Who Was The Real Jesus

$7.
95
VOLUME TWO Y-JESUS
ARTICLE 1:
BORN
IDENTITY
WAS JESUS A REAL PERSON?
INSTRUCTIONS
To view the layout and graphics, click on the Facing icon on the
right side of your bottom tool bar in your Acrobat Reader© file. Try viewing at 75%.
To read the article, click on the Single Page icon on the bottom right of your
Acrobat Reader© file.
To enlarge the print for easier viewing, click on the “+” by the
magnifcation percentage in the middle of the tool bar at the top of the page.
To move from one page to another, use your side scroll bar or click on the
left or right arrow in the bottom tool bar.
CLICK HERE to see other articles from Y-Jesus Magazine at www.y-zine.com
Chief Editor: Larry Chapman

Project Coordinator: Helmut Teichert
Editorial Director: Rick James
Design: Hydragraphik ® Studio ( www.hydragraphik.com )
Sun Mountain Productions
Article Editors: Rick James, Eric Stanford
Copy Editor: Eric Stanford
Writers: Larry Chapman, Rick James, Eric Stanford
Y-ZINE
PO Box 6017
Great Falls, MT 59405
Copyright 2006 by Bright Media Foundation and B & L Publications. All rights reserved.
ISBN 0-9717422-3-5
2 • Y-JESUS
Born Identity
Click on the e-article title for contents
WAS JESUS A REAL PERSON? Page 5
MYTH VS. REALITY Page 6
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS ABOUT JESUS Page 8
THE NEW TESTAMENT Page 8
EARLY NON-CHRISTIAN ACCOUNTS Page 10
HISTORICAL IMPACT Page 10
TANGIBLE EVIDENCE Page 11
SCHOLARS’ VERDICT Page 13
NEWSFLASH Page 13
THE GOSPELS IN BRIEF Page 13
THE WONDER YEARS Page 14
PUBLIC MINISTRY Page 14
DEATH AND RESURRECTION Page 15
ENDNOTES Page 15
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am indebted to Dr. Bill Bright, who passed away before this project was finished. Dr. Bright enthusiastically endorsed and
contributed to the development of the material presented in this endeavor.
Special thanks are also due to Rick James and Eric Stanford, who have both spent countless hours clarifying some of the concepts
presented.
Several others have contributed greatly to the writing of these articles, including Dr. Henry Brandt, Dave Chapman, Dr. Bert
Harned, and New Testament scholar, Dr. Ron Heine. The valuable input from Brian Ricci, ‘Jamin Latvala, and the Campus Crusade
staff at the University of Washington were especially helpful and constructive. Special thanks also are due Helmut Teichert of
Bright Media, who has been the overall director of the project. Finally I would like to thank my wife, Marianne, for inspiring me to
undertake this effort.
Larry Chapman
TABLE OF CONTENTS • 3
4 • ARTICLE ONE • BORN IDENTITY
Born
Identity
Was Jesus a real person?
“Well, I’m here to give the reality point of view, I guess,” declared Ellen Johnson, president
of American Atheists. “Because the reality is, there is not one shred of secular evidence
there ever was a Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ and Christianity is a modern religion. And Jesus
Christ is a compilation from other gods: Horas [sic], Mithras, who had the same origins, the
same death as the mythological Jesus Christ.”
Johnson and a blue-ribbon panel of religious leaders were discussing the question, “What
happens after we die?” on a Larry King Live CNN broadcast. The usually unflappable King
paused reflectively and then replied, “So you don’t believe there was a Jesus Christ?”
BORN IDENTITY • ARTICLE ONE • 5

With an air of certainty, Johnson respond- Is it possible that the Jesus so many believe MYTH VS. REALITY
ed, “There was not. It is not what I believe; to be real never existed? In The Story of
there is no secular evidence that JC, Jesus Civilization, secular historian Will Durant Let’s begin with a more foundational ques-
Christ, ever existed.” posed this question: “Did Christ exist? Is tion: What distinguishes myth from reality?
the life story of the founder of Christianity How do we know, for example, that Alexan-
King had no follow-up and went to a com- the product of human sorrow, imagina- der the Great really existed? Supposedly, in
mercial break. No discussion of any evi- tion, and hope—a myth comparable to the 336 B.C., Alexander the Great became king
dence for or against Jesus’ existence was legends of Krishna, Osiris, Attis, Adonis, of Macedonia at 20 years of age. A military
forthcoming. The international television Dionysus, and Mithras?”3 Durant pointed genius, this handsome, arrogant leader
audience was left wondering.1 out how the story of Christianity has “many butchered his way through villages, towns,
suspicious resemblances to the legends of and kingdoms of the Greco-Persian world
Fifty years earlier, in his book Why I Am pagan gods.”4 until he ruled it all. In a short eight years
Not a Christian, atheist Bertrand Russell Alexander’s armies had traversed a total of
shocked his generation by questioning So, how can we know for sure that this 22,000 miles in his conquests.
Jesus’ existence. He wrote: “Historically man, whom many worship and others
it is quite doubtful whether Christ ever curse, was real? Is Johnson right when she It has been said of Alexander that he cried
existed at all, and if He did we do not know asserts that Jesus Christ is a “compilation when he ran out of worlds to conquer. (I’m
anything about Him, so that I am not con- from other gods”? And is Russell right when thinking, this is not the person I want to
cerned with the historical question, which he says that Jesus’ existence is “quite play Monopoly with.)
is a very difficult one.”2 doubtful”?
Before he died at age 32, Alexander report-
edly accomplished greater mili-
tary deeds than anyone
in history, not only
of the kings
who had
lived

��
��
before him, but also of those who followed,
down to our own time. But today, other
than cities named Alexandria, a boring film
by Oliver Stone, and a few books, his legacy
is all but forgotten. In fact, the name Colin
Farrell had more drawing power at the box
office than Alexander’s.
In spite of the box office flop, historians cite

three primary reasons they believe Alexan-
der really existed:
• written documentation from early

historians
• historical impact
• historical and archaeological
evidence
HISTORICAL
DOCUMENTS
ABOUT
JESUS
The historicity of Alexander the Great and

his military conquests is drawn from five
ancient sources, none of whom were eye-
witnesses. Although written 400 years after
Alexander, Plutarch’s Life of Alexander is
the primary account of his life. Keeping Alexander as a reference point, record Jesus’ life and words from different
we’ll note that for Jesus there are both perspectives. These accounts have been
Since Plutarch and the other writers were religious and secular historical accounts. heavily scrutinized by scholars both inside
several hundred years removed from the But we must ask the question, were they Christianity and outside it.
events of Alexander’s life, they based written by reliable and objective historians?
their information on prior accounts. Of the Let’s take a brief look. Even New Testament critic John Dominic
twenty contemporary historical accounts on Crossan of the Jesus Seminar believes that
Alexander, not one survives. Later accounts THE Jesus Christ really lived.
exist, but each presents a different “Alex- NEW
ander,” with much left to our imagination. TESTAMENT The consensus of most historians is that the
But regardless of the time gap of several Gospel accounts give us a clear picture of
hundred years, historians are convinced The 27 New Testament books claim to Jesus Christ. Whether the New Testament
that Alexander was a real man and that the be written by authors who either knew accounts are trustworthy is the subject of
essential details of what we read about his Jesus or received firsthand knowledge of another article (See “Jesus.doc”).
life are true. him from others. The four Gospel accounts

“It seems as though somebody has fine-tuned
nature’s numbers to make the Universe...The
impression of design is overwhelming.”
Paul Davies, theoretical physicist
To confirm Jesus’ existence we need to He was the Messiah.”6 Although there is • Jesus was believed by his
hear the opinions of non-Christian histori- dispute about some of the wording in the disciples to have died and risen
ans during Jesus’ time as well as today. We account, especially the reference to Jesus from the dead three days later.
also need to measure the historical impact being the Messiah (scholars are skepti- • Jesus’ enemies acknowledged
of his life. cal, thinking that Christians inserted this that he performed unusual feats
phrase), certainly Josephus confirmed his they called “sorcery.”
EARLY existence. • Jesus’ small band of disciples

NON-CHRISTIAN multiplied rapidly, spreading as
ACCOUNTS What about secular historians—those who far as Rome.
lived in ancient times but weren’t religious- • Jesus’ disciples denied poly-
So, which first-century historians who wrote ly motivated? There is current confirmation theism, lived moral lives, and
of Jesus did not have a Christian agenda? of at least 19 early secular writers who worshiped Christ as God.
First of all, let’s look to Jesus’ enemies. made references to Jesus as a real person.7
Theologian Norman Geisler remarked,
His Jewish opponents had the most to One of antiquity’s greatest historians, “This general outline is perfectly congruent
gain by denying Jesus’ existence. But the Cornelius Tacitus, affirmed that Jesus had with that of the New Testament.”9 All of
evidence points in the opposite direction. suffered under Pilate. Tacitus was born these independent accounts, religious and
“Several Jewish writings also tell of His around 25 years after Jesus died, and he secular, speak of a real man who matches
flesh-and-blood existence. Both Gemaras of had seen the spread of Christianity begin up well with the Jesus in the Gospels.
the Jewish Talmud refer to Jesus. Although to impact Rome. The Roman historian Encyclopedia Britannica cites these various
these consist of only a few brief, bitter pas- wrote negatively of Christ and Christians, secular accounts of Jesus’ life as convinc-
sages intended to discount Jesus’ deity, identifying them in 115 A.D. as “a race of ing proof of his existence. “These indepen-
these very early Jewish writings don’t begin men detested for their evil practices, and dent accounts prove that in ancient times
to hint that he was not a historical person.”5 commonly called Chrestiani. The name was even the opponents of Christianity never
derived from Chrestus, who, in the reign doubted the historicity of Jesus.”10
Flavius Josephus was a noted Jewish of Tiberius, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
historian who began writing under Roman Procurator of Judea.”8 HISTORICAL
authority in 67 A.D.. Josephus, who was IMPACT
born just a few years after Jesus died, The following facts about Jesus were writ-
would have been keenly aware of Jesus’ ten by early non-Christian sources: An important distinction between a myth
reputation among both Romans and Jews. • Jesus was from Nazareth. and a real person is how the figure impacts
In his famous Antiquities of the Jews (93 • Jesus lived a wise and virtuous life. history. For example, the Olympic Games
A.D.), Josephus wrote of Jesus as a real • Jesus was crucified in Palestine originated on Mount Olympus in Greece,
person. “At that time lived Jesus, a holy under Pontius Pilate during the home of the temple of the Greek god Zeus.
man, if man he may be called, for he per- reign of Tiberius Caesar at Pass- But Zeus has not changed governments,
formed wonderful works, and taught men, over time, being considered the laws, or ethics.
and joyfully received the truth. And he was Jewish king.
followed by many Jews and many Greeks. The historian Thomas Carlyle said, “No
“Regardless of what anyone may personally think great man lives in vain. The history of the
or believe about him, Jesus of Nazareth has been world is but the biography of great men.”11
the dominant figure in the history of Western cul- As Carlyle notes, it is real people, not
ture for almost twenty centuries….” myths, who impact history.
Jaroslav Pelikan,
Yale historian
As a real person, Alexander impacted his- • The elevated role of women in on history, he replied, “By this test Jesus
tory by his military conquests, altering na- Western culture traces its roots stands first.”13
tions, governments, and laws. But what of back to Jesus. (Women in Jesus’
Jesus Christ and his impact on our world? day were considered inferior Documentary evidence and historical im-
and virtual nonpersons until his pact point to the fact that Jesus did exist. If
The first-century governments of Israel and teaching was followed.) Jesus did really exist, we also would expect
Rome were largely untouched by Jesus’ life. • Slavery was abolished in Brit- to discover his footprints imprinted within
The average Roman didn’t know he existed ain and America due to Jesus’ the details of history. Myths don’t leave
until many years after his death, Roman teaching that each human life is such confirming details.
culture remained largely aloof from his valuable.
teaching for decades. It would be several • Former drug and alcohol depen- TANGIBLE
centuries before killing Christians in the dents, prostitutes, and others EVIDENCE
coliseum became a national pastime. The seeking purpose in life claim
rest of the world had little, if any, knowl- him as the explanation for their Despite the scrupulously historical film Elf,
edge of him. Jesus marshaled no army. He changed lives. a trip to the North Pole quickly puts the
didn’t write a book or change any laws. • Two billion people call them- myth label on Santa Claus. And in spite of
The Jewish leaders hoped to wipe out any selves Christians. While some are Tom Hanks’s assertions of Santa’s reality
memory of him, and it appeared they would Christian in name only, others in the movie Polar Express, all there is at
succeed. continue to impact our culture by the North Pole is ice. No reindeer or toy
teaching Jesus’ principles that all factories. No little men in red suits. The evi-
Today, however, ancient Rome lies in ruins. life is valuable and we are to love dence of confirming details just isn’t there.
Caesar’s mighty legions and the pomp of one another. (Please keep the contents of this magazine
Roman imperial power have faded into away from minors.)
oblivion. Yet how is Jesus remembered Remarkably, Jesus made all of this impact
today? What is his enduring influence? as a result of just a three-year period of
public ministry. If Jesus didn’t exist, one
• More books have been written must wonder how a myth could so alter his-
about Jesus than about any other tory. When world historian H. G. Wells was
person in history. asked who has left the greatest legacy
• Nations have used his words
as the bedrock of their govern-
ments. According to Durant, “The
triumph of Christ was the begin-
ning of democracy.”12
• His Sermon on the Mount estab-
lished a new paradigm in ethics
and morals.
• Schools, hospitals, and humani-
tarian works have been founded
in his name. Harvard, Yale, Princ-
eton, and Oxford are but a few
universities that have Christians
to thank for their beginning.

