If you were challenged to demonstrate
that Jesus truly existed historically,
could you do it?
Can you name any non-christian historical sources
for Jesus' existence?
for Jesus' existence?
Our recent series (posted on Friday's) entitled "Ancient Non-Christian Sources for Jesus of Nazareth" highlights 17 solid secular historical sources affirming the life and ministry of Christ. These include 2 Roman Emperors, numerous Roman and Jewish historians, and also many gnostic writings as well.
Why do I bring this up? Because CNN recently published this uninformed blog post, attempting to cast academic doubt on the historical existence of the Jesus portrayed in the New Testament Gospels. This kind of sloppy, biased reporting highlights the need for us Christians to have a good working knowledge of the evidence that exists for our worldview and faith, particularly regarding the life of Christ Himself. Below is a portion of the article, with a link at the end to the complete version.
If you haven't done so already, please go to www.garyhabermas.com and download Dr. Habermas thesis on the 17 non-Christian sources for the life of Christ. Learn who they are, and then be prepared to lovingly answer your friends and co-workers when challenged on this historical point (1 Pet 3:15).
Below is the article as CNN posted it:
By John Blake, CNN
(CNN)– Timothy Freke was flipping through an old academic book when he came across a religious image that some would call obscene.
It was a drawing of a third-century amulet depicting a naked man nailed to a cross. The man was born of a virgin, preached about being “born again” and had risen from the dead after crucifixion, Freke says.
But the name on the amulet wasn’t Jesus. It was a pseudonym for Osiris-Dionysus, a pagan god in ancient Mediterranean culture. Freke says the amulet was evidence of something that sounds like sacrilege – and some would say it is: that Jesus never existed. He was a myth created by first-century Jews who modeled him after other dying and resurrected pagan gods, says Freke, author of "The Jesus Mysteries: Was the ‘Original Jesus’ a Pagan God?"
“If I said to you that there was no real Good Samaritan, I don’t think anyone would be outraged,” says Freke, one of a group of mythicists who say Jesus never existed. “It’s a teaching story. What we’re saying is that the Jesus story is an allegory. It’s a parable of the spiritual journey.”
On Easter Sunday, millions of Christians worldwide mark the resurrection of Jesus. Though Christians clash over many issues, almost all agree that he existed.
But there is another view of Jesus that’s been emerging, one that strikes at the heart of the Easter story. A number of authors and scholars say Jesus never existed. Such assertions could have been ignored in an earlier age. But in the age of the Internet and self-publishing, these arguments have gained enough traction that some of the world’s leading New Testament scholars feel compelled to publicly take them on.
Most Jesus deniers are Internet kooks, says Bart D. Ehrman, a New Testament scholar who recently released a book devoted to the question called “Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth.”
He says Freke and others who deny Jesus’ existence are conspiracy theorists trying to sell books.
“There are people out there who don’t think the Holocaust happened, there wasn’t a lone JFK assassin and Obama wasn’t born in the U.S.,” Ehrman says. “Among them are people who don’t think Jesus existed.”
Does it matter if Jesus existed?
Some Jesus mythicists say many New Testament scholars are intellectual snobs.
“I don’t think I’m some Internet kook or Holocaust denier,” says Robert Price, a former Baptist pastor who argues in “Deconstructing Jesus” that a historical Jesus probably didn’t exist.
“They say I’m a bitter ex-fundamentalist. It’s pathetic to see this character assassination. That’s what people resort to when they don’t have solid arguments.”
No comments:
Post a Comment