Historicity of Jesus

There is no question in the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth who was a real historical person., even with the limited amount of sources both secular and Christian. Proof that Jesus existed is obtained most directly through eyewitness testimony of the existence of the apostles of Jesus. Other available documents that we do have support the conclusion that Jesus was known as a historical figure by Christian writers 20-30 years after His death -the Pauline Epistles were written within that timeframe. For example, in Galatians, Paul says he meets James, “But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother” (1:19 NKJV). And in the Epistles there are many references to events within ten years of Jesus’ death and secular non Christian…

The Gospels are an intertwining of history because they trace the life of Jesus, his miracles, ventures and ultimately his death and resurrection as well occurrences in Israel across numerous historical accounts (Strauss, 2011, p. 1035). “The Gospels begins with accounts of “the life of the historical Jesus” (Strauss, 2011, p. 1035). It is important to remember “the Gospels are historical in that they are set in a specific historical context” (Strauss, 2011, p. 1022). History displays that “it…

Christians and the Jesus Seminar has been an ongoing struggle since 1985. The Jesus Seminar, founded by Robert Funk, originated in 1985 as around 70 biblical scholars set out to determine the legitimacy of Jesus’ sayings (Dart). The Seminar focused on the historicity of Jesus using the best methods of science and literary criticism as it pertains to the Bible. Funk believed that the gospel writers had made Jesus into a “larger than life” figure in order to satisfy their religious desires. The…

by virtually most historians that Jesus, Christianity’s prominent figure, is a historical figure. However, the historicity of Jesus has caused a significant amount of speculation as little is known about Jesus’ life. It is believed, however, that Jesus had siblings and was a devout Jew. Although the childhood of Jesus is virtually unknown to historians, his adulthood is known due to the New Testament. The New Testament gave insight on Jesus’ life and teachings; moreover, Synoptic Gospels of…

the Messianic Prophecies in this day and age. Jesus has already fulfilled the “Pre-Return” Messianic Prophecies. The prophecies that regard His return, the “Post Return” prophecies, will be fulfilled in the future. A person unaware…

Enlightenment, brought into question the long-held belief that the Gospels were based on eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus. Such scholarship has developed a series of dates for the writing of the Gospels; the proposed dates raise several questions about the historical accuracy of the canonical accounts. This paper will first discuss the questions raised by the modern dating system. It will then discuss some of the responses that have been developed by believers and scholars. The first…

Next we will have a look at a contribution to the Historicity of Jesus from the writings of Lucian of Samosata. Lucian He was a second century Romano-Syrian satirist, whose writings were in Greek. Lucian was known for mocking and this ironically added insight as well as confirmation to the historicity of Jesus. The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day — the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account. You see, these misguided creatures…

Third, Christianity is the only religion where there is a relationship with God: a father-child relation in which the father seeks to protect the child and provide sustenance for the child. A relationship, borne out of love in which the Father does everything in his power to protect the child and therein, even though undeserving you see the grace of God at work. Fourth, Christianity is the only religion that truly understands the nature and attributes of the Almighty God and teaches the…

In this essay, I will be talking about what I believe to be true from what Jesus tells us in the Bible, about being the Son of God and how He was here to die on the cross for our sins, showing everyone who He was and who ever believe in Him is save, or healed if they were sick. In this paper, I will be talking about the trustworthiness and historicity of the Gospels. The historical reliability of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ miracles, and did Jesus claim to be God. Did his disciples believe he…

the decade, “The Last Temptation of Christ.” While previous films surrounding Jesus portrayed stories that many evangelicals are familiar with, this took a completely different route. The film even begins with a disclaimer stating that it is not based off the gospels. It can be argued that this takes away from the true historicity of who Jesus was within the film, but the interpretation provided can possibly give audiences and scholars alike new perspectives to take when analyzing Jesus of…