Bible (Archive 4)

SCROLL TO BOTTOM FOR CONTENT THREADS.

Bible Question: Did Jesus really exist? I was surprised to read in a wiki article that many bible scholars question the existence of Jesus. I am actually very surprised to see that there are *no* contemporary writings (by which I mean written when Jesus was alive) on his life and actions. You'd think that someone as momentous as Jesus would have been written about *at the time* rather than 40 years later.
Help (Faith shaken a bit)!

Bible Answer: Hi Welcome to the forum,

You can always find scholars who will support any outlandish position. You must remember that many scholars are militant atheists.

But there are very few scholars who deny the actual existence of Jesus (even atheistic ones) for very good reasons.

If you get rid of Jesus you then have to explain the source of the greatest moral teaching that the world has ever known, a teaching admired by men of all religions, and who it was who totally exposed the weaknesses of the teaching of the scribes in the way that we find in the Gospels. These are facts because we can still read and appreciate them today.

You have to explain the source of some of the most beautiful parables known to man. You have to explain who it was who gave answers to questions that previously no one had been able to answer.

And when four reliable men testify as to who it was, you have to acknowledge that they must be right. They were not clever enough to have invented it No one of the day ever denied the historicity of the man spoken of in the Gospels, not even the Rabbis after the fall of Jerusalem.

Furthermore your date of 'forty years' after the death of Jesus as the date for the Gospels is probably an exaggerated one. There are good grounds for thinking that they were written earlier.

And certainly we know that Paul's letters were written earlier, and that he testified to Jesus within ten years of His death.

It is not really surprising that books were not written immediately. The Apostles and their followers were busy reaching the world for Christ, and books were difficult to write with the material available, and would require long abstinence from active service. And then they had to be copied individually, an arduous task, and even then they would reach few hands (they were very expensive). But the living voice could go anywhere and immediately be heard by many, and could be recognised to be that of an eyewitness.

The Gospels were written when the large churches looked for people who could write down what was known about Jesus, much of which had been memorised as men had listened to the Apostles.

Matthew and John had been there, and we should remember that Matthew was used to recording things in writing and had no doubt done so while listening to Jesus. Mark wrote down what he had learned fom Peter. Luke had every opportunity to consult eyewitesses especially during the years he spent in Palestine with Paul.

So the existence of Jesus is not really in doubt.

If you are feeling shaken, read the Gospels. And ask yourself, was this the One Who was coming as prophesied by the Old Testament, or should we look for another?

And my advice is to remember that anyone can wrte what they like in wikipedia. What it says is only as reliable as the person who wrote it. And you do not know who that was.