Human, or a Holy Harry Potter?

Christianity might be hurting its own cause by turning Jesus into some sort of a holy Harry Potter. In the very early church, in reaching out to Gentiles, some evangelists portrayed the man Jesus as a supernatural being in order to compete with the “god-man” Caesar and the many household gods of the dominant Greek and Roman culture. Obviously, this tactic succeeded; they planted seeds among the Gentiles and the church blossomed. But the tactic also had a lasting negative effect that even today hampers the faith’s position in the world.

To illustrate the impact of that tactic today, at the risk of losing a secular friend, suppose you ask an agnostic or atheist of your acquaintance what are the first five things they think of when someone mentions Jesus. That is, what they think of him, not of his followers or the church (or of the obnoxious person who just asked them this uncomfortable question, i.e. yourself). More than likely, their list will run something like this:

–Instantly heals anyone of sickness or deformity

–Walks on water

–Turns water to wine

–Feeds 5,000 with a few fish and loaves

–Dies and comes back to life

All magic, right? Most people have to do a bit of mental digging before they remember the Golden Rule, the Beatitudes, his insightful parables or especially his fierce demand for social justice for the poor. In fact, most people completely forget his parables describing how to live a better…