My faith was as small as a mustard seed, and so consequently can anyone else’s.
Significantly, it was Jesus’s claim before the Sanhedrin that led to His crucifixion, the best attested event in all of history, as far as I can tell.
Once I realized that Jesus did claim to be God Himself, the rational choices available narrowed down dramatically. And I have seen this much faith in plenty of others. Before we engage in a conversation about Jesus, just ask the person whether they think He was a good man or a bad man? Just being able to answer that question is all the faith that it takes. Of course, when the choices are so narrow and stark as a result of historical reality, one needs to really think hard about he answers that question.
A most interesting obsevation! Only recently, I caught several segments of an EWTN series on Jesus - the Son of God, hosted by Raymond deSouza. In one episode, he points to all of the figures throughout history that have been acclaimed as 'religious'. ONLY Jesus claimed to be the Son of the Living God (the others were either prophets or philosophers). So, was His claim true? Was He telling the truth or a lie? He then analyzes the life and actions of Jesus, point by point, ultimately noting that were He a false prophet, He would not have subjected Himself to the humiliation, persecution and crucifixion. As deSouza stated: No one dies for a lie.
It was an excellent series that I plan to purchase for use with the adults in my parish. We could all benefit from his dissertation.