Posted by: James G. Latham on Sun, Sep 13, 2009 Book review of Chicago investigative reporter Lee Strobel's non fiction best seller.
Jesus told Thomas, “You believe because you see; blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
The role of the Holy Spirit cannot be supplanted in bringing man to faith in God. However, even believers can have their faith made stronger by exploring the evidence of Christ.
Eyewitness Evidence
The testimony of Papias in 125AD and Irenaeus in 180AD confirms that the gospels were written by the disciples Matthew and John, and by Mark the companion disciple of Peter, and by Luke companion of Paul as direct or indirect eyewitness testimony.
Papias was an Apostolic Father, meaning that he knew the Apostles themselves, or at least lived in the generation following their deaths. He wrote five books and in them recounted unknown teachings of Jesus, miraculous stories about the Apostles, discussed the authorship of some of the Gospels, and also quoted from other parts of the New Testament. Irenaeus was an early church father, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology. He was a disciple of Polycarp, who was said to be a disciple of John the Evangelist.
Unlike today’s bloggers, in ancient times, no one wrote to merely chronicle events; they only wrote if there was a reason to learn from it. Mark devotes half of his gospel documenting Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, the essence of Christianity.
The goal of the gospel writers was to record what actually happened. The gospel writers were willing to live out their beliefs to the point of being put to grisly deaths. They continued to proclaim what they witnessed even when it meant suffering and death.
Christianity could not have taken root (in
Are there inconsistencies between the gospels?
The harmony among the gospels on essential facts, coupled with divergence on some details lends historical credibility to the accounts.
The gospels are actually extremely consistent with each other by ancient standard yet appear on occasion to disagree:
· If the Gospels were identical it would invalidate them as independent witness. · In ancient times it was understood that actions were attributed to people when in fact their subordinates actually performed the deed. · Matthew’s genealogy reflects Joseph’s lineage. · Luke’s genealogy reflects Mary’s lineage.
Mystery of Q
“Q” is a supposed ‘best of collection’ of a list of hypothesized sayings and teachings of Jesus without any context.
3 Synoptics + the Book of John
The synoptics (to view at the same time) are the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
The Son of Man in each gospel refers to (Daniel 7:13-14) a divine figure who will come at the end of time to judge mankind and rule forever.
John differs with the synoptics by including bold direct claims that Christ is one with the Father, the Way, the Truth, and the Resurrection of Life.
Were the gospels written too long after Christ to be trusted for accuracy?
News did not make its way to the written word quickly. This was an oral culture. Teaching was all done verbally with great emphasis placed on memorization.
The two earliest biographies of Alexander the Great were written by Arrian and Plutarch 400 years after Alexander’s death, and they are considered accurate.
Historically speaking the gospel were rushed off the presses…Jesus was put to death in 33AD. Acts is dated 62AD, Luke and the first part of Acts was written prior to 62AD, Mark was written in 60AD.
In 1Corinthians 15, written within five years of the crucifixion, Paul documented Christ’s resurrection and His appearing to hundreds including the apostles and His brother James.
What archaeology discoveries support the gospels?
Archaeology has not produced anything that is a contradiction to the Bible. In fact, within the last one-hundred years archaeology has repeatedly unearthed discoveries that have confirmed specific references in the gospels.
Luke authored his gospel and the Book of Acts, and recent archaeological discoveries have shown Luke to be a very accurate historian.
In Luke 3:1 he refers to Lysanias being the tetrarch of
In Acts 17:6 Luke references ‘politarch’ (city officials). No evidence of this term was know until archeologists uncovered thirty-five inscriptions that mention ‘politarch’ in Thessalonica from the period Luke was referring.
In John 5:1-15 Jesus is said to have healed an invalid near the Pool of Bethesda which had five porticoes. The Pool of Bethesda has been recently excavated, it lies 40 feet below the surface and has five porticoes.
In John 9:7 the Pool of Siloam and Jacob’s well from John 4:12 have all been uncovered by archeologists.
The gospel birth narratives of Jesus claim that Mary and Joseph were required by census to return to Joseph’s hometown of
Archaeologists have found a list written in Aramaic describing a group of priests that relocated to
These scrolls are comprised of hundreds of manuscripts from 250BC to 68AD that were discovered in caves twenty miles east of
The scrolls give insight into Jewish life and customs. They do not mention Jesus by name however scroll 4Q521 refers to the wonders that the Messiah will do when he comes, including ‘the dead will be raised’ just as Jesus states in Matthew 11:4-5.
