The Self-Contradiction of Jesus

by Dawson Bethrick

Christianity is, if nothing more, the worship of Jesus. According to orthodox Christianity, Jesus is the god of the Old Testament come down to the earth, incarnated in the flesh of a human being, and so-called “king of kings,” even though his only crown was assembled from thorns which corrupted his flesh.

In evangelizing, many adherents to Christianity carry on as if they were really concerned about the presence of contradictions in one?s worldview. While pretending that their worldview is wholly consistent and free of any contradiction whatsoever, Christianity’s apologists roam about like lions seeking whom they may devour on the charge of contradiction and fallacy. What?s often overlooked by both the apologists themselves and unsuspecting non-believers, is that Christianity reduces quite literally to worship of a walking contradiction. This is not hard to see, but it is impossible for apologists to distangle.

The Athanasian Creed makes this unmistakably clear when it affirms that Jesus is ?both God and Man,? that he is “fully God, fully man,” that is, both wholly divine and wholly human.

But herein lies a long list of contradictions, for God is not a man, and man is not a god. The Athanasian Creed is essentially saying that Jesus is both A and not A. Observe the following 20 essential qualities attributed to the Christian god which man does not share with it:

1. God is uncreated, but man is not uncreated
2. God is divine, but man is not divine
3. God is supernatural, but man is not supernatural
4. God is perfect, but man is not perfect
5. God is immutable, but man is not immutable
6. God is almighty, but man is not almighty
7. God is sovereign, but man is not sovereign
8. God is omniscient, but man is not omniscient
9. God is omnipotent, but man is not omnipotent
10. God is omnipresent, but man is not omnipresence
11. God is omnibenevolent, but man is not omnibenevolent
12. God is infallible, but man is not infallible
13. God is infinite, but man is not infinite
14. God is eternal, but man is not eternal
15. God is immortal, but man is not immortal
16. God is incorporeal, but man is not incorporeal
17. God is non-physical, but man is not non-physical
18. God is immaterial, but man is not immaterial
19. God is incorruptible, but man is not incorruptible

1. God is indestructible, but man is not indestructible

   And even though only one of these would have to stick in order for there to be a real (as opposed to an “apparent”) contradiction, we also note that man is biological in nature. But how could one say that the Christian god, which is said to lack a body, is biological? And while Christians say that their god is worthy of worship, would they say that human beings are worthy of worship? In fact, it is hard to find any quality ascribed to the Christian god by Christian sources that man has.

   Since Christians worship Jesus, and Jesus is claimed to be both one thing and also its logical opposite, we can only conclude that Christians therefore literally worship a contradiction. And since they worship contradiction, how can they find the presence of contradictions (or supposed contradictions) in non-Christian worldviews objectionable? Perhaps their complaint is that non-Christian worldviews don?t have enough contradictions, or that non-Christian worldviews do not give contradictions enough respect. At any rate, if one is to avoid contradictions, this much is certain: one must abandon Christianity.

   Last updated: August 15, 2005