(Much of this material is taken from Reason & Revelation, "Jesus Christ---Unique Savior or Average Fraud?," Part 1, February 2001 and Part 2, March, 2001, Bert Thompson and Kyle Butt.)

We believe that Jesus Christ is a unique Savior; that is, one of a kind. (Acts 4:12, 1 Cor. 3:11.) This is all inclusive---His teachings as well as his deeds. Last Sunday, I named seven major events in Jesus’ life story. They are: Incarnation, baptism, temptation, transfiguration, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Paul named six in his listing of 1 Timothy 3:16.

Josh McDowell, New Evidence That Demands A Verdict, listed 7 things that we should expect from the Savior of the world.

1. Unique entrance into history
2. Unique life---sinless and viceless
3. Unique power over nature
4. Unique message---greatest message
5. Unique influence---lasting
6. Unique power to satisfy spiritual hunger
7. Unique ability to defeat sin and death

These are powerful traits for one to possess. But note how some unbelievers might seek to counter the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. Some might say: He lived as a man in the flesh; others have been great religious leaders in history, others have suffered tragic deaths for what they taught and claimed about themselves; others have claimed to be virgin-born, miracle-workers, crucified and resurrected, ascended gods.

Bert Thompson wrote, "Christians need to recognize as an undeniable fact---a fact confirmed by mythology, history, and even early Christian apologists---that ancient documents reveal that the story of Christ is not the first story ever told of a virgin-born, crucified, resurrected, miracle-working savior-god who supposedly died for the sins of humanity. These documents further reveal that many of Christ’s teachings can be gleaned---at times almost verbatim---from sources that were in circulation hundreds or thousands of years before Jesus was born. Early apologists acknowledge these facts because they were, and are, quite indisputable." (Reason & Revelation, February 2001, pages 11-12.)

Some examples from both history and mythology are: Mohammed’s claim of ascension from Jerusalem, Krishna claimed a death on a cross, burial, resurrection and bodily ascension into heaven 1200 years before Christ, Osiris-Dionysus in Rome 496 BC, and Prometheus claimed to have died for man the creature’s sin in 547 BC. Many kings and rulers claim to have been virgin-born so that others would worship them as a god.

Osiris-Dionysus’ death and resurrection were celebrated by a ritual meal of bread and wine, which symbolize his body and blood. The major events of this mythological god are strikingly similar to those of Jesus Christ. He was God made flesh, virgin born, born on December 25 in a cowshed surrounded with three shepherds, followers were born again through the rites of baptism, miraculously turned water into wine, died at Easter time for the sins of the world, and his followers await his return as the judge in the Last Days.

Farrell Till, a skeptic, debated Norman Geisler in Columbus, GA in March 1994. Till said, "People, I want you to stop and think seriously for just a moment. I know how much emotionalism is involved in this, but please understand this. Crucified, resurrected savior-gods, who had been born of virgins, were a dime of dozen at this time." (Reason & Revelation, 11.)

In the face of all these similarities, how do Christians maintain the uniqueness of Jesus’ story?

One of the most outspoken atheists in the early part of the twentieth century was Joseph McCabe. He published several works, The Myth of the Resurrection (1925), Did Jesus Ever Live? (1926), and How Christianity "Triumphed" (1926). McCabe painstakingly documented the similarities between the story of Jesus and pagan stories. He wrote, "It is a most important feature of our story that this legend of a slain and resurrected god arose in quite different parts of the old civilized world. . . In fact, in one form or other there was almost a world-wide belief that the god, or a representative of the god, died, or had to die every year." (The Myth of the Resurrection and Other Essays, 1993, 52-53.) McCabe wrote that these stories arose from what he called a universal frame of mind. "The universal belief in a slain and resurrected god throws light upon the Christian belief by showing us a universal frame of mind which quite easily, in many places, made a resurrection myth." Yet, in spite of this admission, he concluded that man has no religious instinct. This conclusion does not follow from the widespread similarities of belief. Man does have a religious instinct.

The wise man wrote that God "set eternity in their heart." (Eccl. 3:11.) Over seventy years ago, Clarence Darrow and Wallace Rice published a work titled, Infidels and Heretics: An Agnostic’s Anthology. They quoted John Tyndall, a famous skeptic, who wrote:

"Religion lives not by the force and aid of dogma, but because it is ingrained in the nature of man. To draw a metaphor from metallurgy, the moulds have been broken and reconstructed over and over again, but the molten ore abides in the ladle of humanity. An influence so deep and permanent is not likely soon to disappear." (page 146.)

Even with all the advances in science and learning, man still has strong religious impulses. They have not abated. Because of those inherent yearnings, man seeks to express his worship to God.

