[This is the latest column I've submitted to the Community Press newspapers in the Cincinnati area.]
Recently, the host of a cable news channel asked, “Did Jesus Christ exist?”
Frankly, assertions that Jesus Christ never lived are akin to claims that the Holocaust didn't happen. There's simply too much evidence saying Jesus did exist to even entertain contrary notions.
A few examples of the evidence for Jesus' existence has recently been well-summarized by editors of the recently-published “Archeological Study Bible”:
One ancient text, the Babylonian Talmud, speaks of Jesus being "hanged" on the eve of the Jewish Passover.
The ancient Jewish historian, Josephus, in a document written by 93AD, wrote of Jesus’ condemnation by the Roman governor Pilate, of Jesus’ death, of His resurrection, and of claims that Jesus was “the Christ.”
In a later text, Josephus mentions the martyrdom of James, "the brother of Jesus, called Christ."
In a document from the year 120AD, Suetonius mentions a riot in Rome that happened during the reign of the Emperor Claudius in 49AD. They were instigated, he said, by someone they called "Chrestus."
In 115, the Roman historian Tacitus decries the unjust execution of Christians by the Emperor Nero and talks about the term "Christian." He also mentions Jesus’ crucifixion under Pilate’s orders.
Documentary evidence from the ancient world is generally sparse. The preservation of documents, all of which were copied by hand, wasn’t an easy task to accomplish in the world before printing presses and the worldwide web. But there is more evidence for the existence of Jesus and His ministry and more of it written closer to when He walked the earth than any analogous evidence we have for the existence of, for example, Alexander the Great or some of the celebrated Greek philosophers. We have more such evidence for Jesus’ life and resurrection than we have for the life of William Shakespeare, who lived in the sixteenth century!
The contemporary Jewish scholar Pinchas Lapide--like the ancient Josephus, not a Christian--has examined all of the evidence and concluded not only that Jesus existed, but that He rose from the dead. Why? Because of commitment and fearlessness seen in Jesus' first followers after Jesus had been killed on the cross.
This only makes sense. A conspiracy to support fabrications about the existence of a Savior Who both died and rose, a conspiracy involving at least 500 people--the number the New Testament says saw the resurrected Jesus--could not have been sustained in the face of rejection, persecution, and death threats unless Jesus was real and He really rose.
Did Jesus Christ exist? Absolutely! And I believe that He still does.
4 comments:
Great column. I look at your blog most days, and you have great thoughts. Thanks for your devotion to helping others and to Jesus. Keep truckin' brother!
Thanks, Steve, for your kind comments and for dropping by regularly. I'm honored by what you say.
God bless!
Mark
I am a cristian but sometimes i have doubts. I think that if Jesus and his miracles were not real then God is not real. Then i think what would death be like with noo heaven. This article calmed me but does anybody ahve anything else to say to help me more?
The reason documentation from the ancient world is scarce is because Christians burned whole libraries like the one at Alexandria. Why? Obviously not because the gospel stories were true. This was one of the most heavily reported periods from antiquity. Jesus was supposedly crucified in 30 CE yet there are no historical references to him until the end of the first century, or after the gospels were already written.
Quite revealing are the more secular mentions of Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth. First, we have the infamous 'Testimonium Flavianum' of Josephus made at the end of 'Jewish Antiquities,' which was not published until the middle of the 90s, then we have the quotes by St. Ignatius of Antioch and Clement of Rome also made at the end of the first century and the beginning of the second century. At that time, we also have the famous apologetics quotes by Suetonius and Tacitus about Jesus and the Christiani.
Conversely, we have the Pauline Epistles which were written and preached during the 50s making no reference to Jesus of Nazareth. The author knows about a cosmic Christ the Savior, but nothing about a real live crucified Jesus Christ. Then we have 'The Shepherd of Hermes' which most scholars have attributed to the early second century, but others believe may have been written by 'Paul.' Paul was actually Apollonius of Tyana, who was of Greek ancestry, which makes him an obvous candidate to be the author. This scripture was a part of the early Church canon and makes no mention of Jesus of Nazareth. Then we have 'The Epistle of Barnabas' believed to have been written during the 80s. This early Church scripture only mentions Jesus Christ, but knows nothing about a real live flesh and blood Jesus of Nazareth.
The gospel accounts of the life and passion of Jesus Christ are believed to have been first written during the late 60s and early 70s. Strangely, prior to this time no one ever heard of Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth. It was only after the gospels were written that we hear quotes about Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ were a real person who was crucified c 30 CE we would not need gospels to tell us that he existed and that these events actually happened.
Dead Sea Scroll archivist Joseph Atwill in 'Caesar's Messiah' clearly shows in the empty tomb narrative, which appears in all 4 gospels, that the gospels had a common source and were not eyewitness accounts of some quasi-literate Jewish Apostles. Starting with John, then Matthew, then Mark and finally Luke, what we find is that in Matthew, Mary sees the tomb scene precisely as she left it in John and so on. This shows common knowledge among the authors of all 4 gospels. To learn more about how the Romans subverted the teachings of Yeshu and the Nazoreans and proclaimed them the revelations of their godman Jesus Christ visit: http://www. nazoreans.com
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