The details of Alexander’s life, however, are never been confirmed as real. No rebuttal probably a lie, until two centuries turned
chronicled by Plutarch and other historians, was possible until the mid-20th century. it into legend. News of Christianity, on
providing evidence of his existence. The the other hand, took off faster than gossip
aftermath of his conquests resulted in more Archaeologists in 1962 confirmed Pilate’s about Brad and Jen’s breakup. Had Jesus
than 70 cities being named Alexandria. existence when they discovered his name not existed, those who opposed Christianity
included in an inscription on an excavated would certainly have labeled him a myth
Names of his generals, places he con- stone. Likewise, the existence of Caia- from the outset. But they didn’t.
quered, and other details known to history phas was uncertain until 1990, when an
paint a picture of a real person. ossuary (bone box) was discovered bearing Such evidence, along with the early written
his inscription. Archaeologists have also accounts and the historical impact of Jesus
Yet the extensive details surrounding the discovered what they believe to be Simon Christ, convince even skeptical historians
life of Jesus Christ far surpass those of Peter’s house and a cave where John the that the founder of Christianity was neither
Alexander. The following details have con- Baptist did his baptizing. myth nor legend. But one expert on myths
vinced most scholars that Jesus did exist: wasn’t so sure.
Finally, perhaps the most convincing
• historical New Testament sites historical evidence that Jesus existed was Like Muggeridge, Oxford scholar C. S.Lewis
• confirmation of New Testament the rapid rise of Christianity. How can it was initially convinced that Jesus was
characters be explained without Christ? How could nothing more than a myth. Lewis once
• suddenness of Christianity’s rise this group of fishermen and other working-
men invent Jesus in a scant few years?
One skeptic who thought Jesus was a myth Will Durant answered his own introductory
was British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge. question—did Christ exist?—with the fol-
But on a television assignment to Israel, lowing conclusion:
Muggeridge was faced with evidence about
Jesus Christ that he didn’t know existed. That a few simple men should in
As he checked out historical places—Jesus’ one generation have invented
birthplace, Nazareth, the crucifixion site, so powerful and appealing a
and the empty tomb—a sense of Jesus’ personality, so lofty an ethic
reality began to emerge. and so inspiring a vision of
human brotherhood, would be a
Later he stated, “It was while I was in the miracle far more incredible than
Holy Land for the purpose of making three any recorded in the Gospels.
B.B.C. television programmes on the New After two centuries of Higher
Testament that a … certainty seized me Criticism the outlines of the life,
about Jesus’ birth, ministry and Crucifixion. character, and teaching of Christ,
… I became aware that there really had remain reasonably clear, and con-
been a man, Jesus, who was also God.”14 stitute the most fascinating feature
in the history of Western man.15
Some German higher-critical scholars in stated, “All religions, that is, all mytholo-
the 18th and 19th centuries had questioned One key for Durant and other scholars is the gies … are merely man’s own inven-
Jesus’ existence, stating that such key time factor. Myths and legends usually take tion—Christ as much as Loki.”16 (Loki is an
figures as Pontius Pilate and chief priest Jo- hundreds of years to evolve—the story of old Norse god. Like Thor, but without the
seph Caiaphas in the Gospel accounts had George Washington never telling a lie was ponytail.)

Gospels
Ten years after denouncing Jesus as a Few if any serious historians agree with El-
myth, Lewis discovered that historical len Johnson’s and Bertrand Russell’s asser-
details, including several eyewitness docu- tions that Jesus didn’t exist. The extensive
ments, verify his existence.
Jesus Christ has impacted history’s land-

documentation of Jesus’ life by contempo-
rary writers, his profound historical impact,
and the confirming tangible evidence of
in Brief
scape like a massive earthquake. And this history have persuaded scholars that Jesus THE BIRTH
earthquake has left a trail wider than the really did exist. Could a myth have done The Gospel writers all anchored their
Grand Canyon. It is this trail of evidence all that? All but a few extremely skeptical historical narratives in the Old Testament,
that convinces scholars that Jesus really scholars say no. beginning with messianic passages from
did exist and really did impact our world the Hebrew prophets. These passages
2,000 years ago. Dr. Michael Grant of Cambridge has writ- foretold the coming Messiah, using a fulfill-
ten, “To sum up, modern critical methods ment formula stating that “that” is “this.”
SCHOLARS’ fail to support the Christ-myth theory. One such passage is Isaiah 9:6-7.
VERDICT It has ‘again and again been answered and
annihilated by first rank scholars.’ In recent “A child is born to us, a son is given to us.
Clifford Herschel Moore, professor at years ‘no serious scholar has ventured And the government will rest on his shoul-
Harvard University, remarked of Jesus’ to postulate the non-historicity of Jesus.’ ”18 ders. These will be his royal titles: Wonder-
ful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Yale historian Jaroslav Pelikan declared, Father, Prince of Peace. His ever expand-
“Regardless of what anyone may person- ing, peaceful government will never end.
ally think or believe about him, Jesus of He will rule forever with fairness and justice
Nazareth has been the dominant figure from the throne of his ancestor David.”
in the history of Western culture for (Isaiah 9:6-7, NLT)
almost twenty centuries.... It is from his

birth that most of the human race dates Roughly 700 years after Isaiah uttered this
its calendars, it is by his name that prophecy concerning the coming Messiah,
millions curse and in his name that the Gospels tell us, the long-awaited
millions pray.”19 announcement is heralded by an angel. This

angel came, not to awaiting multitudes, but
NEWSFLASH to a lowly peasant woman, who was told she

would birth the Savior, sans husband.
In February, 2006, a legal challenge to Jesus’
existence wound up being thrown out of an
The young woman, Mary, was engaged
Italian court. The plaintiff, Luigi Cascioli,
72, had argued his hometown priest and to a village carpenter named Joseph. But
historicity, “Christianity knew its Saviour former schoolmate had effectively broken when Mary told Joseph what the angel had
an Italian law by conning the public into spoken, explaining that she was already
and Redeemer not as some god whose
believing that Jesus was a real person.
history was contained in a mythical faith. pregnant with the child, Joseph obviously
… Jesus was a historical not a mythical be- But instead of granting Cascioli his request assumed an illicit relationship and moved
ing. No remote or foul myth obtruded itself to bring the case to court, the judge to quietly dissolve the marriage.
on the Christian believer; his faith was recommended magistrates investigate him
for slandering priest Enrico Righi. Cascioli,
The
founded on positive, historical, and accept- But the Gospel of Matthew tells us that
author of a book called The Fable of Christ,
able facts.” 17
said he would appeal to Italy’s highest an angelic messenger related to Joseph,
court, and then to The Hague. in a dream, that what Mary had claimed

was actually true. In fact, it must have THE WONDER YEARS PUBLIC MINISTRY
been quite a dream, for it compelled him to
believe Mary. In the history of unplanned The childhood of Jesus truly was the “won- At about the age of 30, Jesus went to
pregnancies this was probably not the first der years,” for the Gospels, in their silence, Nazareth, where he had been brought up,
time such a story was told. It was, in all leave us to wonder what transpired. Only and on the Sabbath day he went into the
likelihood, the first time it was believed. one story of Jesus’ youth is preserved, in synagogue, as was his custom. As he stood
which his parents (Joseph and Mary) hav- to do the Scripture reading, the scroll of the
The Gospels relate that the child was ing lost him, discovered him in the Temple prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unroll-
born in Bethlehem, this being the town of discussing the things of God with the reli- ing it, he found the place where it was
Joseph’s origin. Everyone needed to return gious leaders—a hint of things to come. written:
to their ancestral home to fulfill the require-
ments of a Roman census. As Bethlehem Other than this Temple incident and the The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
brimmed with returning pilgrims the family details surrounding his birth, many have for he has appointed me to preach
was forced to stay in a barn. Perhaps this wondered why the early years in Jesus’ life Good News to the poor. He has
was God’s plan, or perhaps Joseph just are largely unaccounted for. But the rea- sent me to proclaim that captives
didn’t plan, but we are left viewing irony sons are relatively easy to understand. will be released, that the blind will
itself: Mary gave birth to a son, Jesus, and see, that the downtrodden will be
laid the world’s Messiah in a feeding trough Since Jesus’ public ministry didn’t begin freed from their oppressors, and
for animals. until he was approximately 30 years of age, that the time of the Lord’s favor
there would be virtually nothing in his early has come. (Luke 4:18-19, NLT)
years of consequence to write about. None
of the miracles he performed or sermons he He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to
preached occurred until then. Additionally, the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in
his apostles, the authors of the New Testa- the synagogue stared at him intently. Then
ment, weren’t there to witness his pre-min- he said, “This Scripture has come true
istry life, not joining Jesus until he began today before your very eyes!” (Luke 4:20-21,
his public ministry. NLT)
This, according to the Gospel of Luke,

marked the beginning of Jesus’ public
ministry. The Isaiah passage from which he
read refers to the coming Messiah, and by
declaring, “This Scripture has come true,”
Jesus began his ministry with a gunshot
summoning the attention of all Israel and
beginning a race that would last roughly
three years before it ended in a state-spon-
sored lynching.
One would assume that Jesus’ teaching

was quite diverse, addressing all of the
many social and moral injustices of his day.
This was not the case. With the exception

of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught should end in death. In fact, Jesus saw his
one primary message: “The kingdom of God death as inaugurating his reign. But these
is upon you, and I am its king.” were details to be worked out later, as upon
entering Jerusalem, the mechanisms of be-
The ministry of Jesus was laced with trayal were already in high gear and there
miracles, but every miracle was an object was no time left to clarify.
lesson, a 30-second commercial promoting
that one central message. As Jesus predicted, he was betrayed by one
of his own disciples—Judas Iscariot—and 5
D. James Kennedy, Skeptics Answered
For example, in the Old Testament, the arrested. In a mock trial under the Roman (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 1997), 76. The
prophet Isaiah spoke of the Messiah’s governor Pontius Pilate (to whom the Gemaras are early rabbinical commentaries
coming kingdom, describing it in these Jewish leaders brought him since under of the Jewish Talmud, a body of theological
words: “In that day deaf people will hear Roman law they could not carry out their writings, dated a.d. 200–500.
words read from a book, and blind people own executions), he was convicted of 6
Quoted in Durant, 554.
will see through the gloom and darkness” treason and condemned to die on a cross. 7
Durant, 73.
and “When he comes, he will open the 8
Quoted in Durant, 281.
eyes of the blind and unstop the ears of At 3:00 in the afternoon, after hanging on 9
Norman Geisler and Peter Bocchino, Un-
the deaf” (Isaiah 29:18; 35:5). So every time the cross for approximately six hours, Jesus shakable Foundations (Grand Rapids, MI:
Jesus gave sight to the blind and hearing cried out, “It is finished.” And with that Bethany House, 2001), 269.
to the deaf, it was freighted with messianic breathed his last breath. 10
Quoted in Josh McDowell, Evidence
implications. That Demands a Verdict, vol. 1 (Nashville:
The Gospels declare that three days later Nelson, 1979), 87.
Besides telling of his messages and reports began to spread of witnesses who 11
Quoted in Christopher Lee, This Sceptred
miracles to the masses, the Gospels draw had seen Jesus. As the number of wit- Isle, 55 B.C.–1901 (London: Penguin, 1997),
us in to the inner circle of Jesus’ most loyal, nesses grew to several hundred, Jerusalem 1.
though flawed, group of followers: the was in an uproar. It was divided and would 12
Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy (New
disciples. Jesus assumed not just the role remain so—Christianity had been birthed. York: Pocket, 1961), 428.
of Messiah, but that of mentor, training the 13
Quoted in Bernard Ramm, Protestant
disciples to carry on the proclamation of the Christian Evidences (Chicago: Moody
kingdom—and its king—once the king had Press, 1957), 163.
been killed. 14
Malcolm Muggeridge, Jesus Rediscov-
ered (Bungay, Suffolk, U.K.: Fontana, 1969),
DEATH AND ENDNOTES 8.
RESURRECTION 1
Ellen Johnson and Larry King, “What Hap- 15
Durant, Caesar and Christ, Ibid.
pens After We Die?” Larry King Live, CNN, 16
David C. Downing, The Most Reluctant
The ministry of Jesus ended as abruptly as April 14, 2005. Convert (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity,
it had begun. Upon his final visit to Jerusa- 2
Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Chris- 2002), 57.
lem for the Passover, Jesus told his 12 clos- tian (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1957), 17
Quoted in McDowell, 193.
est disciples that he would be betrayed, ar- 16. 18
Michael Grant, Jesus (London: Rigel,
rested, and crucified but also that he would 3
Will Durant, Caesar and Christ, vol. 3 of 2004), 200.
come back to life three days later. Jesus’ The Story of Civilization (New York: Simon 19
Jaroslav Pelikan, Jesus through the Cen-
followers were confused, for it seemed & Schuster, 1972), 553. turies (New York: Harper & Row, 1987), 1.
inconceivable that the Messiah’s reign 4
Ibid., 557.

$7.95
VOLUME TWO Y-JESUS
ARTICLE 2:
JESUS
COMPLEX
WAS HE CRAZY,
A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR,
OR THE SON OF GOD?
Jesus Complex
WAS HE CRAZY, A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR,

OR THE SON OF GOD? Page 5
GREAT MORAL TEACHER? Page 6
GREAT RELIGOUS LEADER? Page 8
DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE GOD? Page 8
DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE THE CREATOR? Page 9
WHAT KIND OF GOD? Page 10
WAS JESUS A LIAR? Page 10
WAS JESUS A LUNATIC? Page 14
ENDNOTES Page 15
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
presented.
Larry Chapman
J
C
4 • ARTICLE TWO • JESUS COMPLEX

Jesus
Complex
WAS HE CRAZY, A
PATHOLOGICAL LIAR,
OR THE SON OF GOD?
JESUS COMPLEX • ARTICLE TWO • 5

Have you ever met somebody with such impact---but nothing like that unknown
GREAT
personal magnetism that they are always carpenter from Nazareth. MORAL
the center of attention? Possibly their TEACHER?
personality or intelligence---but something What was it about Jesus Christ that made
about them is enigmatic. Well, that’s the the difference? Was he merely a great man,
way it was two thousand years ago with Je- or something more? Almost all scholars acknowledge that
sus Christ. But what makes Jesus relevant Jesus was a great moral teacher. In fact,
even today into the 21st century are the These questions get to the heart of who Je- his brilliant insight into human morality
claims he made about himself. sus really was. Some believe he was merely is an accomplishment recognized even by
a great moral teacher; others believe he those of other religions. In his book Jesus of
As an unheralded carpenter from an was simply the leader of the world’s great- Nazareth, Jewish scholar Joseph Klausner
obscure village in Palestine, Jesus made est religion. But many believe something wrote, “It is universally admitted … that
claims that, if true, have profound implica- far more. Christians believe that God has Christ taught the purest and sublimest eth-
tions on our lives. According to Jesus, you actually visited us in human form. And they ics … which throws the moral precepts and
and I are special, part of a grand cosmic believe the evidence backs that up. So who maxims of the wisest men of antiquity far
scheme. is the real Jesus? Let’s take a closer look. into the shade.”1
It was primarily Jesus’ outrageous claims As we take a deeper look at the world’s Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has been
that caused him to be viewed as a crackpot most controversial person, we begin by ask- called the most superlative teaching of
by both the Roman authorities and the Jew- ing: could Jesus have been merely a great human ethics ever uttered by an individual.
ish hierarchy. Although he was an outsider moral teacher? In fact, much of what we know today as
with no credentials or political powerbase, “equal rights” actually is the result of Jesus’
within three years, Jesus changed the teaching. Historian Will Durant said of
world for the next 20 centuries. Other Jesus that “he lived and struggled unremit-
moral and religious leaders have left an tingly for ‘equal rights’; in modern times
he would have been sent to Siberia. ‘He
that is greatest among you, let him be your
servant’—this is the inversion of all political
wisdom, of all sanity.”2
Some have tried to separate Jesus’ teach-

ing on ethics from his claims about himself,
believing that he was simply a great man
who taught lofty moral principles. This was
the approach of one of America’s Founding
Fathers.
President Thomas Jefferson, ever

the enlightened rationalist, sat
down in the White House with two
identical copies of the New Testa-
ment, a straight-edge razor, and
a sheaf of octavo-size paper. Over

