Jesus as Savior

Jesus came to save the world. That was more than 2,000 years ago. The world, however, is not any safer, any saner or any more humane than it was during the time of Jesus, nor is man appreciably any more sensible or responsible. There is little dispute that Jesus as a “savior” has proved to be a dismal failure. His plan of salvation was a failure; it did not work out as Jesus intended. A great teacher is needed now almost as much as 2,000 years ago. If the world, however, is gradually improving, it is because of science, not due to ancient superstitions. Jesus may have resurrected his dead body from the grave back to life, but he failed to resurrect the dead minds of men and the dead hearts of women of his community. Jesus failed to provide the knowledge so much needed by man to enable him to shape his course through life. No one knows how to live intelligently, how best to meet life’s situation, what action is best suited to the occasion. Jesus did not tell us what to do. His sayings are interpreted in many conflicting ways. He failed to predict the needs of the future. He said little of international strife. He offered no program for arbitration of global disputes, no substitute for war between nations, no policy of war prevention. Jesus did not explain what entailed a happy relations between man and wife, nor between employer and employee, nor how to educate children, nor how to preserve health, nor how to make a living, nor how to prevent war, or prevent poverty and suffering. Jesus gave little information, and his spiritual advice was not clearly enough expressed to enable man to apply it to modern times. Jesus neglected to show his followers how to live in search of the truth. His knowledge of the world was less than the knowledge of a high school dropout today who reads with much gusto the basic writings of Bertrand Russell. Poch Suzara