More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell
Week 2: Chapter 2 — What Makes Jesus So Different?
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Millions of people admire Jesus as a great teacher or a moral example — but McDowell argues that this popular view collapses under scrutiny. Consider what you have always assumed about Jesus before reading what he actually claimed about himself.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.McDowell opens by noting that Jesus is unique in the way he made himself the central focus of his own teaching — unlike Moses, Muhammad, or Buddha, who pointed away from themselves to a law, a path, or a god. What is the significance of that difference? Why does it matter for how we evaluate Jesus's claims?
2.What specific claims does Jesus make about himself in the Gospels that go far beyond what any ordinary moral teacher would say? Which of these claims do you find most striking or most difficult to explain away?
3.McDowell distinguishes Jesus from the founders of other world religions. Without dismissing those traditions, what makes the Christian claim about Jesus categorically different from claims made about other religious founders?