the course of a few nights, he made
“Then comes the real shock. Among these Jews
quick work of cutting and pasting
his own Bible, a slim volume he
there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talk-
called “The Philosophy of Jesus of
ing as if he was God. He claims to forgive sins. He
Nazareth.” After slicing away every says He always existed. He says He is coming to
passage that suggested Jesus’ di- judge the world at the end of time.”
vine nature, Jefferson had a Jesus
who was no more and no less than
C. S. Lewis, Oxford scholar
a good, ethical guide.3
Thus Jefferson had reinvented Jesus to When one compares Jesus with the other No other major religious leader ever
his own liking. In fact, he liked Jesus’ great religious leaders, a remarkable dis- claimed the power to forgive sins. And
ethical teaching about human equality so tinction emerges. Ravi Zacharias, who grew according to Huston Smith in The World’s
much that he used it in the Declaration of up in a Hindu culture, has studied world Great Religions, Jesus distinguished him-
Independence in which he wrote, “We hold religions and observed a fundamental dis- self even further. Smith writes,
these truths to be self-evident, that all men tinction between other religious founders
are created equal….” and Jesus Christ. Only two people ever astounded their
contemporaries so much that the ques-
But it was not Jesus’ lofty moral and ethical Whatever we may make of their tion they evoked was not ‘Who is he?’
teaching that polarized his enemies and claims, one reality is inescapable. but ‘What is he?’ They were Jesus and
altered 2000 years of history. In fact, as They are teachers who point to their Buddha. The answers these two gave
we will see, if Jesus’ claims about himself teaching or show some particular were exactly the opposite.
weren’t true, then he couldn’t have been a way. In all of these, there emerges Buddha said unequivocally that he
great moral teacher. For that reason some an instruction, a way of living. It is was a mere man, not a god—almost as
merely call Jesus a great religious leader. not Zoroaster to whom you turn; it if he foresaw later attempts to worship
Perhaps flawed, they may argue, but none- is Zoroaster to whom you listen. It him. Jesus, on the other hand, claimed
theless, great. is not Buddha who delivers you; it is … to be divine.5
his Noble Truths that instruct you.
It is not Mohammad who transforms
you; it is the beauty of the Koran
that woos you. By contrast, Jesus
GREAT did not only teach or expound His
RELIGIOUS message. He was identical with His DID

LEADER? message.4 JESUS CLAIM
TO BE GOD?
The truth of Zacharias’s point is under-
Does the title, “great religious leader” best scored by the number of times in the
describe Jesus Christ? Surprisingly, Jesus Gospels that Jesus’ teaching message was Clearly, from the earliest years of the
never claimed to be a religious leader. He simply “Come to me” or “Follow me” or church, Jesus was called Lord and regarded
never got into religious politics or pushed “Obey me.” Also, Jesus made it clear that by most Christians as God. Yet his divin-
an ambitious agenda, and he ministered his primary mission was to forgive sins, ity was a doctrine that was subjected to
almost entirely outside the established something only God could do. great debate. So the question—and it is the
religious framework. question—is this: Did Jesus really claim

to be God (the Creator), or was his divin- To address these questions, let’s consider ‘Then comes the real shock,’ wrote
ity something invented or assumed by the Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:18, NLT: “I Lewis: ‘Among these Jews there sud-
New Testament authors? have been given complete authority in denly turns up a man who goes about
heaven and on earth.” talking as if He was God. He claims
Some scholars believe Jesus was such a to forgive sins. He says He always
powerful teacher and compelling personal- What did Jesus mean when he claimed to existed. He says He is coming to judge
ity that his disciples just assumed he was have complete authority in heaven and on the world at the end of time.’7
God. Or maybe they just wanted to think he earth?
was God. John Dominic Crossan and the
Jesus Seminar (a fringe group of skepti- “Authority” was a well-understood term in
cal scholars with presuppositions against Roman-occupied Israel. At that time, Cae-
miracles) are among those who believe sar was the supreme authority in the entire DID
Jesus was deified in error. Roman world. His edict could instantly JESUS CLAIM TO
launch legions for war, condemn or exoner- BE THE CREATOR?
Others who say he didn’t claim to be God ate criminals, and establish laws and rules
include Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian of government. In fact, Caesar’s authority
Scientists, Unitarians, and a few other was such that he himself claimed divinity. But is it possible that Jesus was just
religious groups outside the borders of reflecting God’s authority and was not
traditional Christianity. So, at the very least Jesus was claiming au- stating that he was the actual Creator?
thority on a par with Caesar himself. But He At first glance that seems plausible. Yet
Christians insist that Jesus did claim de- didn’t just say he had more authority than Jesus’ claim to have all authority seems
ity. As a deist, Thomas Jefferson had no the Jewish leaders or Roman rulers; Jesus to make sense only if he is the Creator of
problem accepting Jesus’ teachings on was claiming to be the supreme author- the universe. The word “all” encompasses
morals and ethics while denying his deity.6 ity in the universe. To those he spoke to, everything---including creation itself.
But as we’ve said, and will explore further, it meant that he was God. Not a god—but
if Jesus was not who he claimed to be, then the God. As we look deeper into Jesus’ own words, a
we must examine some other alternatives, pattern seems to emerge. Jesus made radi-
none of which would make him a great According to former skeptic and Oxford cal assertions about himself that, if true,
moral teacher. professor, C. S. Lewis, Jesus’ claim to be unmistakably point to his deity. Here is a
God hit both his followers and enemies like partial list of such statements as recorded
Even a superficial reading of the Gospels a thunderbolt: by eyewitness accounts.
reveals that Jesus claimed to be someone
more than a prophet like Moses or Daniel.
But it is the nature of those claims that
concern us. Two questions are worthy of
attention.
• Did Jesus actually claim to be God?

• When he said “God,” did Jesus
really mean he was the Creator of
the universe spoken of in the
Hebrew Bible?

• I am the resurrection and the life.
WHAT here to prevent anyone from saying the
(John 11:25, NIV)
KIND OF GOD? really foolish thing that people often say
• I am the light of the world. (John 8:12, about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a
NIV) great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his
• I and my Father are one. (John 10:30, Some who teach that we are all gods claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we
NIV) might accept Jesus’ claims, as long as they must not say.”8
• I am the Alpha and the Omega, the weren’t exclusive. The idea that we are all
First and the Last, the Beginning and part of God, and that within us is the seed In his quest for truth, Lewis knew that
the End. (Revelation 22:13, NIV) of divinity, is simply not a possible meaning he could not have it both ways with the
• I am the way, the truth, and the life. for Jesus’ words and actions. Such thoughts identity of Jesus. Either Jesus was who he
(John 14:6, NIV) are revisionist, foreign to his teaching, for- claimed to be—God in the flesh—or his
• I am the only way to the Father [God]. eign to his stated beliefs, and foreign to his claims were false. And if they were false,
(John 14:6) disciples’ understanding of his teaching. Jesus could not be a great moral teacher.
He would either be lying intentionally or he
Once again, we must go back to context. In would be a lunatic with a God complex.
the Hebrew Scriptures, when Moses asked
God his name at the burning bush, God So the options we must choose from for
answered, “I AM.” He was telling Moses Jesus’ true identity are:
that He is the only Creator, eternal and
transcendent of time. • Jesus was a liar who knowingly
deceived us.
Since the time of Moses, no practicing Jew • Jesus was a lunatic who was self-
would ever refer to himself or anyone else deceived.
by “I AM.” As a result, Jesus’ “I AM” claims • Jesus was who he claimed to be
infuriated the Jewish leaders. One time, for —God.
example, some leaders explained to Jesus
why they were trying to kill him: “Because Jesus taught that he is God in the way the
you, a mere man, have made yourself God” Jews understood God and the way the He-
(John 10:33, NLT). brew Scriptures portrayed God, not in the
way the New Age movement understands WAS JESUS A
But the point here is not simply that such God. Neither Jesus nor his audience had LIAR??
a phrase fumed the religious leaders. The been weaned on Star Wars, and so when
point is that they knew exactly what he they spoke of God, they were not speaking
was saying—he was claiming to be God, In the movie Deceived, Goldie Hawn plays
the Creator of the universe. It is only this of cosmic forces. It’s simply bad history to the role of Adrienne Saunders, a recently
claim that would have brought the accusa- redefine what Jesus meant by the concept widowed woman who sees fleeting glimps-
tion of blasphemy. To read into the text that of God. es of her late husband, Jack Saunders (John
Jesus claimed to be God is clearly war- Heard). As the plot unfolds, Hawn realizes
ranted, not simply by his words, but also by There are many who just aren’t able to that her former husband had spun a web of
their reaction to those words. accept Jesus as God, and want to call him deceit, faking his own death. She discovers
a great moral teacher. But if Jesus wasn’t that for years Saunders had been living un-
God, are we still okay by calling him a great der an assumed identity with another wife.
moral teacher? Lewis argued, “I am trying

Few people have ever accused Jesus Christ It would seem that if power was Jesus’ mo- Do historians believe Jesus lied? Scholars
of living a double life like Jack Saunders. tivation, he would have avoided the cross at have scrutinized Jesus’ words and life to
Even most non-Christians believe Jesus all costs. Yet, on several occasions, he told see if there is any evidence of a defect in
was a good person. But if one examines his disciples that the cross was his destiny his moral character. In fact, even the most
his claims, then the issue that emerges and mission. How would dying on a Roman ardent skeptics are stunned by Jesus’ moral
is: either Jesus was the world’s greatest cross bring one power? and ethical purity. One of those was skeptic
deceiver, or he was exactly who he claimed and antagonist John Stuart Mill (1806–73).
to be. So which is the truth? Death, of course, brings all things into Yet Mill called Jesus an “ideal representa-
proper focus. And while many martyrs tive and guide for humanity.”9
The question we must deal with is, what have died for a cause they believed in, few
could possibly motivate Jesus to live his have been willing to die for a known lie. According to historian Philip Schaff, there
entire life as a lie? He taught that God Certainly all hopes for Jesus’ own personal is no evidence, either in church history or
was opposed to lying and hypocrisy, so he gain would have ended on the cross. Yet, to in secular history, that Jesus lied about
wouldn’t have been doing it to please his his last breath, he would not relinquish his anything. Schaff argued, “How, in the name
Father. He certainly didn’t lie for his follow- claim of being the unique Son of God. of logic, common sense, and experience,
ers’ benefit. (All but one were martyred.) could a deceitful, selfish, depraved man
And so we are left with only two other So if Jesus was above lying for personal have invented, and consistently maintained
reasonable explanations, each of which is benefit, perhaps his radical claims were from the beginning to end, the purest and
problematic. falsified in order to leave a legacy. But the noblest character known in history with the
prospect of being beaten to a pulp and most perfect air of truth and reality?”10
Many people have lied for personal gain. nailed to a cross would quickly dampen the
In fact, the motivation of most lies is some enthusiasm of most would-be superstars. To go with the option of liar seems to swim
perceived benefit to oneself. What could upstream against everything Jesus taught,
Jesus have hoped to gain from lying about Here is another haunting fact. If Jesus lived, and died for. To most scholars, it just
his identity? Power would be the most obvi- were to have simply dropped the claim of doesn’t make sense. Yet, to deny Jesus’
ous answer. If people believed he was God, being God’s Son, he never would have been claims, one must come up with some
he would have tremendous power. (That condemned. It was his claim to be God and explanation. And if Jesus’ claims are not
is why many ancient leaders, such as the his unwillingness to recant of it that got true, and he wasn’t lying, the only option
Caesars, claimed divine origin.) him crucified. remaining is that he must have been self-
deceived.
The rub with this explanation is that Jesus
shunned all attempts to move him in the
direction of seated power, instead chastis-
ing those who abused such power and lived
their lives pursuing it. He also chose to
reach out to the outcasts (poor and hurting),
those without power, creating a network of
people whose influence was less than zero.
In a way that could only be described as
bizarre, all that Jesus did and said moved
diametrically in the other direction from
power.

“...powerful exploration in the pursuit of life and truth...”
—Jason Carson, former founder and drummer of The O.C. Supertones
Go ah e ad LE AVE
HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO DROP
EVERYTHING AND JUST TAKE OFF?
To leave the traffic, the noise, and just start
driving ... to stop and clear your head ... to
discover what you really want out of life?
Miles to Cross invites you to take a journey on
the open road and discover that your pur-
suit of life and its passions will often lead
you to truth in the most unlikely places.
“If you’re craving adventure, spiri-

tual growth, a good read and the pos-
sibility that you’ll be different when
you are done ... this book is for you”
—DOUG FIELDS, pastor to students,

Saddleback Church
AVAILABLE NOW AT BOOK RETAILERS NATIONWIDE

OR BUY IT ONLINE AT RELEVANTSTORE.COM AND SAVE 30%
Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast, Lewis regarded Christianity as just another Lewis was a prolific author, writing The
Northern Ireland, in 1898. He graduated myth. But another atheist, T. D. Weldon, Chronicles of Narnia series, his autobiog-
from University College, Oxford, in 1923. had shocked him with a statement regard- raphy, Surprised by Joy, Mere Christianity,
For 30 years he was a fellow and tutor ing the remarkable evidence for Jesus and among his most substantial books,
in English at Magdalen College, Oxford. Christ. Lewis began a quest for truth that English Literature in the Sixteenth Century.
Then he went to Cambridge as professor of led him to believe in a God, but he still was In another work, The Problem of Pain,
medieval and Renaissance English. Lewis unconvinced that Jesus was God. However, Lewis suggested that much of the suffer-
was a brilliant lecturer who could speak Lewis was greatly influenced by his friend ing in the world can be traced to the evil
spontaneously about Greek and Latin texts J. R. R. Tolkien (author of The Lord of the choices people make.
without notes. Rings) and began to examine the rational
basis for belief in Christianity. Together In his own life, Lewis followed Christian
with Tolkien and Charles Williams, Lewis principles. He gave away two-thirds of his
formed a literary group called the Inklings, income, sat at the bedside of the sick, and
in which the members had deep conversa- personally served the poor. The Chronicles
tions about the difference between Christi- of Narnia series has turned out to be the
anity and myths. Although Christianity had most lasting of Lewis’s fictional works.
a mythlike appearance, unlike myths and Lewis died on November 22, 1963.
legends, it was backed by solid historical
evidence, proving it to be true.

