Christianity is not a culturally derived religious philosophy that gradually evolved over the years. Christianity is based on concrete historical events. It is based on the historical reality of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
This claim is hugely significant … for if it can be shown that the New Testament accounts of Jesus are nothing but myths and exaggerations formed incrementally over the years by overzealous adherents, Christianity disappears in a puff of smoke leaving nothing behind but moralistic platitudes.
So let us take a look at the historical integrity of Christianity. John, the disciple who was closest to Jesus begins his epistles with these words:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have see with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of Life. The life appeared, we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us (1 John 1:1-3).
John is making it quite clear that he is writing from his first-hand experiences of Jesus. He is not at all interested in promoting myths that developed about him many years later.
Peter and the other apostles said similar things. Luke records them in Acts saying: We are witnessesto these things(Acts 5:32).
Christopher Hitchens who, when he was alive, was one of the most vociferous “New Atheists,” made the claim that there is, ‘no firm evidence whatever that Jesus was a “character in history”’.
He went on to say that, ‘The case for biblical consistency or authenticity or “inspiration” has been in tatters for some time, and the rents and tears only become more obvious with better research.’
Richard Dawkings, another leading “New Atheist,” made the extraordinary claim that the gospels accounts of Jesus are as much works of fiction as Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.
In order for the New Atheists to say such things, they need to ignore scholarly research and embrace selective rhetoric… then pass it off as informed comment. Hitchens’ and Dawkins’ assertions have less to do with scholasticism and more to do with Goebbels’ craft of propaganda, obfuscation and deception. Their claims are mind-bogglingly inaccurate and shocking in their untruth. They are comments driven by thier atheistic agenda, not by academic research.
George Eldon Ladd, professor of New Testament exegesis and theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, in California, says this:
Unlike other world religions, modern man has the means of actually verifying Christianity’s truth by historical evidence.
Some of this compelling evidence comes from a chap called Josephus. Josephus was born around 37AD, just 7 years after Jesus’ death. He was a Jewish military leader who sought to defend Galilee from the invading Romans in 67AD. Unfortunately, he was captured by General Vespasian (who later became emperor). Josephus abruptly changed his allegiance and agreed to become an interpreter and advisor to the Romans. The Romans gave him a villa in Rome and supported him while he wrote a history of the Jewish people called Jewish Antiquitiesin 90AD.
In this work, Josephus writes: (and I’m careful here to exclude any controversial sections that some historians think were added later):
About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man … for he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people who accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks … When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing amongst us had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection for him.
(Jewish Antiquities, 18,63-64).
So if the atheistic influences around you had led you to believe Jesus was a fictional character, you might like to explore the truth about him… for these truths may lead you to understand your intended eternal destiny.
