earthly
affairs that were unreliable to say the least. Occasionally his
statements were actual misrepresentations of fact.

_Jonah and the Whale_

"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so
shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the
earth."[1]

Evidently Jesus believed the story of Jonah and the whale, as well as
the tale of Noah's ark[2] both of which are now generally discredited.
Moreover, his prophecy regarding his entombment was inaccurate, for he
was only two nights and one day in the heart of the earth, from Friday
night to Sunday morning.

_End of the World_

Jesus was decidedly mistaken in his theory of the approaching end of the
world.

"Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."[3] "Ye shall not have
gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come."[4] "There
be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the
Son of man coming in his kingdom."[5] "And this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and
then shall the end come ... Verily I say unto you, This generation shall
not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."[6] "The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand."[7] "So ye in like manner,
when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even
at the doors. Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not
pass, till all these things be done."[8] "The hour is coming, in the
which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come
forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they
that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."[9]

Jesus was confident that the day of judgment was coming in the first
century, but it has not come yet, nineteen hundred years later. This
erroneous belief in the imminent end of the world had an important
bearing upon his entire philosophy; for if the end of the world was so
near it was far more important to prepare for life hereafter than to be
concerned over mundane affairs. May we not view with doubt any of Jesus'
teachings that depended upon his mistaken conception of the duration of
the world?

_Miracles_

Jesus is reported to have fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two
fishes, and again 4,000 with seven loaves and a few small fishes. He
walked on the water, calmed the seas, raised three persons from the dead
and performed other miracl