WAS JESUS Even the great skeptic Rousseau, acknowl- You must make your choice. Either
A LUNATIC? edged Jesus’ superior character and mental this man was, and is, the Son of God:
balance, writing, “What presence of mind. or else a madman or something worse.
… Yes, if the life and death of Socrates are You can shut Him up for a fool, you
Albert Schweitzer, who was awarded the those of a philosopher, the life and death of can spit at Him and kill him as a de-
Nobel Prize in 1952 for his humanitarian Jesus Christ are those of a God.”13 mon or you can fall at his feet and call
efforts, had his own views about Jesus. Him Lord and God. But let us not come
Schweitzer concluded that insanity was Schaff posed the question we must ask with any patronizing nonsense about
behind Jesus’ claim to be God. In other ourselves: “Is such an intellect—thoroughly His being a great human teacher. He
words, Jesus was wrong about his claims healthy and vigorous, always ready and has not left that open to us. He did not
but didn’t intentionally lie. According to always self-possessed—liable to a radical intend to.15
this theory, Jesus was deluded into actually and most serious delusion concerning his
believing he was the Messiah. own character and mission?”14 The apostle Paul originally thought Jesus
was an imposter, and as a Jewish leader,
As a skeptic, C. S. Lewis realized that Jesus So, was Jesus a liar or a lunatic, or was he severely persecuted Christians. But later he
was either a liar, a lunatic, or the real thing. the Son of God? Could Jefferson have been came to a much different conclusion, as he
He writes, “He would either be a luna- right by labeling Jesus “only a good moral writes to the young church at Philippi:
tic—on a level with the man who says he teacher” while denying him deity? Interest-
is a poached egg—or else he would be the ingly, the audience who heard Jesus—both Though he was God….he appeared in
Devil of Hell.”11 believers and enemies—never regarded human form. 16
him as a mere moral teacher. Jesus pro-
But even those most skeptical of Christianity duced three primary effects in the people The entire message of Jesus’ life and words
rarely question Jesus’ sanity. Social reformer who met him: hatred, terror, or adoration. is only valid if his claims about himself are
William Channing (1780–1842), admittedly true. If they are true, then his words about
not a Christian,stated that the idea that It is the claims of Jesus Christ that force us life and purpose command our utmost
Jesus was self-deluded is the most absurd to make a choice about who he is. attention. As Lewis says, each of us must
title we could give him.12 Nothing Jesus said We can’t just cut and paste Jesus and make our own choice about the most sig-
or did point to any mental instability. his words, like Jefferson attempted to do. nificant life who ever existed. Who do you
Lewis writes, say Jesus is?

“You must make ENDNOTES
your choice: Either 1
Quoted in Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, vol. 1 (Nashville:
this man was, and Nelson, 1979), 127.
is, the Son of God: Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy (New York: Washington Square, 1961), 428.
2
3
Linda Kulman and Jay Tolson, “The Jesus Code,” U. S. News & World Report,
or else a madman December 22, 2003, 1.
or something Ravi Zacharias, Jesus among Other Gods (Nashville: Word, 2000), 89.
4
5
Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli, Handbook of Christian Apologetics (Downers
worse.... But let us Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1994), 150.
not come up with A deist is someone who believes in a standoffish God—a deity who created the
6
world and then lets it run according to pre-established laws. Deism was a fad
any patronizing among intellectuals around the time of America’s independence, and Jefferson
nonsense about His bought into it.

7
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1972), 51.
being a great human 8
Lewis, 52.
teacher. He has not Quoted in Josh McDowell, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict
9
(San Bernardino, CA: Here’s Life, 1999), 159.

left that open to us.” 10
Quoted in McDowell, New Evidence, 160.
11
Lewis, 52.
C. S. Lewis, Oxford professor
12
Quoted in McDowell, New Evidence, 161, 162.
13
Quoted in McDowell, New Evidence, 122, 129.
14
15
Lewis, 52.
16
Philippians 2: 6, 7

“JESUS COMPLEX” IS ONE OF SEVEN ARTICLES FROM
Y-JESUS MAGAZINE
Y-Jesus Magazine investigates

the evidence for Jesus Christ.
• Scholars examine the facts
• Relevant illustrations
• Dramatic photos
• Contemporary graphics
• Easy to read and understand
Y-Jesus is a full color, 100 page magazine.

It includes these seven articles:
Born Identity
Jesus Complex
Was He crazy, a pathological liar, or the Son of God?
Mona Lisa’s Smirk

The truth behind the Da Vinci conspiracy.
Jesus.doc
Is the New Testament reliable?
The Path Laid By Prophets

Was the Messiah’s identity encrypted within ancient Hebrew prophecy?
Body Count
Is there evidence that Jesus rose from the dead?
Why Jesus?
Is He relevant today?
CLICK HERE to read excerpts from these articles at www.y-Jesus.com

HELPFUL WEBSITES DISCOVER THE LATEST
EVIDENCE FOR A CREATOR
IN YOUR DISCOVERY OF THE REAL JESUS:
IN Y-ORIGINS MAGAZINE
Da Vinci and Jesus

What can you believe, and what book can you trust? Dan
Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” is a book of fiction that
proposes that Jesus Christ is not the Son of God described
in the Bible. But this book is fiction and not fact. The Bible
clearly states that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who gave
His life for you. If you are searching for God and a life that is
full and meaningful, you can find what you are looking for in
Jesus Christ of the Bible.
www.DaVinciAndJesus.com
Jesus: Fact or Fiction DISCOVER IN Y-ORIGINS:

Explore the evidence for Jesus Christ. Hear experts in
history, philosophy, science and theology answer more than Leading scientists like Einstein admit to a
50 of life’s toughest questions. Find the answers to your “superintelligence.”
questions about Jesus Christ. DNA causes leading atheist to renounce 50
www.JesusFactOrFiction.com years of unbelief
DNA stuns evolutionists by tracing all

humans to a single parent
Would You Like to Know God New theories predict other dimensions that
Personally?
make “miracles” possible
God loves you and wants you to know Him intimately. The Creator has left clues in the cosmos that
tell us what He is like.
Four principles will help you discover how to know God
personally and experience the abundant life He promised. This colorful, easy-to-read magazine provides
startling insights about our origins from
www.KnowGodPersonally.org such leading scientists as Stephen Hawking,
Stephen Jay Gould, Roger Penrose, and Paul
Davies. In his review of Y-Origins Jon Greene
writes,
“Y-Origins is a wonderful work on intelligent

design, designed to appeal to the Y-
generation. For readers who have never
been exposed to the evidence for intelligent
design, Y-Origins is a great introduction.”
WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU. To get a copy of

CLICK HERE to give us comments Y-Origins Magazine
visit www.Y-zine.com
or mail $7.95 per magazine to:
Y-Zine
P.O. BOX 6017
(Shipping & handling is free

within the continental US)
$7.95
VOLUME TWO Y-JESUS
ARTICLE 3:
MONA
LISA’S
SMIRK
THE TRUTH BEHIND
THE DA VINCI CONSPIRACY
Mona Lisa’s Smirk
Click on the e-article headlines
THE TRUTH BEHIND THE DA VINCI CONSPIRACY? Page 6
THE JESUS CONSPIRACY Page 6
CONSTANTINE AND CHRISTIANITY Page 7
HERETICS CONFIRM THE NEW TESTAMENT Page 8
DEIFYING JESUS Page 8
FIRING ON THE CANON Page 10
SECRET “KNOWERS” Page 10
EARLY CRITICS Page 11
WHO’S SEXIST? Page 12
MYSTERY AUTHORS Page 12
MRS. JESUS Page 12
THE “SECRET” DOCUMENTS Page 13
MYSTERY VERUS HISTORY Page 13
ENDNOTES Page 14
THE DA VINCI CODE AND THE TRUTH Page 15
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
presented.
Larry Chapman
4 • MONA LISA’S SMIRK • ARTICLE THREE
ARTICLE THREE • MONA LISA’S SMIRK • 5
message left by the curator before his
death. The message turns out to reveal the
most profound conspiracy in the history of
humankind: a cover-up of the true message
of Jesus Christ by a secret arm of the Ro-
man Catholic Church called Opus Dei.
Before his death, the curator had evidence

that could disprove the deity of Christ.
Emperor Although (according to the plot) the church
Constantine
tried for centuries to suppress the evidence,
(306-337 A.D.)
great thinkers and artists have planted
clues everywhere: in paintings such as the
Mona Lisa and Last Supper by da Vinci,
• Did Jesus have a secret marriage with
Mary Magdalene? in the architecture of cathedrals, even in
conspiracy novel—on par with a belief Disney cartoons. The book’s main claims
• Was Jesus’ divinity invented by that aliens crash-landed at Roswell, New are these:
Constantine and the church? Mexico, or that there was a second gunman
on the grassy knoll in Dallas when JFK • The Roman emperor Constantine
• Were the original records of Jesus
was assassinated? Either way, the story is conspired to deify Jesus Christ.
destroyed?
compelling. No wonder Brown’s book has • Constantine personally selected
• Do recently discovered manuscripts tell become one of the best-selling stories of the the books of the New Testament.
the truth about Jesus? decade and is predicted to become one of • The Gnostic gospels were banned
the top movies of all time. by men to suppress women.
Has a gigantic conspiracy resulted in the • Jesus and Mary Magdalene were
reinvention of Jesus? According to the In The Da Vinci Code Brown mysteri- secretly married and had a child.
book and movie, The Da Vinci Code, that ously weaves a tapestry of fact and fiction • Thousands of secret documents
is exactly what happened. Several of the throughout its exciting and suspenseful disprove key points of Christianity.
book’s assertions regarding Jesus smack of plot. In what Brown calls “the greatest
conspiracy. For example, the book states: conspiracy in the past 2000 years,” The Da Brown reveals his conspiracy through the
Vinci Code states that the real Jesus Christ book’s fictional expert, British royal histo-
Nobody is saying Christ was a fraud, or was hijacked, and that his claim to be God rian Sir Leigh Teabing. Presented as a wise
denying that He walked the earth and is an invention. So has Brown uncovered old scholar, Teabing reveals to cryptologist
inspired millions to better lives. All we the truth about Christianity, or has he Sophie Neveu that at the Council of Nicaea
are saying is that Constantine took twisted the facts? Let’s take a look. in 325 A.D. “many aspects of Christianity
advantage of Christ’s substantial influ- were debated and voted upon,” including
ence and importance. And in doing so, THE JESUS CONSPIRACY the divinity of Jesus. “Until that moment in
he shaped the face of Christianity as history,” he says, “Jesus was viewed by His
we know it today.1 The Da Vinci Code begins with the mur- followers as a mortal prophet … a great and
der of a French museum curator named powerful man, but a man nonetheless.”
Could this shocking assertion from Dan Jacques Saunière. A scholarly Harvard Neveu is shocked. “Not the Son of God?”
Brown’s best-selling book be true? Or is the professor and a beautiful French cryptolo- she asks.
premise behind it just the stuff of a good gist are commissioned to decipher a Teabing explains: “Jesus’ establishment as

‘the Son of God’ was officially proposed and
voted on by the Council of Nicaea.”
“Hold on. You’re saying Jesus’ divinity was
the result of a vote?”
“A relatively close vote at that,” Teabing
tells the stunned cryptologist.2
In many ways, The Da Vinci Code is the ultimate

conspiracy theory. If Brown’s assertions are correct,
then we have been lied to—by the church, by history,
and by the Bible. Perhaps even by those we trust most:
our parents or teachers. And it was all for the sake of a
power grab.
So, according to Teabing, Jesus was not
regarded as God until the Council of Nicaea
in 325 A.D., when the real records of Jesus
were allegedly banned and destroyed. using it to expand their own power.”4 had been severely persecuted. But then,
Thus, according to the theory, the entire while entrenched in warfare, Constantine
foundation of Christianity rests upon a lie. In many ways, The Da Vinci Code is the reported to have seen a bright image of a
ultimate conspiracy theory. If Brown’s as- cross in the sky inscribed with the words
The Da Vinci Code has sold its story well, sertions are correct, then we have been lied “Conquer by this.” He marched into battle
drawing comments from readers: “If it were to—by the church, by history, and by the under the sign of the cross and took control
not true it could not have been published!” Bible. Perhaps even by those we trust most: of the empire.
Another said he would “never set foot in our parents or teachers. And it was all for
a church again.” A reviewer of the book the sake of a power grab. Constantine’s apparent conversion to
praised it for its “impeccable research.”3 Christianity was a watershed in church
Pretty convincing for a fictional work. Although The Da Vinci Code is fictional, it history. Rome became a Christian empire.
does base much of its premise upon actual For the first time in nearly 300 years it
Let’s accept for the moment that Teabing’s events (the Council of Nicaea), actual was relatively safe, and even cool, to be a
proposal might be true. Why, in that case, people (Constantine and Arius), and actual Christian.
would the Council of Nicaea decide to documents (the Gnostic gospels). If we are
promote Jesus to Godhood? to get to the bottom of the conspiracy, our No longer were Christians persecuted for
project must be to address Brown’s accusa- their faith. Constantine then sought to unify
“It was all about power,” Teabing contin- tions and separate fact from fiction. his Eastern and Western Empires, which
ues. “Christ as Messiah was critical to the had been badly divided by schisms, sects,
functioning of Church and state. Many CONSTANTINE AND and cults, centering mostly around the is-
scholars claim that the early Church liter- CHRISTIANITY sue of Jesus Christ’s identity.
ally stole Jesus from His original followers,
hijacking His human message, shrouding In the centuries prior to Constantine’s
it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity, and reign over the Roman Empire, Christians
ARTICLE THREE • MONA LISA’S SMIRK •7

These are some of the kernels of truth in tine into a conspirator. So let’s address a DEIFYING JESUS
The Da Vinci Code, and kernels of truth are key question raised by Brown’s theory: did
a prerequisite for any successful conspiracy Constantine invent the Christian doctrine To answer Brown’s accusation, we must
theory. But the book’s plot turns Constan- of Jesus’ divinity? first determine what Christians in general
believed before Constantine ever convened
Heretics the council at Nicaea.
confirm the Christians had been worshiping Jesus

as God since the first century. But in the
New Testament fourth century, a church leader from the

east, Arius, launched a campaign to defend
God’s oneness. He taught that Jesus was
The wealthy merchant Marcion (d. c.160 A.D.) didn’t like what he thought was the cranky God of
a specially created being, higher than the
the Old Testament, so he removed this God from his version of the Bible. He amputated the entire
angels, but not God. Athanasius and most
Old Testament as well as any New Testament books that to him sounded like the Old Testament.
church leaders, on the other hand, were
We generally know what was in his Bible, and it contained much of what is in ours. What he ampu-
convinced that Jesus was God in the flesh.
tated is harder to discern. The important point is that Marcion’s partial list of New Testament books
in 135 A.D. affirms their acceptance 200 years prior to the Council of Nicaea.
Constantine wanted to settle the dispute,
hoping to bring peace to his empire, uniting
Tertullian (c.155 or 160–after 220 A.D.), a church father, remarked that there were two ways to
the east and west divisions. Thus, in 325
butcher scripture. One was Marcion’s way—he used a knife to excise from the Scriptures whatever
A.D., he convened more than 300 bish-
did not conform to his opinion. And according to Tertullian, heretic number two, named Valentinus,
ops at Nicaea (now part of Turkey) from
showed the other way. Valentinus kept the agreed-upon New Testament books intact but scribbled
throughout the Christian world.
in his own changes as he saw fit.
The crucial question is, did the early church

