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Comparing Jesus with History’s Greats

rock in between grass and flower

On this Christmas day we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Not only is this a joyous time of year, but I thought it would be a great time to pause and meditate on just how amazing a Savior we serve. First, Jesus is unique in that He is fully 100% God and 100% man. Second, Jesus is the most influential person in history, and third, when comparing Jesus to other world figures, quite frankly, there just is no comparison.

May the following quotes help us all appreciate just how unique, influential, amazing, and life transformational Jesus is.

Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.”1 – Philip Schaff

“Comparing Jesus with history’s greatest of human leaders is like comparing the sun to a flashlight with no batteries.”2 – Ray Comfort

“I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”3 – H. G. Wells

“As the centuries pass, the evidence is accumulating that, measured by His effect on history, Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on this planet.”4 — Kenneth Scott Latourette

“Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only 3. Yet the influence of Christ’s 3-year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men who were among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity.”5 – Unknown

“As a child, I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene . . . . No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.”6 – Albert Einstein 

“Jesus was the meeting place of eternity and time, the blending of deity and humanity, the junction of heaven and earth.”7 – J. Oswald Sanders

“Jesus was the greatest religious genius that ever lived.”8 – Ernest Renan

“Jesus Christ is to me the outstanding personality of all time, all history, both as Son of God and as Son of Man. Everything he ever said or did has value for us today and that is something you can say of no other man, dead or alive. There is no easy middle ground to stroll upon. You either accept Jesus or reject him.”9 – Sholem Asch

“Here is a man [Jesus] who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of His divine manhood. While still a young man, the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying—and that was his coat. When he was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life.”10 – James Allan Francis  


1 Quote by Philip Schaff: “Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conq…” (goodreads.com)

2 TOP 25 QUOTES BY RAY COMFORT (of 64) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)

3 Top 100 Nazareth Jesus Quotes & Sayings (quotessayings.net)

4 Kenneth Scott Latourette Quote: “As the centuries pass, the evidence is accumulating that, measured by His effect on history, Jesus is the most influenti…” (quotefancy.com)

5 Quotes About Jesus Christ (jesus-is-savior.com)

6 Quotes About Jesus Christ (jesus-is-savior.com)

7 J. Oswald Sanders quote: Jesus was the meeting place of eternity and time, the… (azquotes.com)

8 Jesus was the greatest religious genius that ever lived. :: FinestQuotes.com

9 Sholem Asch quote: Jesus Christ is to me the outstanding personality of all… (azquotes.com)

10 https://www.bartleby.com/73/916.html