Other Potentially Unique Areas in Jesus Christ’s Teachings

Both confirmations of our six categories as well as additional suggestions have been made by scholars who likewise consider such topics as candidates for Jesus Christ’s unique teachings and actions. Initially, we will simply list a few scholars who have also pointed to items that are similar to our six topics here, though without duplicating the remarks that the researchers above have already mentioned.

In every one of these cases, we emphasized that Jesus was the only founder of a major world religion who taught or did these things: (1) Jesus referred to himself as deity.87 (2) Jesus taught that in his person, Jesus was the actual path to the Kingdom of God and eternal life.88 (3) Jesus was the only teacher among the non-Christian founders whose miracles are reported of him in the early sources.89

Moreover, (4) Jesus was the only one who taught that he would die for human sin.90 (5) Jesus and the early Christian view of suffering may not quite be as exclusive a teaching, but it is still a very distinctive angle on the subject.91 (6) Jesus’ resurrection, especially the New Testament bodily version, along with this event validating his major teachings, is totally unrivaled,92 especially when critical methods are emphasized.

Some additional, non-exhaustive but highly distinctive thoughts are also raised by others:

(1) Yamauchi adds that Jesus was the only founder to predict his resurrection ahead of time.93

(2) For Neill, Jesus’ view of God is certainly “revolutionary” such as God’s care for individuals, like the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15), with the very hairs of our heads being numbered (Lk. 12:7), not to mention God’s concern for other living creatures (Matt. 6:26).94 (3) Neill also points out Jesus’ friendship with and love for his followers.95 (4) Especially, in light of his miracles and resurrection, many scholars have remarked that Jesus’ high view of the inspiration of Scripture should be adopted by those who agree that he was the Father’s spokesperson.96 Other topics could definitely be listed and pursued here, as well.

Endnotes

87 J. Ed Komoszewski, M. James Sawyer, and Daniel B. Wallace, Reinventing Jesus: What the Da Vinci Code and other Novel Speculations Don’t Tell You (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2006), especially Part 4, Chaps. 12-15; Norman Anderson, The Teaching of Jesus, The Jesus Library, ed. by Michael Green (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1983), 151-160; Yamauchi, Jesus, Zoroaster, Buddha, Socrates, Muhammad, 40-41; Neill, Christian Faith and Other Faiths, 233; Stephen Neill, The Supremacy of Jesus (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1984), 79- 80; 84; 86; 115; cf. 82.

88 Anderson, The Teaching of Jesus, Part I, Chaps. 2-3; Anderson, Christianity and Comparative Religion, 61; Neill, The Supremacy of Jesus, 63-65.

89 Cf. Neill, The Supremacy of Jesus, 63, 151-152.

90 Michael Green, The Empty Cross of Jesus, The Jesus Library, ed. by Michael Green (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1984), 171-180; Yamauchi, Jesus, Zoroaster, Buddha, Socrates, Muhammad, 39-40; Anderson, Christianity and Comparative Religion, 50-51, 70, note 5.

91 Green, The Empty Cross of Jesus, 168-171; Anderson, The Teaching of Jesus, 160-165; Neill, Christian Faith and Other Faiths, 232; Neill, The Supremacy of Jesus, 66-67; 90.

92 Norman Anderson, Jesus Christ: The Witness of History, Second Ed., Rev. (Leicester, England: InterVarsity, 1985), Chap. 4; Anderson, Christianity and Comparative Religion, 31-43, 46, 50-51; Anderson, The Teaching of Jesus, 166-168; Neill, The Supremacy of Jesus, 155, 163-164.

93 Yamauchi, Jesus, Zoroaster, Buddha, Socrates, Muhammad, 40.

94 Neill, The Supremacy of Jesus, 46, 59, 79-8.

95 Neill, The Supremacy of Jesus, 127-135.

96 Several books to be noted include Steven B. Cowan and Terry L. Wilder, eds., In Defense of the Bible: A Comprehensive Argument for the Authority of Scripture (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Academic, 2013), especially Cowan’s argument in pages 443-462; John W. Wenham, Christ and the Bible, Second ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1984), 187-188; Robert Lightner, The Saviour [sic] and the Scriptures (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1966), with Chap. 3 in particular presenting an intriguing approach to this topic; Anderson, Christianity and Comparative Religion, Chap. 4.