If only we had a copy of what was in Valentinus’s gospel we would know for sure what Christians
think Jesus was the Creator or merely a
nearly two centuries before Constantine and Nicaea regarded as the official New Testament. Oh,
creation—Son of God or son of a carpen-
wait a minute—we do.
ter? So, what did the apostles teach about
Jesus? From their very first recorded state-
In 1945 a discovery was made in Upper Egypt, near the town of Nag Hammadi. Fifty-two copies
ments, they regarded him as God. About 30
of ancient writings, called the Gnostic gospels were found in 13 leather-bound papyrus codices
years after Jesus’ death and resurrection,
(handwritten books). They were written in Coptic and belonged to a library in a monastery. Sud-
Paul wrote the Philippians that Jesus was
denly the mystery of these ancient Valentinian documents was unfolded. Among the 52 writings,
God in human form (Philippians 2: 6-7,
scholars discovered works many attribute to the leading Gnostic, Valentinus.
NLT). And John, a close eye-witness, writes
of Jesus’ divinity in the following passage:
One document, the manifesto of the Valentinian school called “The Gospel of Truth,” contains
In the beginning the Word already
themes and passages from Matthew, Luke, John, 10 of Paul’s 13 letters, 1 John, and Revelation
existed. He was with God, and he
and likely contained 2 John, Hebrews, and Jude. This is a sizable portion of our New Testament,
was God. He created everything
and it was in place 120 years after Jesus. In spite of Brown’s assertion in The Da Vinci Code that
there is. Nothing exists that he
“eighty gospels” existed, only New Testament Gospels were alluded to by Valentinus.
didn’t make. Life itself was in
him….So the Word became human
Thus, even the “outlaws” of Christianity validate the New Testament’s wide acceptance well before
and lived here on earth among us.
Constantine convened the bishops at Nicaea.
(John 1: 1-4, 14, NLT)

But what does history tell us about the able influence. The landslide vote came
Council of Nicaea? Brown asserts in his after considerable debate. But in the end
book, through Teabing, that the majority of the council overwhelmingly declared Arius
bishops at Nicaea overruled Arius’s belief to be a heretic, since his teaching contra-
that Jesus was a “mortal prophet” and dicted what the apostles had taught about
adopted the doctrine of Jesus’ divinity by a Jesus’ divinity.
“relatively close vote.” True or false?
History also confirms that Jesus had publicly
In reality, the vote was a landslide: only condoned the worship he received from his
two of the 318 bishops dissented. Whereas disciples. And, as we have seen, Paul and
Arius believed that the Father alone was other apostles clearly taught that Jesus is
Papyrus Bodmer II, Gospel of John
Copyright Martin Bodmer Foundation, God, and that Jesus was His supreme cre- God and is worthy of worship.
Cologny, Switzerland
ation, the council concluded that Jesus and
This illustrated manuscript above contains
the Father were of the same divine essence. From the first days of the Christian church,
the very words (in the original Greek) that
Jesus was regarded as far more than
we just read from John 1 in English, and it
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit a mere man, and most of his followers
is carbon-dated at 175-225 A.D.
were deemed to be distinct, coexistent, coe- worshiped him as Lord—the Creator of the
ternal Persons, but one God. This doctrine universe. So, how could Constantine have
We now see that forensic manuscript
of one God in three Persons became known invented the doctrine of Jesus’ divinity if
evidence contradicts The Da Vinci Code’s
as the Nicene Creed, and is the central core the church had regarded Jesus as God for
claim that Jesus’ divinity was a fourth
of the Christian Faith. Now, it is true that more than 200 years? The Da Vinci Code
century invention.
Arius was persuasive and had consider- doesn’t address this question.

FIRING ON THE CANON usage of the New Testament books. Nearly This brings us to our second issue; why
200 years before Constantine convened were these mysterious Gnostic gospels
The Da Vinci Code also states that Con- the Council of Nicaea, the heretic Marcion destroyed and excluded from the New
stantine suppressed all documents about listed 11 of the 27 New Testament books Testament? In the book, Teabing asserts
Jesus other than those found in our current as being the authentic writings of the that the Gnostic writings were eliminated
New Testament canon (recognized by the apostles. from 50 authorized Bibles commissioned
church as authentic eyewitness reports by Constantine at the council. He excitedly
of the apostles). It further asserts that the And about the same time, another heretic, tells Neveu:
New Testament accounts were altered by Valentinus, alludes to a wide variety of
Constantine and the bishops to reinvent New Testament themes and passages. Because Constantine upgraded
Jesus. Another key element of The Da Since these two heretics were opponents of Jesus’ status almost four centuries
Vinci Code conspiracy is that the four New the early church leadership, their writings after Jesus’ death, thousands of
Testament Gospels were cherry-picked were not controlled by the bishops. Yet, like documents already existed chronicling
from a total of “more than 80 gospels,” most the early church, they still referred to the His life as a mortal man. To rewrite the
of which were supposedly suppressed by same New Testament books we read today. history books, Constantine knew he
Constantine.5 (See page 34, “Heretics Confirm the New would need a bold stroke. From this
Testament”) sprang the most profound moment
There are two central issues here, and we in Christian history. … Constantine
need to address both. The first is whether So, if the New Testament was already commissioned and financed a new
Constantine altered or biased the selection widely in use 200 years before Constantine Bible, which omitted those gospels
of the New Testament books. The second is and the Council of Nicaea, how could the that spoke of Christ’s human traits and
whether he barred documents that should emperor have invented or altered it? By embellished those gospels that made
have been included in the Bible. that time the church was widespread and Him godlike. The earlier gospels were
encompassed hundreds of thousands if outlawed, gathered up, and burned.7
Regarding the first issue, letters and docu- not millions of believers, all of whom were
ments written by second century church familiar with the New Testament accounts. Is Teabing right? Let’s take a look to see if
leaders and heretics alike confirm the wide we can separate fact from fiction.
In his book The Da Vinci Deception, an
analysis of The Da Vinci Code, Dr. Erwin
Lutzer remarks, SECRET “KNOWERS”
Constantine did not decide which books The Gnostic gospels are attributed to a
would be in the canon; indeed, the topic group known as (big surprise here) the
of the canon did not even come up at Gnostics. Their name comes from the Greek
the Council of Nicaea. By that time the word gnosis, meaning “knowledge.” These
early church was reading a canon of people thought they had secret, special
books it had determined was the Word knowledge hidden from ordinary people.
of God two hundred years earlier.6
Of the 52 writings, only five are actually
Although the official canon was still years listed as gospels. As we shall see, these
from being finalized, the New Testament so-called gospels are markedly different
of today was deemed authentic more than from the New Testament Gospels Matthew,
Leonardo da Vinci two centuries before Nicaea. Mark, Luke, and John.
(1452-1519)

As Christianity spread, the Gnostics mixed Who is the great liar? The one who says
some doctrines and elements of Christian- that Jesus is not the Christ. Such people
ity into their beliefs, morphing Gnosticism are antichrists, for they have denied the
into a counterfeit Christianity. Perhaps they Father and the Son. (1 John 2:22, NIV).
did it to keep recruitment numbers up and
make Jesus a poster child for their cause. Following the apostles’ teaching, the early
However, for their system of thought to fit church leaders unanimously condemned the
with Christianity, Jesus needed to be rein- Gnostics as a cult. Church father Irenaeus,
vented, stripped of both his humanity and writing 140 years before the Council of
his absolute deity. Nicaea, confirmed that the Gnostics were
condemned by the church as heretics. He
In The Oxford History of Christianity John also rejected their “gospels.” But, referring to
McManners wrote of the Gnostics’ mixture the four New Testament Gospels, he said, “It
of Christian and mythical beliefs. is not possible that the Gospels can be either
more or fewer in number than they are.” 9
Gnosticism was (and still is) a theoso-
phy with many ingredients. Occult- Christian theologian Origen wrote this in
ism and oriental mysticism became the early third century, more than a hun-
fused with astrology, magic. … They dred years before Nicaea:
collected sayings of Jesus shaped to
fit their own interpretation (as in the I know a certain gospel which is called
Gospel of Thomas), and offered their “The Gospel according to Thomas”
adherents an alternative or rival form and a “Gospel according to Matthias,”
of Christianity.8 and many others have we read—lest
we should in any way be consid-
EARLY CRITICS ered ignorant because of those who
imagine they possess some knowledge
Contrary to Brown’s assertions, it was not if they are acquainted with these.
Constantine who branded the Gnostic Nevertheless, among all these we have
beliefs as heretical; it was the apostles approved solely what the church has
themselves. A mild strain of the philosophy recognized, which is that only four
was already growing in the first century gospels should be accepted.10
just decades after the death of Jesus. The
apostles, in their teaching and writings, There we have it in the words of a highly
went to great lengths to condemn these regarded early church leader. The Gnos-
beliefs as being opposed to the truth of tics were recognized as a non-Christian
Jesus, to whom they were eyewitnesses. cult well before the Council of Nicaea. But
there’s more evidence calling into question
Check out, for example, what the apostle claims made in The Da Vinci Code.
John wrote near the end of the first century:
MONA LISA’S SMIRK • ARTICLE THREE • 11

WHO’S SEXIST? The Gnostic gospels are dated about 110 MRS. JESUS
to 300 years after Christ, and no cred-
Brown suggests that one of the motives for ible scholar believes any of them could The juiciest part of the Da Vinci conspiracy
Constantine’s alleged banning of the Gnostic have been written by their namesakes. In is the assertion that Jesus and Mary Mag-
writings was a desire to suppress women in James M. Robinson’s comprehensive The dalene had a secret marriage that produced
the church. Ironically, it is the Gnostic Gospel Nag Hammadi Library, we learn that the a child, perpetuating his bloodline. Further-
of Thomas that demeans women. It concludes Gnostic gospels were written by “largely more, Mary Magdalene’s womb, carrying
(supposedly quoting Peter) with this eye-pop- unrelated and anonymous authors.”12 Dr. Jesus’ offspring, is presented in the book as
ping statement: “Let Mary go away from us, Darrell L. Bock, professor of New Testament the legendary Holy Grail, a secret closely
because women are not worthy of life.”11 Then studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, held by a Catholic organization called the
Jesus allegedly tells Peter that he will make wrote, “The bulk of this material is a few Priory of Sion. Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli,
Mary into a male so that she may enter the generations removed from the founda- Victor Hugo, and Leonardo Da Vinci were
kingdom of heaven. Read: women are inferior. tions of the Christian faith, a vital point to all cited as members.
With sentiments like that on display, it’s dif- remember when assessing the contents.”13
ficult to conceive of the Gnostic writings as Romance. Scandal. Intrigue. Great stuff
for a conspiracy theory. But is it true? Let’s
“The Gnostic writings were not written by the apostles, but by look at what scholars say.
men in the second century (and later) pretending to use apostolic
authority....Today we call this fraud and forgery.” A Newsweek magazine article, that
-Norman Geisler, New Testament scholar
summarized leading scholars’ opinions,
concluded that the theory that Jesus and
being a battle cry for women’s liberation. New Testament scholar Norman Geisler Mary Magdalene were secretly married has
In stark contrast, the Jesus of the biblical commented on two Gnostic writings, the no historical basis.15 The proposal set forth
Gospels always treated women with dignity Gospel of Peter and the Acts of John. in The Da Vinci Code is built primarily upon
and respect. Revolutionary verses like this (These Gnostic writings are not to be one solitary verse in the Gospel of Philip
one found within the New Testament have confused with the New Testament books that indicates Jesus and Mary were com-
been foundational to attempts at raising written by John and Peter.) “The Gnostic panions. In the book, Teabing tries to build
women’s status: “There is no longer Jew writings were not written by the apostles, a case that the word for companion (koi-
or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. but by men in the second century (and nonos) could mean spouse. But Teabing’s
For you are all Christians—you are one in later) pretending to use apostolic authority theory is not accepted by scholars.
Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, NLT). to advance their own teachings. Today we
call this fraud and forgery.”14 There is also a single verse in the Gospel
MYSTERY AUTHORS of Philip that says Jesus kissed Mary.
The Gnostic gospels are not historical ac- Greeting friends with a kiss was common
When it comes to the Gnostic gospels, just counts of Jesus’ life but instead are largely in the first century, and had no sexual
about every book carries the name of a New esoteric sayings, shrouded in mystery, connotation. But even if The Da Vinci Code
Testament character: the Gospel of Philip, leaving out historical details such as interpretation is correct, there is no other
the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary, names, places, and events. This is in strik- historical document to confirm its theory.
and so on. (Sounds a little like roll call at a ing contrast to the New Testament Gospels, And since the Gospel of Philip is a forged
parochial school.) These are the books that which contain innumerable historical facts document written 150-220 years after
conspiracy theories like The Da Vinci Code about Jesus’ life, ministry, and words. Christ by an unknown author, its statement
are based upon. But were they even written about Jesus isn’t historically reliable.
by their purported authors?

Perhaps the Gnostics felt the New
Testament was a bit shy on romance and
decided to sauce it up a little. Whatever the
reason, this isolated and obscure verse writ- MYSTERY
ten two centuries after Christ isn’t much to
base a conspiracy theory upon. Interesting VERSUS
reading perhaps, but definitely not history
.
As to the Holy Grail and the Priory of Sion,
HISTORY
Brown’s fictional account again distorts Who would you be more likely to believe—someone who says, “Hey, I’ve got some secret facts
history. The legendary Holy Grail was sup- that were mysteriously revealed to me,” or someone who says, “I’ve searched all the evidence and
posedly Jesus’ cup at his last supper, and history and here it is for you to make up your mind on”? Keeping that question in mind, consider the
had nothing to do with Mary Magdalene. following two statements, the first from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas (c. 110-150 A.D.) and the
And Leonardo da Vinci never could have second from the New Testament’s Gospel of Luke (c. 55-70 A.D.).
known about the Priory of Sion, since it

wasn’t founded until 1956, 437 years after Gospel of Thomas (c. 110-150 A.D.)
his death. Again, interesting fiction, but These are the hidden sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Judas Thomas the Twin recorded.16
phony history.
Gospel of Luke (c. 55-70 A.D.)
THE “SECRET” Many people have written accounts about the events that took place among us. They used as their
DOCUMENTS source material the reports circulating among us from the early disciples and other eyewitnesses of
what God has done in fulfillment of his promises. Having carefully investigated all of these accounts
But what about Teabing’s disclosure that from the beginning, I have decided to write a careful summary for you, to reassure you of the truth
“thousands of secret documents” prove that of all you were taught. (Luke 1:1-4, NLT)
Christianity is a hoax? Could this be true?