Multiplicity of Copies
Like most documents of antiquity, there are no surviving originals of the gospels. Yet unlike most other ancient writings there are unprecedented multiplicities of copies of the gospels that have survived.
Papyrus manuscripts and numerous translations exist commencing within a couple of generations from the writing of the originals.
The early church leaders (the canon) used three primary criteria to determine which documents would be included in the New Testament:
1. Apostolic Authority- The document must have been written by eyewitness apostles or by followers of the apostles.
2. Rule of Faith- The document must be congruent with Christian tradition.
3. Continuance- The book must have continuous acceptance and usage by the church at large.
The so-called gospels of Thomas, Nicodemus, Barnabas, Bartholomew, and Andrew excluded themselves because they do not harmonize with other testimony about Jesus.
Corroborating Evidence
Josephus is considered a very important, reliable Jewish historian of the first century. His accounts of the Jewish Roman War have proved to be very accurate and have been corroborated with archaeological excavations at
In his writing “The Antiquities" he describes how a high priest named Ananias took advantage of the death of the Roman governor Festus (who is mentioned in the New Testament) in order to have James killed:
“He convened a meeting of the Sanhedrin and brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus, who was called the Christ. He accused them of having transgressed the law and delivered them up to be stoned.”
In 115 AD the noted historian Tacitus stated that Nero persecuted the Christians as scapegoats to divert suspicion away from him for the great fire that devastated
Without the Bible the following can be learned about Jesus from the ancient writings of Josephus, Tacitus, the Talmud, and Pliny the Younger :
· Jesus was a Jewish teacher. · Some believed Jesus performed healings and exorcisms. · Some believed Jesus was the Messiah. · He was rejected by Jewish leaders. · He was crucified under Pontius Pilot. · Despite the shameful death his followers believed Jesus was alive.
· His followers spread beyond · Men, women, slave & free worshiped Jesus as God.
In ‘The Verdict of History’, contemporary historian Gary Habermas details 39 ancient sources documenting the life of Jesus from which he enumerates 100 reported facts concerning Jesus’ life, teachings, crucifixion and resurrection.
Identity Evidence
How did Jesus perceive Himself?
Jesus repeatedly referred to Himself as the Son of Man revealing a self understanding of being a divine figure who will come at the end of time to judge mankind and rule forever as prophesized in Daniel 7:13-14.
In Mark 10:45 Jesus proclaims, “…I and the Father are one.” Jesus knows He has the power to act for the Father; if you reject Him you reject the Father.
Jesus perceived Himself as a teacher. He taught in a radical way, beginning all lessons with “Amen I say to you” (I swear to the truthfulness of my teachings). He considered Himself to have authority above the Old Testament prophets. He presented a radical message that was not understood or appreciated by the Pharisees; It’s not what enters a person that defines him but what comes out of his heart.
Just as God in the Old Testament formed his people into twelve tribes of
Of all of the first century figures why is Jesus the one who is still worshiped today?
The historical Jesus is also the living Lord.
Profile Evidence
In John 14:7 Jesus proclaims, “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.” Every attribute of God described in the Old Testament is found in Jesus in the New Testament:
Omniscience: In John 16:30 the apostle John affirms of Jesus, “Now we can see that you know all things.”
Omnipresence: In Matthew 28:20 Jesus proclaims, “Surely I am with you always, through the very end of the age.”
Omnipotence: In Matthew 28:18 Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Eternality: John 1:1 declares of Jesus, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Immutability: Hebrews 13:8 declares, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
God Becoming Flesh
The Incarnation is the Begetting in the Virgin Mary where the spirit takes on flesh. Within Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in the bodily form. Mary’s Begotten Son is Uncreated. He is the unique and beloved one.
Based on Philippians 2, Jesus voluntarily emptied himself of the use of divine attributes as he pursued His earthly mission. Yet the New Testament confirms that Jesus ultimately possessed every quality of deity.
At the point Jesus proclaimed, “The Father is greater than I” …Jesus was living the limitations of the Incarnation… He was about to be crucified and put to death, but He’s about to return to the Father and to the glory He had with the Father before the world began.
Jesus was the only individual throughout history that fit the prophetic fingerprint.
