by Graham Phillips | Famous philosopher and avowed atheist Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) in his essay Why I Am Not a Christian writes:
“Historically it is quite doubtful whether Christ even existed at all, and if he did we know nothing about him.”
Thomas Paine, who predicted after the release of his book The Age of Reason in 1794 that the Bible would be practically out of print within 50 years said this of Jesus Christ:
“There is no history written at the time Jesus Christ is said to have lived that speaks of the existence of such a person, even such a man.”
The validity of Christianity rests upon whether this man Jesus really did exist in time and space and accomplished the things that the gospels claim he did. This fact sets Christianity apart from many other religions; it owes its existence and validity to historical events, events which can be either verified or falsified. The ‘Jesus myth’ theory has been popularised in recent years by the Zeitgeist movie and academic outlier Richard Carrier. This view is widespread in culture but it is a position that next to no one in academia adopts, believers and skeptics alike. Bart Ehrman, New Testament scholar and atheist has this to say about myth theorists:
“This is not even an issue for scholars of antiquity…The reason for thinking Jesus existed is because he is abundantly attested in early sources…If you want to go where the evidence goes, I think that atheists have done themselves a disservice by jumping on the bandwagon of mythicism, because frankly, it makes you look foolish to the outside world. If that’s what you’re going to believe, you just look foolish.”
Paul Maier, former professor of Ancient History writes:
“The total evidence is so overpowering, so absolute that only the shallowest of intellects would dare to deny Jesus’ existence.”
Strong words! So where is the overpowering evidence Maier is referring to? Well, it is found primarily in the gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The skeptic may wish to jettison these because they form part of the Christian bible, claiming that they can’t be trusted because they were written by people wedded to the message of the gospels. If the skeptic wants to discount the gospels as evidence, then ok, we can look at the nine 1st and 2nd century secular sources that mention Jesus. However, the gospels are by far the best sources for learning about Jesus. Here’s why they and the rest of the New Testament can be trusted to give us accurate information.
1. The Reliability of the New Testament
In a court of law the testimony of eyewitnesses is extremely valuable in establishing the truth of a matter. What we have in the gospels is precisely this; eyewitness accounts of the life of the man in question, Jesus of Nazareth. All written within 60 years of 33AD the writers were at pains to accurately record what they had witnessed:
“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”
Luke 1:1-4 NIV
Luke, a doctor, wrote his gospel account and also the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Colin Hemer has provided overwhelming proof for the historicity of the book of Acts in his book The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenic History, showing that Dr. Luke was minutely accurate in recording nearly 100 details corroborated by other historians of antiquity. Scholars date the book of Acts to around 60AD, Luke’s gospel therefore likely dates to between 55-60AD. The books of John, Matthew and Mark are generally dated to around 90AD, 50AD and 45AD respectively. Leaving just a 12 year gap between Jesus’s death and reported resurrection and the first Gospel account being penned. Paul’s letters are generally accepted by scholars to have been written 55AD and 60AD. These writings are best viewed in light of their original purpose and context; as Greek documents coming down to us from the first century, containing eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus.
“Multiple eyewitness testimony, such as we find in the New Testament, cannot be found for any other person or event in the ancient world.” Norman Geisler
This glut of literature concerning Jesus of Nazareth comes very shortly after his death in 33AD and in remarkable quantity. We have over 5,800 early Greek manuscripts of the New Testament and a further 19,000 in other languages making an overwhelming total of around 25,000. The closest non-biblical competitor is Homer’s Iliad which has 643 manuscripts. Most books of antiquity have between 10 and 20 ancient manuscripts which ensure we have an accurate version of the original text.
“If one wants to deny the reliability of the New Testament due to the gap of around 75-100 years between the composition dates of the books and the earliest manuscripts he must also deny the reliability of Plato (1200 year gap), Aristotle (1400 year gap), Caesar (1000 year gap) and Homer (500 year gap).”
Skeptics often claim that the new testament has been doctored and messed with over the years. Scholars who have examined these early manuscripts have determined that they are 99.9% free from variations. The variations that do occur are most often differences in spelling, slips of the pen or slight grammatical changes. Non of these variations affect any doctrine or teaching of Christianity. We can be sure that the New Testament we read today is an accurate representation of what was originally written in the 1st Century.
2. Extrabiblical Sources
There are a further 35 extrabiblical sources for Jesus within 150 years of his death. A relatively short time gap when you consider that the first source for Alexander the Great comes 260 years after his death and the most reliable source is around 370 years removed. The prolific writing of the early church Fathers accounts for much of this. The writings of Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr and many others provide us with corroboration of the eyewitness accounts and a remarkable insight into the beliefs and practices of the early Church.
Then there are 11 secular/non Christian sources that specifically mention Jesus; Tacitus, Suetonius, Josephus Thallus, Pliny, Trajan, Hadrian, Lucian, Mara Bar-Scrapion and Phlegon. Even if we were to disregard the gospels as evidence we could know the following about Jesus from these sources:
1. That he existed as a real historical figure
2. He was known to be virtuous
3. He was worshipped
4. He had disciples
5. He was a teacher
6. He was crucified
7. His tomb was discovered empty
8. His followers believed he had resurrected from the dead
9. News of this resurrection spread far and wide
10. His followers were persecuted on account of this
An excerpt from Tacitus:
“Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judæa, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular.” Tacitus, Annals 15:44
Tiberius Caesar was emperor during Jesus’s ministry, there are 10 independent sources for his life, one of which is Luke’s gospel. Jesus has pretty much the same number of secular sources attesting his existence as Tiberius Caesar! If one considers the rest of the independent sources that document the life of Jesus within 150 years of his death he outscores Tiberius Caesar 42:10!
3. Conclusion
There are many different forms of evidence. We are able to prove things 100% true or false in disciplines such as Mathematics, Logic or Science. Whereas in history, we must use the available evidence and with it aim to reach conclusions beyond a reasonable doubt. Very few seem to have any problem in affirming the existence of Aristotle or Alexander the Great and yet when the name of Jesus comes into question an entirely different level of skepticism seems to be applied. This, I am sure is because if the historical accounts found in the New Testament are accurate then we must accept the claims of Jesus, something many are desperate not to do. Ultimately, in the case of Jesus, the historical case is so strong that if a skeptic wishes to deny his existence he must also deny the existence of every other figure of antiquity, for non is better attested than Jesus Christ.
In the words of Supreme Court Attorney, Irwin Linton:
“So invariable has been my observation that he who does not who does not accept wholeheartedly the evangelical, conservative belief in Christ and the Scriptures has never read, has forgotten, or never been able to weigh – and certainly is utterly unable to refute – the irresistible force of the cumulative evidence upon which such faith rests.”
Sources
When Skeptics Ask – Norman L. Geisler & Ronald M. Brooks
Did Jesus Ever Exist? – Ryan Turner – https://carm.org/jesus-exist
Is There Proof Jesus Existed – Matt Slick – https://carm.org/proof-that-jesus-existed
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