katisara:
Jesus on his own? He probably built some nice tables and made some people happy. But he died at 35, and AFAIK, he hasn't been doing quite so much since (or if he has, it's seriously outweighed by just about everything else in the world). Jesus on his own, from every possible objective and scientific test (and assuming he existed at all) did relatively little on the global scale. Whether Jesus unlocked the gates of heaven to permit access to thousands or millions of trapped souls is not something we can test or answer objectively, but if so, it would seem to be the greatest act he personally did.
As has been pointed out, the greatest impact of Jesus isn't Jesus, but what everyone who followed him did in reaction to him.
That would sum up my view pretty well too. Jesus the guy seems like a great dude, but just by himself he probably didn't have a huge impact on the world (setting aside the untestable issue of salvation--and if we went down that road, we'd also have to weigh up the issue of having created a system in which people are destined for hell and thus need salvation in the first place). His followers have had a huge impact on the world. Some for good, some for bad, some for neutral. Some of which might have happened anyway, some of which might not have. I agree that Kathlous seems to want to claim all the good actions of christians but disown all the bad, which doesn't seem like a good way to answer the question to me. I'd agree that much of the bad things done by christians/christianity were against Jesus teachings, but at the same time I think we have to accept that the people who committed the acts honestly felt they were doing what Jesus wanted them to do. That's an effect of Jesus' teachings, even if it was an undesired/unintended consequence.
Overall, I think the world would probably be a better place if more people tried to live by Jesus' teachings. I think a lot of people, christians included, don't fully realize just how revolutionary his teachings were. It wasn't just a "don't be a dick" philosophy, or a "be nice to your neighbors" philosophy (though it would be great if we could even get those right), but much further than that. It was a love your enemy philosophy. Not just a "don't fight back," but "let them him you again" philosophy. A lot of people can manage loving their friends and family, and do pretty well leaving their neighbors alone, but how many of us manage to love our enemies? I can't claim to love Osama bin Laden. Through conscious effort I think I may have reached a point where I can honestly say I don't hate him, but that's as good as I've been able to do so far. I think most people tend to embrace the parts of Jesus' teachings that come naturally to them anyway (e.g., loving their friends, giving money to charities they agree with, etc.) and give Jesus/christianity the credit for that behavior. When people actually go further, and start showing love/kindness towards people who wish them ill, it's a much more impressive and great thing. More often, though, I think people tend to focus on the salvation bit than the teachings about how to act, which to a degree I suppose isn't too surprising since the religions says its the belief in the salvation bit that gets you into heaven.