Once upon a time there was a person who was born in a remote village to a simple woman. He grew up in another unknown village and was a carpenter until he was thirty. He then became a traveling preacher for three years.
He never wrote a book. He never held any position. He was never married and never owned a house. He never went to school. He never entered the modern city. He never strayed more than two hundred kilometers from his birthplace. He never achieved anything that today’s society considers a sign of greatness. He had no letters of recommendation, only himself.
He was only 33 years old when a wave of public opposition arose against him. His friends ran away from him and one of them denied knowing him. He was extradited to his enemies by one of his close companions and had to undergo a falsified trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. When he was dying, the executioners drew lots for his only earthly possessions – the robe. When he died, they took him down and placed him in the borrowed grave thanks to the compassion of his friend.
Twenty centuries have passed and it is still considered the greatest source of guidance and divine inspiration to which humanity clings.
I will certainly not be far from the truth when I say that all the armies that have ever marched; all naval fleets ever sailing; all parliaments that have ever met; And all the kings who ever ruled did not influence the life of man on earth more powerfully than this one life – the life of Jesus.
– James Allan Francis
Interesting Details
After his resurrection, Jesus appeared on dozens of occasions, in various situations and to various people during forty days. Both men and women saw him. They saw him walking, talking and eating. They saw him inside and outside. In total, more than 500 people saw the resurrected Jesus. And they did not see the hallucination or the spirit also because at six of the twelve apparitions they touched Jesus themselves and/or physically ate with him.
James, Jesus’ skeptical brother, believed that Jesus was God only when he saw him alive after the resurrection. This had such a great impact on his life that he became the bishop of the Church of Jerusalem and was later martyred by the high priests.
What do scientists agree on
Dr. Gary Habermas, Ph.D., M.A., completed the most comprehensive research to date on the subject of the resurrection, in which he collected more than 1,400 of the most important scientific works. In his research, he states that practically all scientists across the ideological spectrum – from ultraliberals to conservatives – agree on the following points as true historical facts:
1. Jesus died by the Roman Crucifixion.
2. He was buried, probably in a private tomb.
3. The disciples were devastated because they lost hope.
4. Jesus’ tomb was found empty shortly after his funeral.
5. The disciples experienced experiences that they believed to be the real apparitions of the resurrected Jesus.
6. Thanks to these experiences, the lives of the disciples have completely changed. They were even willing to die for their faith.
7. The Annunciation of the Resurrection took place very early, already at the beginning of the history of the Church.
8. The public testimony of the disciples and the sermon on the resurrection took place in Jerusalem, where Jesus had been crucified and buried shortly before.
9. The Gospel focused on the sermon on Jesus’ death and resurrection.
10. Sunday was the main day for gatherings and services.
11. James, the brother of Jesus and until then the skeptic, turned when he believed that he had also seen the resurrected Jesus.
12. Only a few years later, the apostle Paul (who initially persecuted Christians) became a Christian believer himself thanks to an experience in which he saw the resurrected Jesus.
So even if we didn’t have the Bible, there is enough historical evidence that Jesus existed and was called by God, and only on the basis of non-biblical sources.
unabled Excerpts from the book ‘I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist’ by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, edited