Do you find the open and aboveboard approach of Luke appealing? And do you find the fact that
If there were such documents, scholars it was written closer to the original events to be in favor of its reliability? If so, that’s what the early
opposed to Christianity would have a church thought as well.
field day with them. Fraudulent writings

that were rejected by the early church for New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger revealed why the Gospel of Thomas was not accepted by
heretical views are not secret, having been the early church: “It is not right to say that the Gospel of Thomas was excluded by some fiat on the
known about for centuries. No surprise part of a council: the right way to put it is, the Gospel of Thomas excluded itself! It did not harmo-
there. They have never been considered nize with other testimony about Jesus that early Christians accepted as trustworthy.”17
part of the authentic writings of the
apostles.
not a single verifiable new fact about the has passed numerous tests for authenticity
And if Brown (Teabing) is referring to the historical Jesus’ ministry, and only a few (see “Jesus.doc” page 42). The contrast is
apocryphal, or infancy Gospels, that cat is new sayings that might possibly have been devastating to those pushing conspiracy
also out of the bag. They are not secret, nor his.”18 theories. New Testament historian F. F.
do they disprove Christianity. Bruce wrote, “There is no body of ancient
Unlike the Gnostic gospels, whose authors literature in the world which enjoys such
New Testament scholar Raymond Brown are unknown and who were not eyewit- a wealth of good textual attestation as the
has said of the Gnostic gospels, “We learn nesses, the New Testament we have today New Testament.”19

ENDNOTES
HISTORY’S VERDICT
1
Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code (New York:
So, what are we to conclude regarding the Doubleday, 2003), 234.
various conspiracy theories about Jesus 2
Brown, 233.
Christ? Karen King, professor of ecclesiastical 3
Quoted in Erwin Lutzer, The Da Vinci
history at Harvard, has written several books Deception (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2004), xix.
on the Gnostic gospels, including The Gospel 4
Brown, 233.
of Mary of Magdala and What Is Gnosticism? 5
Brown, 231.
King, though a strong advocate of Gnostic 6
Lutzer, 71.
teaching, concluded, “These notions about 7
Brown, 234.
the conspiracy theory...are all very marginal 8
John McManners, ed., The Oxford History
ideas that have no historical basis.” 20 of Christianity (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2002), 28.
In spite of the lack of historical evidence, 9
Quoted in Darrell L. Bock, Breaking the Da
conspiracy theories will still sell millions of Vinci Code (Nashville: Nelson, 2004), 114.
books and set box office records. Scholars 10
Quoted in Bock, 119-120.
“These notions about Quoted in James M. Robinson, ed.,

11
in related fields, some Christians and some
with no faith at all, have disputed the claims The Nag Hammadi Library: The Definitive
of The Da Vinci Code. However, the easily the conspiracy Translation of the Gnostic Scriptures
swayed will still wonder, Could there be theory...are all very (HarperCollins, 1990), 138.
marginal ideas that Ibid., 13.

12
something to it after all?
13
Bock, 64.
Award-winning television journalist Frank have no historical 14
Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks, When
Sesno asked a panel of historical scholars basis.” Skeptics Ask (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker,
about the fascination people have with con- 1998), 156.
-Karen King
spiracy theories. Professor Stanley Kutler 15
Barbara Kantrowitz and Anne Under-
from the University of Wisconsin replied, wood, “Decoding ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ ”
“We all love mysteries – but we love con- Newsweek, December 8, 2003, 54.
spiracies more.” 21 16
Quoted in Robinson, 126.
17
Quoted in Lee Strobel, The Case for
So, if you want to read a great conspiracy Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
theory about Jesus, Dan Brown’s novel, The 1998), 68.
Da Vinci Code, may be just the ticket for 18
Ouoted in Lutzer, 32.
you. But if you want to read the true 19
Quoted in Josh McDowell, The New
accounts of Jesus Christ, then Matthew, Evidence that Demands a Verdict (San
Mark, Luke, and John will get you back Bernardino, CA: Here’s Life, 1999, 37.
to what the eyewitnesses saw, heard, and 20
Quoted in Linda Kulman and Jay Tolson,
wrote. Who would you rather believe? “Jesus in America,” U. S. News & World
Report, December 22, 2003, 2.
21
Stanley Kutler, interview with Frank
Sesno, “The Guilty Men: An Historical
Review,” History Channel, April 6, 2004.

THE DA VINCI CODE
AND THE TRUTH
DA VINCI CODE THEORY: Jesus had a secret marriage with Mary Magdalene that produced a
royal bloodline.
TRUTH: This fictional account is primarily based upon one solitary verse in the Gnostic Gospel of
Philip. However, scholars believe the correct interpretation of the verse simply means that Jesus and
Mary were companions. Since the Gospel of Philip is a forged document written 150-220 years after
Christ by an unknown author, its statement about Jesus couldn’t be an eyewitness account. No
serious scholar contends that Jesus and Mary were married, let alone had a child.
DA VINCI CODE THEORY: Jesus’ divinity was invented by Constantine and church bishops at the
Council of Nicaea in 325 A. D.
TRUTH: Ancient New Testament manuscripts such as the Gospel of John clearly speak of Jesus’
divinity at least 100 years before the Council of Nicaea. Furthermore, letters from early church fathers,
and other historical documents confirm that Christians worshipped Jesus as God at least 200 years
before Constantine convened the bishops.
DA VINCI CODE THEORY: Constantine personally selected the books we have in the New
Testament. Thus the accounts of Jesus we read today are forgeries written by unknown writers.
TRUTH: Evidence is irrefutable that the books in today’s New Testament were widely believed to be
the words of the apostles at least 200 years prior to the Council of Nicaea. Constantine did authorize
50 new Bibles to be written, but the books they contained had already existed for at least two
centuries.
DA VINCI CODE THEORY: The Gnostic Gospels were destroyed by Constantine as a power play,
and as a way to suppress women. These 52 Gospels, which include The Gospel of Thomas, The
Gospel of Mary, and The Gospel of Philip, give us the real history of Jesus that Constantine and the
church leaders had hijacked.
TRUTH: The Gnostic writings date 110 to 300 years after Christ, and could not have been written by
Jesus’ followers. In effect they are forgeries with unknown authors. The Gnostics were a cult that was
condemned by the apostles and early church fathers well before Constantine. Their passages on Jesus
(other than New Testament verses they quote) are highly suspect due to their late dating, unknown
authors, and lack of historical detail. Even though many feminists embrace them, several of their
passages demean women.
DA VINCI CODE THEORY: Thousands of secret documents disprove Christianity.
TRUTH: No credible document exists that in any way disproves Christianity. On the contrary, there
is overwhelming evidence that substantiates the New Testament (also see article 4). This includes
documents from secular historians, church historians, heretics, early church leaders, and
archaeological evidence. If such secret documents really did exist, every opponent of Christianity
would be screaming for them to be made public.

$7.95
VOLUME TWO Y-JESUS
ARTICLE 4:
JESUS.doc
IS THE NEW TESTAMENT RELIABLE?
Jesus.doc
IS THE NEW TESTAMENT RELIABLE? Page 4
LOST IN TRANSLATION Page 6
BUT IS IT TRUE? Page 7
WHO NEEDS KINKOS? Page 10
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TEST Page 11
TIME GAP Page 12
THE DISCOVERY OF CODEX SINAITICUS Page 13
INTERNAL EVIDENCE TEST Page 14
WHAT’S THERE? Page 14
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE TEST Page 16
ENDNOTES Page 17
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
presented.
Larry Chapman
Jesus.doc
In July 2000 ABC News anchor Peter Jennings
was in Israel broadcasting a television special
on Jesus Christ. His program, “The Search for
Jesus,” explored the question of whether the
Jesus of the New Testament was historically ac-
curate. Jennings featured opinions on the Gospel
accounts from DePaul professor John Dominic
Crossan, three of Crossan’s colleagues from the
Jesus Seminar, and two other Bible scholars. 1
Some of the comments were stunning. There on
national TV Dr. Crossan not only cast doubt on
more than 80 percent of Jesus’ sayings but also
denied Jesus’ claims to divinity, his miracles, and
his resurrection. Jennings clearly was intrigued by
the image of Jesus presented by Crossan.
Searching for true Bible history is always news,
which is why every year Time and Newsweek go
on a cover story quest for Mary, Jesus, Moses,
or Abraham. Or—who knows?—maybe this year
it will be “Bob: The Untold Story of the Missing
13th Disciple.”
4 • ARTICLE FOUR • JESUS.DOC

JESUS.DOC • ARTICLE FOUR • 5
But Jennings’s report did focus on one
issue that ought to be given some serious
thought. Crossan implied that the original
accounts of Jesus were embellished by oral
tradition and were not written down until
after the apostles were dead. Thus they are
largely unreliable and fail to give us an ac-
curate picture of the real Jesus. How are we
to know if this is really true?
So what does the evidence show? When were the original

documents of the New Testament written?
And who wrote them?
LOST IN TRANSLATION?
So, what does the evidence show? We be-

gin with two simple questions: When were
the original documents of the New Testa-
ment written? And who wrote them?
The importance of these questions should

be obvious. If the accounts of Jesus were
written after the eyewitnesses were dead,
no one could verify their accuracy. But if
the New Testament accounts were written
while the original apostles were still alive,
then their authenticity could be estab-
lished. Peter could say of a forgery in his
name, “Hey, I didn’t write that.” And Mat-
thew, Mark, Luke, or John could respond
to questions or challenges aimed at their
accounts of Jesus.
The New Testament writers claimed to be

rendering eyewitness accounts of Jesus.
The apostle Peter stated it this way in
one letter: “We were not making up clever
stories when we told you about the power
of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming
again. We have seen his majestic splendor
with our own eyes” (2 Peter 1:16, NLT).

ANCIENT GREEK DOCUMENT COMPARISON
(PARTIAL & COMPLETE MANUSCRIPTS)3
AUTHOR BOOK WRITTEN EARLIEST COPIES GAP FROM ORIGINAL NUMBER OF COPIES
Homer Iliad 800 B.C. c.400 b.c. 400 yrs. 643
Herodotus History 480–425 B.C. c.900 a.d. 1,350 yrs. 8
Thucydides History 460–400 B.C. c.900 a.d. 1,300 yrs. 8
Plato 400 B.C. c.900 a.d. 1,300 yrs. 7
Demosthenes 300 B.C. c.1100 a.d. 1,400 yrs. 200
Caesar Gallic Wars 100–44 B.C. c.900 a.d. 1,000 yrs. 10
part—4th cent. 400 yrs. 1 partial

Livy History of Rome 59 B.C.–A.D.17
most—10th cent. 1,000 yrs. 19 copies
Tacitus Annals A.D. 100 c.1100 a.d. 1,000 yrs. 20
Pliny Secundus Natural History A.D. 61–113 c.850 a.d. 750 yrs. 7
New Testament A.D. 50–100 fragment—c.114 + 50 yrs. 5,366
books—c.200 100 yrs.
most—c.250 150 yrs.
complete—c.325 225 yrs.
A major part of the New Testament is the

BUT IS IT TRUE? For now, however, note that three primary
apostle Paul’s 13 letters to young churches forms of evidence appear to build a solid
and individuals. Paul’s letters, dated be- In books, magazines, and TV documenta- case for their conclusions:
tween the mid 40s and the mid 60s (12 to ries, the Jesus Seminar suggests the Gos-
33 years after Christ), constitute the earliest pels were written as late as 130 A.D.to 150 • early documents from heretics
witnesses to Jesus’ life and teaching. A.D. by unknown authors. If those later such as Marcion and the school
dates are correct, there would be a gap of Valentinus citing New Testa-
Will Durant wrote of the historical im- of approximately 100 years from Christ’s ment books, themes, and pas-
portance of Paul’s letters, “The Christian death (scholars put Jesus’ death between sages (see “Mona Lisa’s Smirk”)
evidence for Christ begins with the letters 30 and 33) A.D. And since all the eyewit-
ascribed to Saint Paul. … No one has ques- nesses would have been dead, the Gospels • numerous writings of early
tioned the existence of Paul, or his repeated could only have been written by unknown, Christian sources, such as
meetings with Peter, James, and John; and fraudulent authors. Clement of Rome, Ignatius, and
Paul enviously admits that these men had Polycarp
known Christ in the flesh.”2 So, what evidence do we have concerning
when the Gospel accounts of Jesus were re- • discovered copies of Gospel frag-
ally written? The consensus of most schol- ments carbon-dated as early as
ars is that the Gospels were written by the 117 A.D.
apostles during the first century. They cite
several reasons that we will review later in
this article.

Biblical archaeologist William Albright writings? Nothing. The original manu-
“Luke is a historian
concluded on the basis of his research that scripts are all gone (though each week Bi-
all the New Testament books were written ble scholars, no doubt, tune in to Antiques
of the first rank….
while most of the apostles were still alive. Roadshow hoping one might emerge). This author should
He wrote, “We can already say emphati- be placed along with
cally that there is no longer any solid basis Yet the New Testament is not alone in this
the very greatest
for dating any book after about 80 A.D., two fate; no other comparable document from
full generations before the date of between ancient history exists today either. Histo-
historians…Luke’s
130 A.D. and 150 A.D. given by the more rians aren’t troubled by the lack of original history is unsurpassed
radical New Testament critics of today.”4 manuscripts if they have reliable copies to in trustworthiness.”
Elsewhere Albright put the writing of the examine. But are there ancient copies of
entire New Testament at “very probably the New Testament available, and if so, are
sometime between about 50 A.D. and 75 they faithful to the originals?
Sir William Ramsey,
A.D.”5 Archaeologist
As the number of churches multiplied,
The notoriously skeptical scholar John A. T. hundreds of copies were carefully made
Robinson dates the New Testament earlier under the supervision of church leaders.
than even most conservative scholars. In Every letter was meticulously penned in ink
Redating the New Testament Robinson on parchment or papyrus. And so, today,
asserts that most of the New Testament scholars can study the surviving copies
was written between 40 A.D. and 65 A.D. (and the copies of copies, and the copies of
That puts its writing as early as seven copies of copies—you get it), to determine
years after Christ lived.6 If that is true, any authenticity and arrive at a very close ap-
historical errors would have been immedi- proximation of the original documents.
ately exposed by both eyewitnesses and the
enemies of Christianity. In fact, scholars studying ancient literature
have devised the science of textual criticism
So let’s look at the trail of clues that takes to examine documents such as The Odys-
us from the original documents to our New sey, comparing them with other ancient
Testament copies today. documents to determine their accuracy.
More recently, military historian Charles
Sanders augmented textual criticism by
WHO NEEDS KINKO’S? devising a three-part test that looks at not
only the faithfulness of the copy but also the
The original writings of the apostles were credibility of the authors. His tests are these:
revered. Churches studied them, shared
them, carefully preserved them and stored 1. The bibliographical test
them away like buried treasure. 2. The internal evidence test
3. The external evidence test7
But, alas, Roman confiscations, the pas-
sage of 2,000 years, and the second law of Let’s see what happens when we apply
thermodynamics have taken their toll. So, these tests to the early New Testament
today, what do we have of those original manuscripts.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TEST ed ancient historical manuscript, Homer’s Fragment of St. John’s Gospel: Recto (p52)
Reproduced by courtesy of the Director & Librarian,
Iliad, with 643 copies.8 And remember that The John Rylands University Library,
This test compares a document with other most ancient historical works have far fewer
ancient history from the same period. existing manuscripts than that one does (usu-
It asks: ally fewer than 10). New Testament scholar
Bruce Metzger remarked, “In contrast with
• How many copies of the original these figures [of other ancient manuscripts],
document are in existence? the textual critic of the New Testament is em-
• How large of a time gap is there barrassed by the wealth of his material.”9
between the original writings and
the earliest copies?
• How well does a document com-
pare with other ancient history?
Imagine if we had only two or three copies

