The facts about Jesus presented by Scholars.
Despite evidence to the contrary, there are people who still insist that Jesus is a myth. But myths have little, if any, impact on history. The historian Thomas Carlyle said, “The history of the world is but the biography of great men.”¹
There is no nation or regime which owes its foundation or heritage to a mythological person or god.
But what has been the impact of Jesus Christ? [Read more…]
How can we trace our New Testaments today back to the originals? How do we know that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote the gospels? How do we know that Paul and Peter wrote the letters that have their names attached?
Skeptics say we can’t know. In fact, they say the New Testament books weren’t written by eyewitnesses at all. They cite 19th century German critics, who argued that unknown authors wrote the New Testament 100-200 years after Christ.
For example, Ferdinand Christian Baur contended that John’s Gospel was not written until about AD 160. This, if true, would not only undermine John’s Gospel, it would cast suspicion on the entire New Testament as well. [Read more…]
We have seen how the Bible demonstrates divine authorship and how it is consistent with science. But if the Bible is true, it must also be historically reliable. In other words, its portrayal of people, places and events must be accurate.
Many skeptics argue that the Bible as we know it has changed over the years, and therefore isn’t reliable. For example, how do we know its characters such as Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus Christ actually existed? [Read more…]
Isaac Newton was the scientist famous for discovering gravity. Called by many as the greatest scientific mind prior to Einstein, Newton began investigating the Bible to determine whether or not it is authentic. Applying his brilliant mind to the evidence, Newton concluded,
“There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.”¹
But wait a minute! Newton lived over 300 years ago. What are scientists and other scholars today saying about the Bible, and are the “sure marks of authenticity” that convinced him still valid today? [Read more…]
Another argument used by people who claim that Christ is only a myth is that secular historians make no mention of Jesus Christ. Their point is that if Jesus had really existed, he would have been written about by virtually all contemporary historians.
On the surface, that seems like a logical point to make. [Read more…]
Virtually every historian accepted Jesus’ existence as a reality until the 18th century when two French skeptics, Volney and Dupuis, argued that he was a compilation of ancient mythological deities.¹
Later in the 19th century, German theologian Bruno Bauer expanded the argument against Jesus’ existence based upon a three-fold argument which became known as the Christ-Myth theory.²
The first pillar of Bauer’s theory is that the New Testament was written in the 2nd century by unknown authors, not by eyewitnesses as it alleges.
Let’s see how this first claim of the Christ-myth theory holds up to the evidence. [Read more…]
What gives Jesus the credibility and authority to speak to us about eternal things? What makes him the key to all of life’s questions?
There are five basic ways we know Jesus alone is the answer to our quest for truth and purpose in life. [Read more…]
Despite overwhelming evidence, there are still those, such as some vocal atheist groups, who promote the idea that Jesus was no more than a myth. These groups typically target Christian holidays to compare Jesus to Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, ignoring the fact that Jesus has been acknowledged by virtually every leading historian.
Do these doubters have a basis for their claims? What evidence is available and to what conclusion does it lead? [Read more…]
Skeptics like Ellen Johnson, past president of American Atheists, dismiss the New Testament as evidence for Jesus, calling it “biased.” However, even most non-Christian historians consider ancient New Testament manuscripts as solid evidence for Jesus’ existence.
Cambridge historian Michael Grant, an atheist, argues that the New Testament should be considered as evidence in the same way as other ancient history. [Read more…]
The Da Vinci Code states that Constantine suppressed all documents about Jesus other than those found in our current New Testament canon (recognized by the church as authentic eyewitness reports of the apostles). It further asserts that the New Testament accounts were altered by Constantine and the bishops to reinvent Jesus. [Read more…]