Summary: If Jesus Had Never Been Born, How Would Things Be Different Today? (What If—24)

Let me sum up the impact of Jesus on today’s world in a series of statements based on what has been said in the previous 23 blogs.

If Jesus had never been born:

There would be an 85-90% chance you wouldn’t be able to read. If you are a woman, there is a 99+% chance you couldn’t read this blog or anything else.

There would be no Harvard University, no Oxford University, and definitely no Loma Linda University, the place where faith and science are at home together.

There would be no science as we know it and no Scientific Revolution that has totally transformed daily life for most people.

There would be no civil rights for anyone but the elites of every society.

There would be no modern medicine with its amazing cures and preventives.

There would be no Mayo Clinic, no Johns Hopkins and no Loma Linda University Medical Center.

There would be no eyeglasses and no contact lenses.

There would be no antibiotics and no hospitals as we know them.

The defective, the ill, and the aged would likely be marginalized or terminated.

There would be no cell phones, no social media and no internet (maybe that would be a good thing).

There would be no electrical grid and no central heat or air conditioning.

There would be no hot, running water in your house.

At least one of your siblings would have died in childhood.

Most people over 40 years of age would be dead.

Most people over 35 would have no teeth.

There is a 40% chance you would be a slave, regardless of race or ethnicity.

You would routinely experience what it is like to be hungry and not be able to do anything about it.

If you are female, it is likely you wouldn’t be allowed to own land.

If you are female, your father would likely have sold you to your future husband and you would be regarded as his property.

Most people would make a living by working all day with their hands.

Most societies would be brutal and violent.

Sports like “The Hunger Games” would probably be a reality.

The most efficient form of transportation would be horses.

What’s the point? None of this proves that there is a God and that Jesus Himself is God made flesh, the greatest revelation of what God is like. Nor does it prove that everyone in the world should follow Jesus. But it does demonstrate that, purely as a human being, Jesus did more to influence subsequent history than any other person who ever lived. And He claimed that His revolutionary teaching came directly from God. If that is true, the decision you make about Jesus is the most important decision you will ever make. And if you have chosen to follow Jesus you are not a fool, you are simply following where the evidence leads.