Some people claim that Jesus didn’t really exist, that he was made up by the apostles, or that he was a mythical being like the gods of Greece. These people, called mythicists, base this on supposed conflicts in Gospel passages or upon the sparse biographical material in the New Testament or upon similarities to resurrection stories from gods of ancient times like Osiris of Egypt or upon the fact that he was not mentioned in Roman sources or that there is any archeological evidence for his existence.
There are sources outside the Bible that do refer to Jesus and his followers. Tacitus, a first century Roman historian, and Josephus, a first century Jewish historian, both write of Jesus’ crucifixion by Pontius Pilate. As far as the idea that someone made up Jesus as mythological, nearly all historians today also concur on the historicity of Jesus’ existence due to the overwhelming documentary evidence. All we have to do is point out that most of the New Testament was written by Paul, who knew Peter, who knew Jesus.
The best sources for Jesus’ existence are the Gospels. They present four different portraits of Jesus, but that does not mean that they are unreliable. There are a number of elements in all four Gospels that show essential agreement. All four have Jesus being baptized by John. All four have Jesus dying on the cross. All four have Jesus teaching, choosing disciples, performing signs and miracles, and getting into disputes with the religious leaders of the Jewish people. Further, all four have accounts of his Resurrection and appearances to disciples.
The key question is not whether Jesus existed, but why would anyone invent Jesus? By all accounts his death was seen as a failure. His disciples were harassed, intimidated, and arrested by the authorities and eventually killed because they refused to renounce their faith in Jesus. They did not gain material wealth. It just doesn’t make sense. Read par. 512-630 in the Catechism.
Know your faith. Live your faith. Teach your faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment