A Conversation Between Jesus and Rousseau
A.C. Ham after a long week of doing laundry and writing up many papers, sat down on a day close to the middle of the week to conduct another interview. The interview-ees of the day were Jesus of Nazareth, a returning guest, and the philosopher Rousseau.
[Begin Transcript]
Jesus: Ah! It is wonderful to meet you!
Rousseau: The feeling is mutual. I’ve often pondered the nature of humanity and society. I personally believe that man is born free but yet is in chains everywhere he goes. I wonder, is it possible to reconcile the purity of human nature with the corruption of society? What is your view on the state of man?
J: If man is in chains everywhere he goes, how could he be born free? By your own wording it sounds like the chains are applied the moment he is born.
R: You’re right. However, man was not created to be in chains. He was designed to be free. That is what I mean by man is born free.
J: Ah. Thank you for clarifying your stance. I agree with that. Man is not created to be in chains and yes, the way of the world does seem to impute chains upon him. I call that chain, or corruption as you said earlier, sin.
R: So, you agree that man is corrupted?
J: As soon as he is born, yes. “Conceived in sin,” as one of my ancestors put it.
R: Do you think it is possible for man to become as pure as he is meant to be when he’s surrounded by such corruption?
J: It depends. My people have a series of laws they follow in order to be ceremonially pure.
R: Does that work? Are they actually pure?
J: No, the law acts more as a covering so God cannot see the sins they’ve committed. Metaphorically, of course, for God sees everything. Man is unable to make himself or others pure by his own means.
R: You don’t think man can ever be pure?
J: Not in his own power, no.
R: Do you think there’s another power out there that could make him pure?
There’s a pause.
J: Tell me, do you believe in God?
R: If you’re asking if I believe that there is someone who made everything and thus holds it all together, then yes.
J: If there’s an Almighty Creator who took the time to create everything in this world to be perfect, but gave humans free will which allowed imperfections and impurities to happen... would He want to fix those imperfections?
R: Yes, I’d say so.
J: And if the only way to make people perfect was set up by one of those rituals my people did, where we shed the blood of a perfect lamb, would it work?
R: A lamb? I’d think not. An animal doesn’t have the ability to think or choose. It doesn’t have free will, how could it properly atone for the sin it brings?
J: Right. Let’s say instead of a lamb, it was a person who had to use His free will to choose to die on behalf of all of those who sinned, would it work?
R: Only if the man was perfect, which we’ve established no human could be. So, no. No man can ever be perfect and therefore no man can ever atone for the sins of the world.
Jesus smiles.
J: Alright, so then let’s say this man was also God’s Son. And being God Himself, He’d be able to live a perfect life and thus be able to atone for the sins of the many by dying on their behalf. Would God do that?
R: I see what you’re getting at. I’ve heard the stories about you being the Son of God. So, you agree that man is currently in chains and believe it’s possible for him to escape, but not by his own means. Is that what I’m hearing?
J: Hearing and understanding are different, my friend. I believe there are people who are not under the yoke of sin, not slaves to the chains all around them.
R: Because of the atonement? With so many chains all around them, how could one sacrifice be able to free them permanently? With all the corruption around them, how would they truly be able to be pure?
J: Because I AM. Those who believe in me are covered in the blood of my sacrifice, made so pure that nothing can ever stain them again and freed so that no chain will ever be able to hold them again.
R: Seems a bit unbelievable.
J: Only for those without the faith to accept it.
[End of transcript]