How did the instinct to worship God lead to the concoction of numerous stories about a virgin-born savior-god who dies as a sacrifice for mankind’s wrongdoing? It first started with the idea of sacrifice. From the fall of Adam and Eve man has been keenly aware of his own sinfulness and need for redemption. Humans also understood that some type of atoning sacrifice was required to absolve them of sin. Cain and Abel offered their sacrifices to God. Since Cain was a farmer, he offered a grain offering to God. Abel, the shepherd, offered an animal, blood sacrifice. (Genesis 4:2-4.) The New Testament says "by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." (Heb. 11:4.) Abel offered the first of his flock and from that time forward humanity began offering sacrifices to a deity in the hope of absolving his anger and forgiving sin. All over the world, man with his universal religious yearnings made many sacrifices to God. The general rule for the atonement value of a sacrifice was: the more costly and perfect the sacrifice, the more sins it would atone. David would not offer an animal that was given to him. He said, I will not offer unto the Lord God that which cost me nothing. These sacrifices pre-dated the Law of Moses. God regulated what should be offered in the Law.

"You shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats. But whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf. (Lev. 22:19-20.) The Lord always demanded that blood be shed for the remission of sins. (Heb. 9:22.) The Law prohibited human sacrifices. (Lev. 18:21.) Micah did ponder the possibility that it might take the sacrifice of his firstborn son to atone for his sins. (Micah 6:6-8.)

Someone could argue, and they would be right, that animal sacrifices were nothing new to do in worship to God when the Law was given by Moses. Others before them had offered animals in sacrifice to God.

The Jews were not the only ones offering sacrifices and seeking atonement for their sins. The Gentiles without the Law sought reconciliation with God. They often did offer their children to various deities, including Moloch. While Israel had their own history and closely regulated worship, the Gentiles followed a different path. Among them were the noted religious philosophers. They wrote about the gods in heaven and sought to understand the underworld. Sins and death weighed heavily upon their minds.

Wendy Davis, in Widdershins, wrote, "Our ancestors often gave the best they had, their firstborn, to save themselves. A child is precious and sinless, but it lacked one quality---a willingness to be offered." In "No Greater Sacrifice," she wrote that the greatest sacrifice of all would be a willing sinless god who would be offered for a one-time final sacrifice." Davis is an atheist who promotes unadulterated paganism.

So, with two streams of history coming down to Jesus’ day, we have two things being developed. One was the plan of God for man’s redemption through Israel with Jesus, the Son of David. Another was the effort of the philosophers through mythology to understand man’s predicament in life and a way to find atonement. They wrote stories that paralleled the life of Jesus Christ before he was born. They were not right in every detail, but the overall need of man for salvation was presented. They knew that man needed a better sacrifice than animals, than even an innocent child. Many had concluded that God himself would need to come and be offered.

Unbelievers object to all of this about Jesus. They say that he simply repeated what the prophets of Israel had said about him. His moral teachings were no different in some respects from what others had concluded about life. Jesus did often quote the Old Testament as it related to him. Unbelievers say that Jesus’ story is very similar to those written by the philosophers. In many ways, it is. We should not be surprised by that at all, no more so than that animal sacrifices were offered before the Law of Moses. But Jesus is a unique Savior of mankind. Note how.

Jesus is the only historical figure who fulfills the criteria to justify, sanctify and redeem. He lived and walked among men in real cities and villages. People saw him, heard him and ate with him. What a futile effort of unbelievers to try to question whether Jesus actually lived on earth! His life is among the most closely documented in history, especially when the prophecies are considered and the writings subsequent to his life.

Prometheus, Osiris-Dionysus, and Hercules are all mythological. Jesus is historical. It is quite difficult for a mythological god to save man.

Jesus is the only One to live a sinless life. (Heb. 4:15, 1 Peter 1:19, 3:18, 2:22, 2 Cor. 5:21, John 8:46.) Jesus asked those living in his day if they could convict him of any sin. What a bold statement to those who know you! Philip Schaff wrote,

"In vain do we look through the entire biography of Jesus for a single stain or the slightest shadow of moral character. There never lived a more harmless being on earth. He injured nobody, he took advantage of nobody. He never wrote an improper word. He never committed a wrong action." (The Person of Christ, Philip Schaff, 1913, 32-33.)

Jesus boldly asserted his identity. Other religious teachers claimed that they had found a way to live by following some religious concepts. But Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." Others are self-effacing; Jesus is self-asserting. He claimed Deity. He left no room for some to say that he was just a good moral teacher. He did not intend to do that. He is either the Son of God or an imposter and liar. There is no middle ground. Josh McDowell correctly says that Jesus is either God, a liar or a lunatic.

His teachings are unique. Yes, there are many things that are the same. Man has discovered many truths by living and learning the hard way. Tertullian, in Apology, said, "There is nothing so old as the truth." Jesus did reiterate many things from the Law and prophets. But he also said, You have heard of old time, but I say unto you. Those who heard him said, No man ever spake like this man. He taught as One having authority not as the scribes.

His life was foretold by prophecy. God prepared mankind for the coming of His Son into the world. It was not a surprise. Many details of his life were on record. This is not true of any of the other so-called savior gods. They were not sinless. Their sacrifice, therefore, is not the perfect sacrifice that even man knows is needed. Jesus is the unique Savior of mankind!

Jesus warned that "many would come in his name saying, I am Christ and shall deceive many." (Matthew 24:5.)