The Old Testament contains 48 predictions about the Messiah that were realized by Jesus Christ. Here are a few:
· Deuteronomy talked about the Messiah being a prophet greater than Moses.
· Isaiah predicts the Messiah who would suffer and die for the sins of
· Isaiah reveals the manner of the Messiah’s birth: virgin.
· Micah pinpoints the place of the Messiah’s birth:
· Genesis and Jeremiah specify the Messiah’s ancestry: descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from the tribe of
· Psalms foretold the Messiah’s betrayal, death and resurrection.
Could Jesus have fulfilled the prophecies by random chance? No. The probability of one person fulfilling all 48 prophecies is 1:10 to the 26th power.
Did the gospel writers fabricate details to match the prophesies? No. Why would Matthew fabricate details then willingly allow himself to be put to death for following the teachings of a fraud?
The Jewish Talmud refers to Jesus in derogatory ways, but never once claims that the fulfillment of the prophecies was falsified.
Medical Evidence
Did Christ survive His crucifixion? No, Christ could not have survived the gruesome rigors of His crucifixion. The false idea that He somehow swooned on the cross and pretended to be dead lacks any evidential basis.
It began after the Last Supper. Anticipating the coming events He began to sweat blood, a medical condition know as hematidrosis.
Flogging by Roman soldiers as depicted graphically in 'The Passion of Christ' included a beating with a whip of braided leather thongs with metal balls and sharp bone fragments.
Jesus’ back would have been shredded so that the spine, muscles and bowls would be exposed. The loss of blood would cause hypovolemic shock.
Mounting onto the cross for crucifixion would include spikes nailed through His wrists through the median nerve, and dislocation of both shoulders. Spikes were also driven through His feet.
The word excruciating (out of the cross) was created to describe to pain level of crucifixion.
Loss of blood caused a rapid heart rate which contributed to heart failure resulting in pericardial effusion, a collection of fluid around the heart. To ensure Jesus’ death, a Roman soldier thrust a spear into Jesus’ side. The clear fluid and blood loss described by John in his gospel is consistent with pericardial effusion.
Roman soldiers did not go to medical school but they were experts in killing and if any one of their victims escaped or survived they would be put to death themselves.
The gospels indicate that Roman soldiers broke the legs of the two criminals being crucified with Jesus. The purpose of this was to accelerate the rate of death. With broken legs the victim would be unable to push up to bring air into the lungs and death through asphyxiation would follow quickly.
Missing Body Evidence
The Resurrection is the very linchpin of the Christian faith. It is the vindication of Jesus’ divine identity and inspired teaching. The vacant tomb is the enduring symbol of Easter.
All of the gospels present the following account of Jesus’ resurrection:
Joseph of Arimathea takes the body of Jesus, puts it in a tomb, the tomb is visited by a small group of women followers of Jesus including Mary Magdalene early on the Sunday morning following his crucifixion, and they find the tomb empty. They see a vision of angels proclaiming that Jesus has risen.
The Empty Tomb is a Historical Fact
· The empty tomb is definitely implicit in the early writings passed along by Paul in 1Corinthians 15 which predate the gospels.
· The site of the tomb was known to Christians and Jews. If it wasn’t empty it would be impossible for a religion founded on a resurrection to have come into existence in the same city where the Messiah was publically executed.
· The empty tomb was discovered by women. This argues for authenticity of the story since it would have been embarrassing for the disciples to admit and would have been covered up if it were a legend.
Roman authorities and Jewish leaders never claimed that the tomb still contained Jesus’ body. Instead they were forced to invent the absurd story that the disciples stole the body.
A ridiculous story such as ‘the guards fell asleep’ was invented … but the story started with the understanding that the tomb was empty…. because it in fact was.
God truly acted in history by raising Jesus from the dead.
Evidence of Appearance
The ancient creed from 1Corinthians 15 mentions specific individuals who encountered the risen Christ, and Paul even challenged first century doubters to talk with these individuals personally to determine the truth for themselves.
The gospels provide the following accounts of Jesus appearing after his death:
· John 20:10-18 with Mary Magdalene · Matthew 28:8-10 with other women · Luke 24:13-32 with Cleopas on the road to Emmaus · Luke 24:33-49 with eleven disciples and others · John 20:19-23 with ten apostles and others · John 20:26-30 with Thomas and others · John 21:1-14 with seven apostles · Matthew 28:16-20 with the disciples
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