of the original New Testament manuscripts.
The sampling would be so small that we
couldn’t possibly verify accuracy.
On the other hand, if we had hundreds or

even thousands, we could easily weed out
the errors of poorly transmitted documents.
So, how well does the New Testament

compare with other ancient writings with
regard to both the number of copies and
the time gap from the originals? More than
5,000 manuscripts of the New Testament
exist today in the original Greek language.
When counting translations into other
languages, the number is a staggering
24,000—dating from the 2ND to 4TH centuries.
Compare that with the second-best-document-
“The wealth of manuscripts,

and above all the narrow
interval of time between
the writing and the earliest
extant copies makes it [the
New Testament] by far the
best attested text of any
ancient writing of the world.” Papyrus Bodmer XV, Gospel of John c. 175-225 A. D.
Coyright Martin Bodmer Foundation, Cologny, Switzerland
John A. T. Robinson,
critical scholar JESUS.DOC • ARTICLE FOUR • 11
TIME GAP proves the existence and use of the Fourth fourth century. Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, go-
Gospel during the first half of the second ing back to early in Christian history, are like
Not only is the number of manuscripts signifi- century in a provincial town along the Nile other early biblical manuscripts in that
cant, but so is the time gap between when far removed from its traditional place of they differ minimally from each other and
the original was written and the date of the composition (Ephesus in Asia Minor).”10 give us a very good picture of what the origi-
copy. Over the course of a thousand years of Find after find, archeology has unearthed nal documents must have said.
copying, there’s no telling what a text could copies of major portions of the New Testa-
evolve into—But over a hundred years, that’s ment dated to within 150 years of the Even critical scholar John A. T. Robinson
a different story. originals.11 has admitted, “The wealth of manuscripts,
and above all the narrow interval of time
German critic Ferdinand Christian Baur Most other ancient documents have time between the writing and the earliest extant
(1792–1860) once contended that John’s gaps of from 400 to 1,400 years. For exam- copies, make it by far the best attested text
Gospel was not written until about 160 A.D.; ple, Aristotle’s Poetics was written about of any ancient writing in the world.”12
therefore, it could not have been written by 343 B.C., yet the earliest copy is dated 1100 Professor of law John Warwick Montgomery
John. This, if true, would have not only under- A.D., with only five copies in existence. affirmed, “To be skeptical of the resultant
mined John’s writings but cast suspicion on And yet no one is going in search of the text of the New Testament books is to allow
the entire New Testament as well. But then, historical Plato, claiming he was actually a all of classical antiquity to slip into obscu-
when a cache of New Testament papyri frag- fireman and not a philosopher. rity, for no documents of the ancient period
ments were discovered in Egypt, among them are as well attested bibliographically as the
was a fragment of the Gospel of John (specifi- In fact, there is a nearly complete copy of New Testament.”13
cally, P52: John 18:31-33) dated to roughly 25 the Bible called, Codex Vaticanus, that was
years after John wrote the original. written only about 250 to 300 years after the The point is this: If the New Testament re-
apostles’ original writing. The oldest known cords were made and circulated so closely
Metzger explained, “Just as Robinson complete copy of the New Testament in an- to the actual events, their portrayal of
Crusoe, seeing but a single footprint in the cient uncial script is named, Codex Sinaiti- Jesus is most likely accurate. But external
sand, concluded that another human being, cus, now housed at the British Museum. evidence is not the only way to answer the
with two feet, was present on the island question of reliability; scholars also use
with him, so P52 [the label of the fragment] Like Codex Vaticanus, it is dated from the internal evidence to answer this question.

THE DISCOVERY
OF
CODEX SINAITICUS
In 1844 the German scholar Constantine Tischendorf was searching for New Testament manuscripts.
By accident, he noticed a basket filled with old pages in the library of the monastery of St. Catherine at
Mount Sinai. The German scholar was both elated and shocked. He had never seen Greek manu-
scripts that old. Tischendorf asked the librarian about them and was horrified to learn that the pages
had been discarded to be used as fuel. Two basketloads of such papers had already been burned!
Tischendorf’s enthusiasm made the monks wary, and they would not show him any more manuscripts.
However, they did allow Tischendorf to take the 43 pages he had discovered.
Fifteen years later, Tischendorf returned to the Sinai monastery, this time with help from the Russian
Tsar Alexander II. Once he was there, a monk took Tischendorf to his room and pulled down a cloth-
wrapped manuscript that had been stored on a shelf with cups and dishes. Tischendorf immediately
recognized the valuable remaining portions of the manuscripts he had seen earlier.
The monastery agreed to present the manuscript to the tsar of Russia as protector of the Greek
Church. In 1933 the Soviet Union sold the manuscript to the British Museum for £100,000.
“To be skeptical of the
resultant text of the Codex Sinaiticus is one of the earliest complete manuscripts of the New Testament we have, and it is
New Testament books among the most important. Some speculate that it is one of the 50 Bibles the emperor Constantine
is to allow all of classical commissioned Eusebius to prepare in the early fourth century. Codex Sinaiticus has been of enormous
antiquity to slip into help to scholars in verifying the accuracy of the New Testament.
obscurity, for no
documents of the
ancient period are
as well attested
bibliographically as
the New Testament.”
John Warwick Montgomery

Professor of Law

INTERNAL EVIDENCE WHAT’S IN THERE? how many shots were fired, and from which
TEST direction they came.

Several aspects of the New Testament help
Like good detectives, historians verify reli- us determine its reliability based on its own Likewise, the four Gospels describe the
ability by looking at internal clues. Such content and qualities. events of Jesus’ life from different perspec-
clues reveal motives of the authors and tives. Yet, regardless of these perspectives,
their willingness to disclose details and Consistency. Phony documents either leave Bible scholars are amazed at the consisten-
other features that could be verified. The out eyewitness reports or are inconsis- cy of their accounts and the clear picture
key internal clues these scholars use to test tent. So outright contradiction among the of Jesus and his teaching they put together
for reliability are the following: Gospels would prove that they contain with their complementary reports.
errors. But at the same time, if each Gospel
• consistency of eyewitness reports said exactly the same thing, it would raise Details. Historians love details in a docu-
• details of names, places, and events suspicions of collusion. It would be like co- ment because they make it easy to verify
• letters to individuals or small groups conspirators trying to agree on every detail reliability. Paul’s letters are filled with de-
• features embarrassing to the authors of their scheme. Too much consistency is tails. And the Gospels abound with them.
• the presence of irrelevant or counter- as doubtful as too little. For example, both Luke’s Gospel and his
productive material Book of Acts were written to a nobleman
• lack of relevant material14 Eyewitnesses to a crime or an accident named Theophilus, who was undoubtedly a
generally get the big events right but see well-known individual at the time.
These are but a few examples of how inter- it from different perspectives. For example,
nal evidence leads either toward or away everyone agrees that President John Ken- If these writings had been mere inventions
from the conclusion that a document is nedy was assassinated, but eyewitness of the apostles, phony names, places, and
historically reliable. We’ll look briefly at the reports differ somewhat on the details of events would have quickly been spotted by
internal evidence for the historicity of the
New Testament.
PONTIUS PILATE
INSCRIPTION

their enemies, the Jewish and Roman lead- Letters to small groups. Most forged texts
ers. This would have become the Watergate are from documents both general and
of the first century. Yet many of the New public in nature, like this magazine article
Testament details have been proved true (no doubt countless forgeries are already
by independent verification. Classical his- circulating on the black market). Historical
torian Colin Hemer, for example, “identifies expert Louis Gottschalk notes that personal
84 facts in the last 16 chapters of Acts that letters intended for small audiences have a
have been confirmed by Archaeological high probability of being reliable.19 Which
research.”15 category do the New Testament documents
fall into?
In the previous few centuries, skepti-
cal Bible scholars attacked both Luke’s Well, some of them were clearly intended
authorship and its dating, asserting that to be circulated widely. Yet large portions
it was written in the second century by an of the New Testament consist of personal
unknown author. Archaeologist Sir William letters written to small groups and individu-
Ramsey was convinced they were right, als. These documents, at least, would not
and he began to investigate. After exten- be considered prime candidates for falsifi-
sive research, the archaeologist reversed cation.
his opinion. Ramsey conceded, “Luke is a
historian of the first rank. … This author Embarrassing features. Most writers don’t
should be placed along with the very great- want to publicly embarrass themselves.
est historians. … Luke’s history is unsur- Historians have therefore observed that
passed in respect of its trustworthiness.”16 documents containing embarrassing rev-
elations about the authors are generally to
Acts chronicles Paul’s missionary voyages, be trusted. What did the New Testament
listing places he visited, people he saw, authors say about themselves?
messages he delivered, and persecution he
suffered. Could all these details have been If these [New Testament] writings had
faked? Roman historian A. N. Sherwin-
been mere inventions of the apostles....
White wrote, “For Acts the confirmation of
historicity is overwhelming. … Any attempt
This would have become the Watergate
to reject its basic historicity must now ap- of the first century.
pear absurd. Roman historians have long
taken it for granted.”17
From the Gospel accounts to Paul’s let-

ters, the New Testament authors openly
described details, even citing the names
of individuals who were alive at the time.
Historians have verified at least thirty of
these names.18

“The reliability of Surprisingly, the authors of the New
ers were simply generating the material
to encourage the growing church, it is in-
the New Testa- Testament presented themselves as all too

frequently dimwitted, cowardly, and faith-
explicable why they would not have made
up instructions from Jesus on these issues.
ment is further less. For example, consider Peter’s threefold

denial of Jesus or the disciples’ arguments
In one case, the apostle Paul flatly stated
about a certain subject, “On this we have
documented over which of them was the greatest—both no teaching from the Lord.”
by over 36,000
stories recorded in the Gospels. As respect
for the apostles was crucial in the early
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE
extra-biblical church, inclusion of this kind of material
doesn’t make sense unless the apostles TEST
Christian docu- were reporting truthfully.20
The third and final measure of a docu-
ments....If all the In The Story of Civilization, Will Durant

wrote about the apostles, “These men were
ment’s reliability is the external evidence
test, which asks, “Do historical records
copies of the hardly of the type that one would have outside the New Testament confirm its
New Testament
chosen to remold the world. The Gospels reliability?” So, what did non-Christian
realistically differentiate their characters, historians say about Jesus Christ?
were lost, you and honestly expose their faults.”21

“Overall, at least seventeen non-Christian
could reproduce Counterproductive or irrelevant material.

The Gospels tell us that the empty tomb of
writings record more than fifty details
concerning the life, teachings, death, and
it...with the Jesus was discovered by a woman, even

though in Israel the testimony of women
resurrection of Jesus, plus details concern-
ing the early church.”22 This is astounding,
exception of a was considered to be virtually worthless considering the lack of other history we
few verses.”
and was not even admissible in court. possess from this time period. Jesus is men-
Jesus’ mother and family are recorded as tioned by more sources than the conquests
Norman Geisler, stating their belief that he had lost his of Caesar during this same period. It is even
New Testament scholar mind. Some of Jesus’ final words on the more astounding since these confirmations
cross are said to have been “My God, my of New Testament details date from 20 to
God, why have you forsaken me?” And so 150 years after Christ, “quite early by the
goes the list of incidents recorded in the standards of ancient historiography.”23
New Testament that are counterproductive
if the intent of the author were anything The reliability of the New Testament is
but the accurate transmission of the life further substantiated by over 36,000 extra-
and teachings of Jesus Christ. biblical Christian documents (quotes from
church leaders of the first three centuries)
Lack of relevant material. It is ironic (or dating as early as ten years after the last
perhaps logical) that few of the major is- writing of the New Testament.24 If all the
sues facing the first-century church—the copies of the New Testament were lost, you
Gentile mission, spiritual gifts, baptism, could reproduce it from these other letters
leadership—were addressed directly in and documents with the exception of a few
the recorded words of Jesus. If his follow- verses.25

Boston University professor emeritus
Howard Clark Kee concludes, “The result of
the examination of the sources outside the
New Testament that bear … on our knowl-
edge of Jesus is to confirm his historical ENDNOTES
existence, his unusual powers, the devotion
of his followers, the continued existence of 1
According to jesusseminar.org, “The Jesus
the movement after his death … and the Seminar was organized under the aus-
penetration of Christianity … in Rome itself pices of the Westar Institute to renew the
by the later first century.”26 quest of the historical Jesus. At the close
of debate on each agenda item, Fellows of
The external evidence test thus builds the Seminar vote, using colored beads to
on the evidence provided by other tests. indicate the degree of authenticity of Jesus’
In spite of the conjecture of a few radical words or deeds.”
skeptics, the New Testament portrait of the 2
Will Durant, Caesar and Christ, vol. 3 of
real Jesus Christ is virtually smudgeproof. The Story of Civilization (New York: Simon
Although there are a few dissenters such & Schuster, 1972), 555.
as the Jesus Seminar, the consensus of 3
Josh McDowell, The New Evidence That
experts, regardless of their religious beliefs, Demands A Verdict (Nashville: Thomas
14
J. P. Moreland, Scaling the Secular City
confirms that the New Testament we read Nelson Publishers, 1999), 38. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000), 134-157.
today faithfully represents both the words 4

William F. Albright, Recent Discoveries in
15
Quoted in Geisler and Turek, 256.
and events of Jesus’ life. Biblical Lands (New York: Funk & Wag-
16
nalls, 1955), 136.

