The Mistakes of Jesus | Page 7

29.
[26] Luke xiii, 3.
[27] Mark ix, 43.
[28] Matt. xxiii, 33.
[29] Mark xvi, 16.
[30] Matt. xxvi, 28.
[31] Matt. xxii, 14.
[32] Matt. vii, 14.
[33] Luke xiii, 24.
[34] Luke xxiii, 43.
[35] John xx, 23.

[36] John xiv, 16.
[37] Matt. xxvi, 53.
[38] Matt. xiii, 49.
[39] Matt. viii, 29.
[40] Luke iv, 34.
[41] Mark iii, 11.
[42] Mark xiii, 26.
[43] Mark xiv, 62.
[44] John i, 51.
[45] Matt. xvii, 9.

FALSE IMPRESSIONS
Jesus not only held mistaken ideas about theology, as anyone but a
Fundamentalist must admit, but he often gave impressions about
earthly affairs that were unreliable to say the least. Occasionally his
statements were actual misrepresentations of fact.
Jonah and the Whale
"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so
shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the
earth."[1]
Evidently Jesus believed the story of Jonah and the whale, as well as
the tale of Noah's ark[2] both of which are now generally discredited.
Moreover, his prophecy regarding his entombment was inaccurate, for
he was only two nights and one day in the heart of the earth, from
Friday night to Sunday morning.

End of the World
Jesus was decidedly mistaken in his theory of the approaching end of
the world.
"Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."[3] "Ye shall not have
gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come."[4] "There
be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the
Son of man coming in his kingdom."[5] "And this gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end come ... Verily I say unto you, This
generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."[6] "The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand."[7] "So ye in like
manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is
nigh, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall
not pass, till all these things be done."[8] "The hour is coming, in the
which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come
forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they
that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."[9]
Jesus was confident that the day of judgment was coming in the first
century, but it has not come yet, nineteen hundred years later. This
erroneous belief in the imminent end of the world had an important
bearing upon his entire philosophy; for if the end of the world was so
near it was far more important to prepare for life hereafter than to be
concerned over mundane affairs. May we not view with doubt any of
Jesus' teachings that depended upon his mistaken conception of the
duration of the world?
Miracles
Jesus is reported to have fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two
fishes, and again 4,000 with seven loaves and a few small fishes. He
walked on the water, calmed the seas, raised three persons from the
dead and performed other miracles contrary to natural laws. These
wondrous acts were depended upon by him to convince the people that
he was the expected Messiah: "Go and shew John again those things
which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame

walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up,
and the poor have the gospel preached to them."[10]
Jesus assured his disciples that they too would be able to perform
miracles: "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name
shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall
take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt
them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover."[11] "He
that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater
works than these shall he do."[12]
Jesus set great store by these marvels that only magicians attempt
nowadays. Ministers of the apostolic succession cannot cast out devils
or take up serpents, and they are affected by deadly drinks the same as
others. Jesus had a primitive idea of the value of such magic. Either he
sought to deceive the gullible, or, as is more likely, was himself
overcredulous. It is important to remember that Jesus stressed the value
of enchantment and advised his successors to conjure in his name.
If the miraculous had not been connected with the name of Jesus, it is
probable that he never would have been