Give a reason · 1 Peter 3:15
Did Jesus really exist?
The objection
Outside the Bible the evidence is thin. No Roman record from Jesus' lifetime mentions him, and the Gospels were written by believers decades later. Maybe he is a legend that became a man.
What the evidence shows
- 01Virtually all historians agree Jesus existed.
Scholars dismiss theories that he never lived, or regard them as refuted. Bart Ehrman, an agnostic, wrote a book taking them apart.
- 02Two non-Christian historians mention him.
Josephus (c. AD 93–94) names “the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James,” a passage most scholars accept. Tacitus records his execution under Pilate.
- 03Paul met Jesus' brother.
In Galatians, one of the letters scholars agree Paul wrote, he says he visited Peter and “James the Lord's brother” in Jerusalem.
The Christian case
- 01Nobody invents a crucified Messiah.ArgumentBart Ehrman (agnostic)
Ehrman argues that belief in a crucified messiah could only have come from a real, historical event.
- 02A skeptic who checked.ArgumentLee Strobel
Strobel, a Chicago Tribune journalist, says he was an atheist when he began investigating Jesus. The Case for Christ (1998) records what changed his mind.
What Scripture says
“But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.”Galatians 1:19 (KJV)MeaningPaul names a family member of Jesus he met in person.
“It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,”Luke 1:3 (KJV)MeaningLuke says he researched carefully before writing.
“For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”2 Peter 1:16 (KJV)MeaningThe early church denied it was passing on clever myths.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1769 Authorized Version), public domain.
What skeptics say
Richard Carrier argues, in a 2014 academic book, that the first Christians worshiped a heavenly Jesus who was only later placed in history. Few specialists agree.
Did you know?
Josephus also records the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist, a passage almost all modern scholars accept as genuine.
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“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”1 Peter 3:15 (KJV)
Sources
- Historicity of Jesus, Wikipedia
- Bart D. Ehrman, Did Jesus Exist?, HarperCollins
- Josephus on Jesus, Wikipedia
- Tacitus, Annals 15.44, LacusCurtius (Univ. of Chicago)
- Authorship of the Pauline epistles, Wikipedia
- Galatians 1:18–19, BibleGateway (KJV)
- Lee Strobel, Wikipedia
- Richard Carrier, Wikipedia