Why didn't Jesus write his message by himself?

[MontanaGuy]

Almost everyone was illiterate in that time in history and I wouldn't think that Jesus would have been an exception. Remember the printing press and the mass production of books wasn't going to happen for many centuries so what would there even be to read? There was no such thing as elementary school where the children would get a basic education, people generally led a simple life and learned a trade and probably did the same work as their fathers.

[Tricky D]

Originally Posted by MontanaGuy

There was no such thing as elementary school where the children would get a basic education, people generally led a simple life and learned a trade and probably did the same work as their fathers.

Be that as it may, but Jews traditionally have a good education.
So if Jesus as a child would stand out in a synagogue he could have been sponsored by the local rabbis to receive some basic education in reading and writing so he could study the Torah more closely.

[TravisW]

Because he knew that if he wrote a book, 2000 years later armchair historians would deem it a forgery anyway.

[esselcue]

Maybe...just maybe...Jesus did write something down and it clearly stated that he was a rabbi, a teacher...that his wife was Mary Magdalene...that he had been inspired by the words of the Buddhists, which he had studied during his teenage years and early twenties, and he wanted to spread their beautiful message of loving life and living in a non-harmful way and respecting each other. What if that book stated that he did not want people thinking him a Messiah or going into hysteria over his words, because he was nothing but a very concerned and enlightened man who wanted the people of that time to stop their in-fighting and somewhat dangerous lifestyles?

And what if the early church did find that book and realised, to their horror, that their entire faith was predicated on a lie, written by hysterical and obsessed men who were trying to use this rabbi as a means of controling them? And what if that book is being kept hidden away in the famoues Vatican Vaults?

Of course, this is just my own conjecture, because in truth I think if the church did find such a book or writings by the man himself, they would have burned them long ago.

[Frankie117]

Had Jesus done it himself, it takes the faith out of the equation. People would believe it because they knew it was true, not because they needed to have faith in it.

Of course, no one would deny the fact that something happened more than 2,008 years ago that made the known world change religions. Something that dramatic and moving must have been true. What else could it have been?

[Tricky D]

Originally Posted by Frankie117

What else could it have been?

A lie?
Or something in-between like propaganda (which still is a lie, but unfortunately the best lies have some parts of truth in it).

[Frankie117]

Originally Posted by Tricky D

Originally Posted by Frankie117 A lie?
Or something in-between like propaganda (which still is a lie, but unfortunately the best lies have some parts of truth in it).

I think you missed the point. Change to the masses does not occur overnight. The simple fact that it did proves that there was in fact a lot of influence there (Jesus?). It wouldn't have been propaganda, since the Romans attempted to suppress the new faith.

[Tricky D]

Originally Posted by Frankie117

It wouldn't have been propaganda, since the Romans attempted to suppress the new faith.

Not necessarily.
All you have to do to convince the masses is turn key-players, people who have lotsa influence (and in a lesser degree: power).

In this day and age it would mean controlling the media.
The masses, like back then, still behave exactly like herd animals.

[PhotogGal]

I believe that Jesus didn't write his message by himself because that was not part of God's plan.

Also, as much as He was scorned and hated by some, any book he had written would have been destroyed just as they tried to destroy Him.

[dorado0359]

Originally Posted by the_pines

He rose from the dead. That's better than a book. I think the word was the part responsible for writing books. He lived the word. He did write a book by fulfilling the scripture. His life was the word, which wrote the books. If he were just a man, he might have needed to write books himself. Instead he came as the son of God and that means he was there from the beginning to the end of the word.

Would you ask the son of God to sit down ands write you a book? He was there before, and after. He is.

Here we go again...another speaking on behalf of the all-powerful God.