From upthread, while I wait for more Muslims willing to discuss their Muslim beliefs (or a new civil Mormon discussion thread ):
You misunderstand the point, then. To make the claim that Jesus was simply a prophet or great moral teacher, one must reconcile His claims that were considered blasphemous lies or sheer lunacy as well. No cherry picking. Those who don't make that claim (while also denying His divinity) are quite free to dismiss him as a liar or a lunatic (who just also happened to have some great moral teachings and insights to accompany His miracles).
It's not a Christian belief or doctrine that I'm aware of to label Him a prophet while denying his divinity, it's rather a non-Christian notion to be reconciled by anyone suggesting it.
So, simplistically, if my god was water, the fact that it can and does exist in 3 distinctly different states (water, ice, steam), each with distinctly different characteristics (liquid, solid, vapor), and that might earn a label like polyaquatictheisticism from some, you think it would be difficult to overcome the label and better to call it a mystery?
Your choice, I suppose.
I think it an exercise in futility to require non-Christians to "reconcile" the divinity issue. It is not their belief, so it is not their issue to reconcile.
You misunderstand the point, then. To make the claim that Jesus was simply a prophet or great moral teacher, one must reconcile His claims that were considered blasphemous lies or sheer lunacy as well. No cherry picking. Those who don't make that claim (while also denying His divinity) are quite free to dismiss him as a liar or a lunatic (who just also happened to have some great moral teachings and insights to accompany His miracles).
It's not a Christian belief or doctrine that I'm aware of to label Him a prophet while denying his divinity, it's rather a non-Christian notion to be reconciled by anyone suggesting it.
Conceptually, it is more difficult to reconcile the Trinity as non-polytheism. In fact, the Catholic construct is to not reconcile it all. Rather, it is, literally, a "mystery."
So, simplistically, if my god was water, the fact that it can and does exist in 3 distinctly different states (water, ice, steam), each with distinctly different characteristics (liquid, solid, vapor), and that might earn a label like polyaquatictheisticism from some, you think it would be difficult to overcome the label and better to call it a mystery?
Your choice, I suppose.