce. This appears to be because Jesus’ view of divorce was different than the view of divorce by Moses, so the point of the question was to reveal that Jesus had an unorthodox view of divorce in relation to the sacred scriptures of the Jews. The Amplified Bible translation makes this interpretation clearer:

² Pharisees came to Jesus to test Him [intending to trick Him into saying something wrong], and asked Him, “Is it lawful [according to Scripture] for a man to divorce his wife and send her away?” ³ He replied to them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” ⁵ But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of hearts [your callousness and insensitivity toward your wives and the provision of God] he wrote you this precept. ⁶ But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. ⁷ For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother [to establish a home with his wife], ⁸ and the two shall become one flesh; so that they are no longer two, but [are united as] one flesh. ⁹ Therefore, what God has united and joined together, man must not separate [by divorce].”

Mark 10:2-9, Amplified Bible

It is the author or narrator who says that the people who asked this question “came to Jesus to test Him”, not the people who asked the question. So, this might be a mistaken view of the motivations of the people asking about divorce. Perhaps it was an honest question and not an attempt “to trick Him into saying something wrong”. However, it is plausible that a popular religious teacher with some new ideas about God and morality would be viewed as a threat by conservative or traditionalist Jews. So, if Jesus was asked for his views about divorce, it is plausible that some people were attempting to “trick” Jesus into saying something “wrong” or contrary to the teachings of Moses.

On this interpretation, the people asking the question could be said to be “uncomfortable” with Jesus, and also to be uncomfortable because they “felt superior to Jesus”. They believed themselves to be faithful followers of the teachings of Moses, but they might well have believed Jesus to be a wreckless egotistical preacher who was challenging the authority of divinely inspired Jewish scriptures. So, example #2 appears to provide some support for premise (24).

However, it should be noted that this interpretation of this passage in Mark also reveals that premise (21) is problematic. These opponents of Jesus are, on the above interpretation, “uncomfortable” with Jesus because of the non-traditional religious views promoted by Jesus. Their feeling of superiority towards Jesus is similarly grounded in their motivation to uphold traditional Jewish teachings and the authority of the Jewish scriptures. This, obviously, has NOTHING to do with whether Jesus was sane or insane. This is simply a common sort of religious or theological disagreement where an independent thinker proposes some non-traditional religious view(s) and is then opposed by conservatives or traditionalists in that religion.

Such common religious/theological disagreements do NOT require that opponents of some new or non-traditional religious teaching view the person who proposes those ideas as being literally insane. Therefore, to the extent that some people felt “uncomfortable” with Jesus, and felt “superior” to Jesus, because they were conservatives or traditionalists in relation to the Jewish religion and because they viewed Jesus as challenging some aspect(s) of traditional Jewish religion, then premise (24) seems irrelevant or misleading, because the circumstance of people feeling uncomfortable with Jesus and also feeling superior to Jesus might well have occurred without having any connection to whether Jesus was insane (or whether those people believed Jesus to be insane).

EXAMPLE # 4: “People were bringing children to him…” (Mark 10:13-16)

There are NO indications that the people in this crowd felt uncomfortable around Jesus. The fact that they brought their children to be blessed by Jesus, however, is an indication that they did NOT feel uncomfortable around Jesus, so example #4 provides some evidence AGAINST premise (24).

Furthermore, even if the people in this crowd did feel uncomfortable on meeting Jesus, there is NO indication that “they felt superior to Jesus” in any way. So, this example definitely does NOT provide evidence in support of premise (24).

EXAMPLE #5: “a man ran up and knelt before him…” (Mark 10:17-22)

The rich young man appears to sincerely ask for Jesus’ spiritual guidance about how to obtain eternal life. If so, then this action indicates respect or admiration for Jesus, and it indicates that the young man was NOT uncomfortable around Jesus. So, this example provides some evidence AGAINST premise (24).

Furthermore, there is no indication in this passage that the young man felt in any way superior to Jesus. So, this example clearly does NOT provide evidence in support of premise (24).

EXAMPLE #11: “Bartimaeus…a blind beggar…began to shout out…” (Mark 10:41-45)

In this passage, a blind man asks Jesus to heal him. There is NO indication that the blind man felt uncomfortable around Jesus. The fact that he shouts at Jesus to get his attention in order to ask for Jesus to heal him is an indication that this man is NOT uncomfortable with Jesus. So, this passage provides some evidence AGAINST premise (24).

Furthermore, even if the blind man was uncomfortable with Jesus, there is NO indication that the blind man felt superior to Jesus in any way. So, this passage clearly does NOT provide evidence in support of premise (24).

CONCLUSION

Because six of the eleven examples of interactions between people and Jesus in Chapter 10 of the Gospel of Mark are about interactions between Jesus and his disciples, those six examples are irrelevant to an evaluation of premise (24).

Of the five remaining examples, four examples (examples #1, #4, #5, and #11) each provide some evidence AGAINST premise (24) and no evidence for premise (24).

There is only one example (example #2) that appears to provide some support for premise (24), but that example also provides good reason to doubt the significance of premise (21), the other key premise of this argument. The interpretation of the passage for example #2 that provides some support for premise (24) also reveals that it is quite possible for someone to have been “uncomfortable” with Jesus, and to also feel superior to Jesus WITHOUT Jesus being literally insane, and WITHOUT those people believing Jesus to be insane.

In Conclusion, Chapter 10 of the Gospel of Mark, like Chapter 5 of the Gospel of Mark, fails to provide significant evidence in support of premise (24). If the third randomly chosen Chapter from the Gospel of Mark also fails to provide significant evidence in support of premise (24), then we can reasonably conclude that this premise is FALSE or at least DUBIOUS, and thus reject this argument.