About anything you believe he said that has any consequence to your life or, more to the point, your afterlife.
This isn't an LSAT question. This should be easy for you.
Predicated on how you framed the OP, it's a rational, logical response to your premises.
Not sure I understand --
- Assume it's true He existed
- Assume what's written about Him is true
- Assume He did do all the miracles recorded of Him
How do we know He wasn't lying...... about what?
And I'm not the only one with the question.
@Tlrmln : Basically, the premises you established in your OP are that everything about Jesus is true, His existence, what's written about Him, what He did (and presumably said) - all of it true. So if those are in fact the premises, what could He have possibly lied about? Do you see how your logic doesn't follow?
Let's take the first one - the truth about His existence. Frankly, one would have an easier time arguing the non-existence of Plato or Aristotle or Socrates since by comparison with Jesus, what's written of/by them is but a fraction of what we have about Jesus, be it secular or "religious."
But your question, I think, is more to the point of what Jesus said - since it's framed about Him being honest or being a liar.
Lies are largely predicated on things someone says. Jesus said a variety of things:
The bulk of His 'sayings' are teaching - like the sermon on the mount - "Blessed are the poor, the hungry, the thirsty..." etc. Are you wondering if those statements were lies?
The next chunk of his 'sayings' are comparative - "The kingdom of heaven is like..." and so forth. Is that what you're wondering about, whether those statements were lied, or how He could posssibly know what heaven was like?
We should pause here to consider how Jesus' teachings have been appraised, by non-Christian and Christian alike. Few, if any would argue His teachings are anything but utterly ethical, His moral compass absolute, and His example exemplary.
My guess however is that there is one statement Jesus made to which you are adamantly opposed: when asked, He admitted He was the Son of God; He claimed He was God's "Christ" (or Savior), He claimed He was equal with God - in effect claiming, "Yes, I am God." So lemme guess, that's where anything positive to which you might otherwise admit about Jesus takes a serious about face, right?
His admission then, His claim to being [the Son of] God is either true or it's a lie - right?
There are several quite reasonable responses to that. And you can take them or leave them, it's wholly up to you.
The first is, it was that admission, that claim that got Him executed. Pretty much everything He did and said up to that point evinced who He was, but it was for that overt admission that He was condemned to die.
Death by crucifixion was not a pleasant experience - it was in fact one of the most painful, excruciatingly horrific ways to die. One might therefore ask if Jesus knew He was lying, would He have endured the cross willingly? (One might argue here that He was nutso, a kook - but there's simply no evidence in either what He said, or how He lived His life to suggest He was anything but utterly sane).
The second is, His miracles - virtually everyone knew what He was doing in healing lepers, the blind, the lame, the deaf, etc. etc. that those acts were anything but natural. Many in fact came to believe on the basis of the amazing things they saw
Him do.
The third is like the first - His resurrection from the dead. I know many people struggle with that one - and so did His disciples, that is until He appeared to them, convincing them He had in fact been raised, that He was in fact, alive. Well over 500 people witnessed Him first hand after his death. But more to the point - practically every one of them suffered torture and death confessing their witness of Him being alive. One might question one or two or maybe a handful being willing to suffer such a fate - but 500+?
Do I think He was lying? No. I don't think there is any logical, rational cause for thinking such a thing.