Lewis's Trilemma

Hello everybody, today I am going to talk to you about an interesting argument devised by (to the best of my knowledge) CS Lewis. It is known by some as Lewis's Trilemma.

The Trilemma

Lewis's Trilemma is basically a response to the idea that Jesus was a good moral teacher, but not the Son of God. Lewis thought that this idea was ridiculous and attempted to refute it by means of the trilemma. The argument goes as follows:

One of three things must be true about Jesus:

1. He was a liar

2. He was a lunatic (or)

3. He was the Son of God

Option #1: Liar

Lewis points out that if Jesus made all the claims that He did (i.e. the ability to forgive sins and to get people into Heaven) and did so knowing that they weren't true, then He was a liar. A person who lives a life of lies, and trys to get others to believe them, is hardly a good moral teacher.

Option #2: Lunatic

If Jesus really believed that He was the Son of God, yet in reality wasn't, then He must have been a lunatic. If Jesus wasn't really God, but sincerely believed that He was, then He would have been on the same level as somebody who, as Lewis puts it, believed he was a poached egg.

Option #3: Lord

The third option is that Jesus really was who He claimed to be.

In Conclusion

This argument, on its own, doesn't prove that Jesus was God. However, it prevents people from simply saying that Jesus was a good moral teacher and then calling it a day. It forces the hearer to either choose to reject Jesus or accept Him. I believe that this argument is good for pointing out the seriousness of the question, "What do you believe about Jesus?" Since, as Lewis points out, if Christianity is true, then it is the most important thing in the world. However, if it is false, then it doesn't matter at all. It cannot be moderately important, that is not an option. Lewis's trilemma forces us to look at the options and decide which one we really believe, thereby imposing the seriousness of faith in God on us. Which option do you believe?

God bless and Jesus loves you!!

-Jon