Did Jesus Really Exist?
Our modern society did not invent skepticism; the ancients knew very well dead people stay dead. It’s one of the most indisputable facts in history that Jesus was a real historical figure who was crucified in the first century under Pontius Pilate. The real question is: did Jesus die for us and conquer death in His resurrection? The writers of the New Testament say he did, but can we trust them?
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The first generation of Christians thought careful investigation was important, allegiance to Jesus should be based on facts we have confidence in, and we should be able to explain the reason for our hopes. We see three things in the early Christian writers’ Gospel accounts which indicate they describe the real Jesus: eyewitness testimony, undesigned coincidences, and embarrassing details.
Paul was one of the earliest Christian writers and wrote much of the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians, Paul appeals to eyewitness testimony for the claims he makes about Jesus’ burial and resurrection. He wrote this while most of these eyewitnesses were still alive, which is a risky move if he made it up. Eyewitnesses could easily be called upon to refute Paul’s claims. Luke wrote an account of Jesus’ life where he tells us he wrote it so his readers could have certainty. He says his account lines up with the eyewitness testimony of those who were with Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. John also wrote an account of Jesus’ life so his readers could trust the news they were told about Jesus. John even claims to be an actual eyewitness of these things himself. Can we trust these guys? Textual criticism (a scientific technique for analyzing the trustworthiness of a text) demonstrates how well the New Testament has been preserved. But was the New Testament true when it was written? Enter undesigned coincidences and embarrassing details.
An undesigned coincidence is when two writers describe the same event and give different details that corroborate. Imagine two kids are in trouble and their teacher talks to them one at a time. If the kids say exactly the same thing, the teacher could suspect they’ve rehearsed the story. If they share completely different stories, they’re lying. But if one says, ‘he chased me out the sports hall’, and the other says, ‘he kicked a basketball into my face’, the two details corroborate. The Gospels are full of undesigned coincidences. John tells us about a time when Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish and he mentions Jesus asking Philip for a good place to buy bread. Luke tells the same story, minus the chat with Philip, plus the detail of Jesus feeding the 5,000 near a town called Bethsaida. In John’s gospel, a few chapters before the feeding of the 5,000, Philip is introduced for the first time, and we’re told he’s from Bethsaida. So, Jesus asks Philip where to buy bread because they’re near Philip’s hometown. The different accounts corroborate.
We don’t lie to embarrass ourselves; we lie to impress others. The gospels are full of embarrassing details. Peter denies Jesus three times, acting like a coward. James and John get rebuked for asking Jesus to smite some Samaritans. The Gospel writers tell us the first witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection were women. Today we wouldn’t find that embarrassing, but in those days, it would have been, because a woman’s testimony was considered “unreliable”. Why would the Gospel writers make up controversial witnesses? And if they were lying, wouldn’t the details about themselves be more flattering?
Whether you’re a Christian or a skeptic, do you have good reasons for what you think about Jesus? Sometimes the truth is inconvenient. Is there anything preventing you from trusting the evidence about Jesus? Would you keep investigating Jesus, even if it leads to personal sacrifices?
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If you want to know more about eyewitness testimony in the Gospels (the first four books in the New Testament that are about Jesus’ life), you could read Can We Trust the Gospels by Peter Williams, or Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Bauckham. If you want to know more about undesigned coincidences in the Gospels, you could read Hidden in Plain View by Lydia McGrew or Undesigned Coincidences by J.J. Blunt. If you want to read the four Gospels themselves, you can find them here: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Ask God to help you investigate Jesus so you can believe with confidence and reason.
