If you still don't think Jesus lived
in person on earth then that issue can be tackled elsewhere since 95 to 99% of
sceptical and non-sceptical scholars do not doubt Jesus walked the earth. If
you are going to deny the life of Jesus then you will have to throw out
everyone in history, because Jesus is the most documented person in antiquity.
In "The Historical Jesus -
Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ" (1996) by Gary R. Habermas, the
leading scholar on the resurrection, we can summarize what the earliest sources
have said (pages 225, 250-253). Tiberius Caesar who died four years after Jesus
only has 9 sources of him whereas Jesus has 45 sources within 150 years of
their deaths.
"We have examined 45 ancient
sources for the life of Jesus, which includes 19 early creedal, four
archaeological, 17 non-Christian,
and five non-New Testament Christian sources. From this data we have enumerated
129 reported facts concerning the life, person, teaching, death, and
resurrection of Jesus, plus the disciples' earliest message."
The Person of Jesus
"The deity of Jesus was widely
reported in ancient writings that we investigated. Of our 45 sources, 30 record
this teaching, which surprisingly includes seven of the
17 secular sources.
"It was
pointed out in Chapter 4 that Jesus claimed
to be deity, as indicated, for example,
by such titles as "Son of God" and "Son of Man" [for a
detailed study, see Miethe and Habermas, chapter 27]. The pre-New Testament
creeds (the six Acts texts, along with Rom. 1.3-4, 1 Cor. 11.23ff., 15.3ff. and
Phil. 2.6ff., in particular, provide especially strong evidence for the deity
of Jesus.
"These creeds show that the
church did not simply teach Jesus' deity a generation later...The best
explanation for these creeds is that they properly represent Jesus' own
teachings, especially since he made similar claims."
The Death of Jesus
"Of all the events in Jesus'
life, more ancient sources specifically mention his death than any other single
occurrence. Of the 45 ancient sources, 28 relate to this fact, often with
details. Twelve of those sources
are non-Christian, which exhibits
an incredible amount of interest in this event.
"Not only is Jesus' death by
crucifixion of major concern to these authors, but 14 of 28 sources give
various details about the crucifixion, from medical observations to political
information concerning the current rulers, to historical specifications of the
times in which Jesus died, to religious details about the reason for his
death...It is fair to assert that this is one of the
best-attested facts in ancient history.
"After Jesus' death, he was buried.
This fact is not only strongly affirmed by five different sources, but
generally a normal consequence of dying. These sources include the early creeds
in 1 Cor. 15.3ff. and Acts 13.29, as well as hostile sources such as Toledoth Jesu and the
information implied in the Nazareth decree.
"Of our 45 sources, 18 specifically record the resurrection, while an
additional eleven more provide relevant facts surrounding the occurrence.
The Resurrection of
Jesus
"Of the seventeen [non-Christian
sources], seven either imply or report this occurrence
[of the resurrection of Jesus].
"Alternative theories that have
been hypothesized by critics to explain the resurrection of Jesus on
naturalistic grounds have failed to explain the data and are refuted by the
facts.
"Even if we were to utilize only the
four minimal
historical facts that are accepted by virtually all scholars who
deal with this issue, we still have significant basis on which to both refute
the naturalistic theories and provide the major evidences for the
resurrection."
Corroborating
Evidence
Jesus fulfilled 62 prophecies from
hundreds, even thousands of years prior. The odds of this happening are less
than 1 in a trillion, scientifically speaking. He said He was God and proved
it. He was sinless - the only man who was ever was sinless! He performed
miracles none have been able to duplicate except the apostles. His teachings
were deeper than any other. None can compare! He gave His life on the cross to
die for you. And He was resurrected, seen by many eyewitnesses - including
various writers of the books of the NT such as Matthew, Paul, Peter, John,
James, and others. No less than 12 times was Jesus seen resurrected to various
group sizes. Even one group had 500 people present. The brother of Jesus did
not believe Jesus was God until he saw him resurrected after He died on the
cross. Others (Mark and Luke) who were virtually firsthand accounts wrote books
of the NT and testified to these teachings. There is one verse we suspect was
Mark seeing Jesus before he died. Luke was close to the action also. They both
went on missionary journeys with Barnabas and Paul.
There were many others mentioned in
the Bible who had been put to their death for faith in Christ (e.g. Stephen),
spreading the Word and giving the Gospel. Then the apostles were all killed for
their faith in Christ for admitting seeing Jesus resurrected except for John.
James, the brother of John, was the first to be martyred. Many others in the
first century were mentioned who believed in Jesus and gave their lives to
Christ on the cross, especially women. And many other biographies of martyrs in
Christ are recorded from Christian writers in the first century as well as from
non-Christian sources too.
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