Firstly I would like to applaud everyone for being polite and not flaming, but rather properly debating within civil terms. Usually by this time people have jumped in and brought everything down to the level of fanboys screaming insults at each other to make themselves feel better.
Now, it has been put forth that Jesus was not the Son of God. This is possible. However, there are only 2 options about Jesus. The first option is this, he was lying. The reason he was lying could be varied, such as he was schizophrenic or mentally insane. He could have been having Delusions of Grandeur, or simply trying to mislead everyone for whatever reason. He could have hallucinated those beliefs and seriously thought he was the Son of God.
If Jesus was schizophrenic or mentally insane, he would not have lasted in that day in time. If he was having Delusions of Grandeur or trying to mislead people, he would have said something stupid and been stoned by the Jewish religious leaders of his day. If he was hallucinating then he could not have performed those miracles and he would have been stoned by His fellow Jews long before the Romans had to intervene to maintain order.
The second option is this, he was telling the truth. If he was telling the truth, then he was the Son of God, born without sin, lived and was crucified for the crimes of humanity, and rose from the dead. If he told the truth, then there is a God, there is a heaven, there is a hell, there is a life after death or a death after death for everyone.
If he was telling the truth, then he MUST be perfect, because if he wasn't then he could not have been the perfect sacrifice for all of the sins of mankind. If he was perfect, he could not have told anything but the truth. If he always told the truth, then Jesus Christ is the only way to God the Father.
Here is the part where some people say it is simply safer to "believe" than to risk the consequences. I don't believe in this type of "conversion" is what anyone should hope for. Believing to simply escape punishment is a very very very poor way to follow Christ. If you do this and do not follow Him (His teachings, His example) you will likely be "lukewarm" and rejected.
A person should follow Christ, or any religion or belief, because they truly believe it. Having experienced the feeling of forgiveness and love when I asked God for forgiveness I can't explain how I felt that way. If it was not a real and living God, I can't imagine I would have the same feeling, something never experienced before. I have only experienced the same feeling in my relation with God since. It is not something I can recall at my will. A feeling of joy that suddenly bursts forth from deep inside your gut, something that even when you are really happy you don't feel.
Why is there a feeling of Joy? Using simple rationalization the feeling should be more of one of relief and gratefulness produced by a psychological response if God were simply an imagined being. Joy makes no sense for that response, not to mention Uncontrollable Joy. It only makes sense if your spirit has come alive inside of you by the touch and grace of God.
I cannot reason your way through this. God is not something I can explain or prove to you. Without experience one cannot understand certain things, and this is one of them.
