Albert Schweitzer, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1952 for his humanitarian efforts, had his own views about Jesus.
Schweitzer concluded that insanity was behind Jesus’ claim to be God.
In other words, Jesus was wrong about his claims but didn’t intentionally lie.
According to this theory, Jesus was deluded into actually believing he was the Messiah.
C. S. Lewis considered this option carefully.
Lewis deduced the insanity of Jesus’ claims—if they are not true.
He said that someone who claimed to be God would not be a great moral teacher.
“He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell.”
Even those most skeptical of Christianity rarely question Jesus’ sanity.
Social reformer William Channing (1780–1842), admittedly not a Christian, made the following observation about Jesus: “The charge of an extravagant, self-deluding enthusiasm is the last to be fastened on Jesus.
Where can we find traces of it in history?
Do we detect them in the calm authority of His precepts (principle)?”
Although his own life was filled with immorality and personal skepticism, the renowned French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) acknowledged Jesus’ superior character and presence of mind.
“When Plato describes his imaginary righteous man, loaded with all the punishments of guilt, yet meriting the highest rewards of virtue, he describes exactly the character of Christ.
… What presence of mind.
… Yes, if the life and death of Socrates are those of a philosopher, the life and death of Jesus Christ are those of a God.