Thanks for your reply, Corrina.
I'm glad that has worked in your marriage and you've been married a lot longer than I have. But I know that wouldn't work for us. Neither Mr. Rac nor I believe that his possession of a Y chromosome somehow makes him know what is best for us. I defer to him in his areas of expertise. He defers to me in mine. It would be foolish of me to tell him how to network the computers in the house, given that he's a network engineer. It would be foolish of him to tell me how to draft a power of attorney we leave to each of our parents when we go overseas. And when neither of us is an expert or when we have equally strong feelings about something, well, then that's when we have to work it out.
Regarding your question, there aren't three possibilities, Corrina, there are four. The fourth possibility is that the author of John wrote the statement based on his beliefs and attributed them to Jesus. Since not one of the Gospel's was written during the lifetime of Christ, I don't believe there is any way to assume that they are literally true. The argument posited by CS Lewis assumes the Bible is literally true. If you believe that, then CS Lewis's puzzle makes sense to you, if you don't it is a silly and absurd question.
I try to read the Bible in its historical and cultural context. Scholars of religious history are pretty much unanimous in agreeing that major concepts of the Judeo-Christian tradition including strict monotheism (as opposed to believing our one god is way more powerful than your many lesser gods), the concepts of heaven, hell, the day of judgment, the resurrection of the dead, and the coming of a savior born of a virgin entered the tradition through its interactions with the dominant religion in that area of the world at the time - Zoroastrianism. When Cyrus defeated the Babylonians and allowed the Jews to return to Israel and to settle freely in the Persian empire, there was a remarkable amount of exchange between Judaism and Zoroastrianism. Many central tenants of the Persian faith found their way into Judaism. I try to read the Bible with the understanding that by the time the events of the New Testament are happening, these concepts are already well understood by the people of that time and place. To me, that means the writers of the Gospels aren't coming at the task tabula rasa.
Now this is probably pure heresy to some people, which I understand. But it is truly how I view religion - as an attempt by human beings to understand the will of God, to determine their place in the universe and the purpose of their lives. Other people view it differently. And that's the great thing about religious freedom - no one can try to force you to believe something you don't.
Rac