17
Clark Pinnock, professor of interpretations 5

William F. Albright, “Toward a More
18
Geisler and Turek, 269.
at McMaster Divinity College, summed Conservative View,” Christianity Today,

19
J. P. Moreland, 136-137.
it up well when he said, “There exists no January 18, 1993, 3.

20
Geisler and Turek, 276.
document from the ancient world wit- 6

John A. T. Robinson, Redating the New
21
Durant, 563.
nessed by so excellent a set of textual Testament, quoted in Norman L. Geisler

22
Gary R. Habermas, “Why I Believe the
and historical testimonies. … An honest and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough New Testament is Historically Reliable,”
[person] cannot dismiss a source of this Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Cross- Why I am a Christian, eds Norman L.
kind. Skepticism regarding the historical way, 2004), 243. Geisler & Paul K. Hoffman (Grand Rapids,
credentials of Christianity is based upon an 7

McDowell, 33-68. MI: Baker, 2001), 150.
irrational basis.”27 8
McDowell, 34.
23
Ibid.
9
Bruce M. Metzger, The Text of the New
24
Ibid.
Testament (New York: Oxford University

25
Metzger, 86.
Press, 1992), 34.

26
10
Metzger, 39.
27
Quoted in Josh McDowell, The Resurrec-
11
Metzger, 36-41. tion Factor (San Bernardino, CA: Here’s Life
12
John A. T. Robinson, Can We Trust the Publishers, 1981), 9.
New Testament? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,

1977), 36.
13

$7.95
VOLUME TWO Y-JESUS
ARTICLE 5:
THE PATH
LAID
BY
PROPHETS
WAS THE MESSIAH’S IDENTITY
ENCRYPED WITHIN
ANCIENT HEBREW PROPHECY?
The Path Laid by Prophets Click on the e-article title for contents
WAS THE MESSIAH’S IDENTITY ENCRYPTED

WITHIN ANCIENT HEBREW PROPHECY? Page 6
GOD’S MOUTH PIECES Page 6
PROPHETS AS PSYCHICS? Page 7
RELIGIOUS PROPHECY IN PERSPECTIVE Page 8
WHAT ARE THE ODDS? Page 9
OUT OF HIS CONTROL Page 10
WHAT THE CAVES HELD Page 11
PROOF IN A JAR Page 12
AN INTERESTING TWIST Page 12
IMPOSSIBLE IMPOSTER Page 13
ENDNOTES Page 13
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
presented.
Larry Chapman
w as th e
Y
MESS IAH’S
N TIT
ENCR YP TE D
ID E
WITHIN
ANC I E N T
Heb r e w PROP H E C Y ?
TITLE • ARTICLE NUMBER • 5
Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr. was called, So, could Jesus have been a fake Messiah,
the great imposter. Demara held phony fooling even the most noteworthy religious GO D’S MOUTH
identities of psychologist, university scholars? Is it possible he was groomed PIE CES
lecturer, college department head, school by his parents or undisclosed mentors to
teacher, and prison warden. He even per- become the long-promised king that Israel According to the Scriptures, the God of
formed surgeries, as a bogus doctor. had been looking for? the Hebrews spoke to his people through
prophets, men and women who were espe-
Some argue that Frank Abagnale was an In fact, if Jesus was an imposter, he would cially attuned to God and who may or may
even greater imposter. Between the ages of not be the first person in the history of not have been a part of the religious estab-
16 and 21, Abagnale was one of the world’s Israel to have lied about being the Mes- lishment. Some of the prophets’ messages
most successful con artists. He cashed $2.5 siah. Through the centuries prior to Christ’s were for the present; others, for the future.
million in fraudulent checks in all 50 states birth, and afterward as well, many self-pro- Either way, their role was to proclaim God’s
and 26 foreign countries. He also success- claimed messiahs arose, only to be shown declarations and disclosures to the people.
fully passed himself off as an airline pilot, to be cons or lunatics.
an attorney, a college professor, and a In general, being a prophet ranked up
pediatrician before being apprehended by Ancient Hebrew prophecies had clearly there with working at a meatpacking plant
the French police. predicted the reign of a future king who among the world’s most hazardous oc-
would bring peace to Israel and be their cupations. Even when they were telling the
If this story sounds familiar to you, it’s prob- Savior. A sense of expectancy filled the truth, prophets might be killed or thrown
ably because you watched the 2002 movie land and captivated Jewish hopes and aspi- into prison by people who didn’t like what
Catch Me If You Can, in which Abagnale rations. In such an atmosphere as Israel’s, they were saying. (Some kings hated
was played by Leonardo DiCaprio (who could not someone less qualified have been hearing bad news.) According to historical
passed himself off as an actor in Titanic). pressed into, or conformed himself to fit, the accounts, the prophet Isaiah was sawn in
mold of Messiah? The answer to that ques- half.
What would it take to top Abagnale’s tion hangs on the Old Testament prophe-
performance as a con man? Well, if Jesus cies pointing to the Messiah.
Christ wasn’t the Messiah he claimed to
be, there would be no contest. We’re not
talking about conning thousands, as in the If Jesus Christ was an imposter, his con job
case of Abagnale. If Jesus Christ was an
imposter, his con job has deluded billions has deluded billions of people and changed
of people and changed the course of 2,000
years of history. the course of 2,000 years of history.
So consider a prophet’s dilemma: death if above this man until it covered the whole This is said to be about the death of Prin-
he was proved wrong and the possibility earth. According to Dixon, this child would cess Diana. (You were probably thinking
of death if he was right. No true prophet be a descendant of the ancient Egyptian Margaret Thatcher.) Prophecies like this are
wanted to offend God, and just as few Queen Nefertiti. 1 as nebulous as seeing images in clouds. Yet
wanted to be sawn in half. Thus most some insist this is evidence of a Nostrada-
prophets waited until they were absolutely Where is this guy? Have you seen him? And mus prophecy fulfilled. Highly suspect, but
convinced that God had spoken, or else how about that lasting world peace—it’s difficult to disprove.
they kept their mouths shut. Kings began nice, huh?
to shudder at their words. A true prophet’s And this is generally the track record of
messages were never wrong. In fact, an exhaustive search of her predic- psychics. When “The People’s Almanac” re-
tion yields two indisputable facts. Her rate of searched the predictions of 25 top psychics,
Now here’s a question: how would the ac- accuracy is equivalent to those guessing the 92 percent of the predictions had proved
curacy of these biblical prophets match up future, and her most publicized fulfillments wrong. The other 8 percent were question-
with today’s psychics? were prophecies so intentionally vague able and could be explained by chance or
as any number of events could have been general knowledge of circumstances.4 In
hailed as fulfillments. other experiments with the world’s fore-
PROP HET S
SA most psychics, their rate of accuracy has
PSY CHICS?
Even the widely publicized prophecies of been shown to hover around 11 percent,
To consider whether modern psychics’ ac- Nostradamus have frequently been proved which might not be a bad average except
curacy approaches that of biblical prophets, wrong in spite of his vague oracles, which for the fact that people making random
let’s take Jean Dixon as a case study. This are difficult to disprove.2 For example, here guesses about the future score at the same
American psychic seemed to have a special is one of the predictions of Nostradamus: percentile. This doesn’t disprove all future
ability to foretell events. But upon analysis telling, but it certainly explains why psy-
her reputation seems unwarranted. Takes the Goddess of the Moon, for chics aren’t winning the lottery.
his Day & Movement:
For instance, Dixon had a vision that on A frantic wanderer and witness of
February 5, 1962, a child was born in the Gods Law,
Middle East who would transform the world In awakening the worlds great
by the year 2000. This special man would regions to Gods will (Ones Will).3
create a one-world religion and bring last-
ing world peace. She saw a cross growing

The difference between psychics and
prophets seems to be more one of kind According to the Hebrew requirements that a
than one of degree. Prophets made specific
declarations about future events in relation
prophecy must have a 100 percent rate of
to God’s unfurling plan—and did it with
accuracy, the true Messiah of Israel must
unwavering accuracy. Psychics are more
mercenary, providing vague sketches of the fulfill them all or else he is not the Messiah.
future to a market willing to pay for their
services. They offer sensational informa-
tion, but with a flawed track record.
rr ee ll ii g
g ious
ious PROPH ECY
PROPH IECY
But in the world of religion, prophecy serves would win the 2000 election. But imagine
N I N an important function. It becomes one sure if you had included some of these details in
way to know if someone is speaking from your prediction:
PERSPECTIV E
PERSPECTIV E God or if he is not, for only an omniscient
God could exhaustively know the future. • The candidate with the most
And on this point the prophecy in the Old total votes would lose the election.
Prophecy can be rather mystical, meta- Testament stands as unique, for most of the • All major TV networks would
physical, and—for lack of a better word— renowned holy books from other religions announce the winner and then
creepy. It conjures up images of séances are devoid of predictive prophecy. For reverse themselves.
and other worlds. In Star Wars there is the example, while the Book of Mormon and • One state (Florida) would swing
foretelling of one who would bring balance the Hindu Veda claim divine inspiration, the election.
to the Force. The Lord of the Rings movies there is really no means to corroborate their • The U.S. Supreme Court would
weave their imaginary themes around claims; you’re simply left with “Yeah, that ultimately determine the winner.
scenes of prophetic utterances. But such is sounds like something God might say.”
the world of imagination. Had such occurred, there would be
Bible scholar Wilbur Smith compared the churches named after you and dashboard
Regarding the real world, it has been said prophecies of the Bible with other historical statuettes bearing your likeness. But you
that if a person knew just one minute of the books, stating that the Bible “is the only didn’t, so there aren’t. As difficult (or
future he could rule the world. Think about volume ever produced by man, or a group of impossible) as it would have been in 1910
it. One minute of knowing every hand dealt men, in which is to be found a large body of to have accurately predicted this precise
at the Trump Casino. You’d become the prophecies relating to individual nations, to sequence of events, the odds are incredibly
richest person in the world and Donald Israel, to all the peoples of the earth, to cer- more difficult for Jesus, or any one person,
would become a postal worker. tain cities, and to the coming one who was to have fulfilled all the Hebrew prophe-
to be the Messiah.”5 Thus the Bible lays out cies for the Messiah. Contained within the
its claim for inspiration in such a way that Old Testament, written hundreds of years
it can be either substantiated or disproved. before the birth of Jesus, are 61 specific
prophecies and nearly 300 references about
And if you put this degree of accuracy into the Messiah.6
everyday perspective, you can see how
astounding it is. For example, it would have According to the Hebrew requirement that
been miraculous if in 1910 you had pre- a prophecy must have a 100 percent rate of
dicted that a man named George Bush accuracy, the true Messiah of Israel must
8 • ARTICLE FIVE • THE PATH LAID BY PROPHETS

fulfill them all or else he is not the Mes-
siah. So the question that either vindicates
Jesus or makes him culpable for the world’s
greatest hoax is, did he fit and fulfill these
Old Testament prophecies?
TA HM When forensic scientists discover a DNA

profile match, the odds of having the wrong
ARE person is frequently less than one in several
billion (something for deviants to keep in
mind). It would seem we are in the same
th e O DDS ?
neighborhood of odds, and numbers of
zeros, in considering a single individual
Let’s look at two of the specific prophecies fulfilling these prophecies.
about the Messiah in the Old Testament.
Professor of mathematics Peter Stoner gave
You, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are 600 students a math probability problem
only a small village in Judah. Yet a that would determine the odds for one
ruler of Israel will come from you, person fulfilling eight specific prophecies.
one whose origins are from the (This is not the same as flipping a coin
distant past. (Micah 5:2, NLT) eight times in a row and getting heads
each time.) First the students calculated
The Lord himself will choose [a] the odds of one person fulfilling all the
sign. Look! The virgin will conceive conditions of one specific prophecy, such
a child! She will give birth to a son as being betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces
and will call him Immanuel—“God of silver. Then the students did their best to
is with us.” (Isaiah 7:14, NLT) estimate the odds for all of the eight proph-
ecies combined.
Now, before considering the other 59 proph-
ecies, you have to stop and ask yourself The students calculated that the odds
how many people in the category of poten- against one person fulfilling all eight
tial Messiah throughout history were born prophecies are astronomical—one in 1021.
of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem. “Well, To illustrate that number, Stoner gave the
let’s see, there’s my neighbor George, but following example: “First, blanket the entire
… no, never mind; he was born in Brook- Earth land mass with silver dollars 120 feet
lyn.” In the case of 61 detailed prophecies high. Second, specially mark one of those
being fulfilled by one person, we are talking dollars and randomly bury it. Third, ask a
about virtually impossible odds. person to travel the Earth and select the
marked dollar, while blindfolded, from the
trillions of other dollars.”7

People can do some pretty squishy things with numbers (especially with a last name like
that), so it’s important to note that Stoner’s work was reviewed by the American Scientific
Association, which stated, “The mathematical analysis … is based upon principles of prob-
ability which are thoroughly sound, and Professor Stoner has applied these principles in a
proper and convincing way.” 8
With that as an introduction, let’s add six more predictions to the two we’ve already con-
sidered, giving us a total of Professor Stoner’s eight:
Prophecy: The Messiah would be from the lineage of King

Jeremiah 23:5 600 B.C.
David.
Fulfillment: “Jesus … the son of David …” Luke 3:23, 31 4 B.C.
Prophecy: The Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of

Zechariah 11:13 487 B.C.
silver.
Fulfillment: “They gave him thirty pieces of silver.” Matthew 26:15 30 A.D.
Prophecy: The Messiah would have his hands and feet

Psalm 22:16 1000 B.C.
pierced.
Fulfillment: “They came to a place called The Skull. All three

were crucified there—Jesus on the center cross, and the two Luke 23:33 30 A.D.
criminals on either side.”
Prophecy: People would cast lots for the Messiah’s clothing. Psalm 22:18 1000 B.C.
Fulfillment: “The soldiers … took his robe, but it was seam-

less, woven in one piece from the top. So they said, ‘Let’s John 19:23-24 30 A.D.
not tear it but throw dice to see who gets it.’ ”
Prophecy: The Messiah would appear riding on a donkey. Zechariah 9:9 500 B.C.
Fulfillment: “They brought the animals to him and threw their

Matthew 21:7 30 A,D.
garments over the colt, and he sat on it.”
Prophecy: A messenger would be sent to herald the Mes-

Malachi 3:1 500 B.C.
siah.
Fulfillment: John told them, “I baptize with water, but right

John 1:26 27 A.D.
here in the crowd is someone you do not know.”
The eight prophecies we’ve reviewed about the Messiah were written by men from differ-
ent times and places between about 500 and 1,000 years before Jesus was born. Thus there
was no opportunity for collusion among them. Notice too, the specificity. This is not the
genre of a Nostradamus prediction—“When the moon turns green, the lima bean will lie
cloaked by the roadside.”
o ut CONTROL
of HIS
Imagine winning a Powerball lottery with merely one ticket among tens of millions sold.
Now imagine winning a hundred of these lotteries in a row. What would people think?
Right, “It was rigged!”
And over the years a similar claim has been made by skeptics about Jesus’ fulfillment of
Old Testament prophecy. They have granted that Jesus fulfilled messianic prophecies but

have accused him of living his life in such Bible scholars tell us that nearly 300 Bertrand Russell, adamant atheist, was
a way as to intentionally fulfill them. A references to 61 specific prophecies of the asked in a Look magazine interview what
reasonable objection, but not as plausible Messiah were fulfilled by Jesus Christ. evidence it would take for him to believe in
as it might seem. The odds against one person fulfilling that God. Russell responded, “Well, if I heard a
many prophecies would be beyond all voice from heaven and it predicted a series
Consider the nature of just four of the mes- mathematical possibility. It could never of things and they came to pass, then I
sianic prophecies: happen, no matter how much time was guess I’d have to believe there’s some kind
allotted. One mathematician’s estimate of of supernatural being.”
• His lineage would come from those impossible odds is “one chance in a
David (Jeremiah 23:5). trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, tril- Bible scholar Norman Geisler responded to
• His birth would occur in Bethle- lion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, Russell’s skepticism. “I’d say, ‘Mr. Russell,
hem (Micah 5:2). trillion, trillion.”10 there has been a voice from heaven; it has
• He would migrate to Egypt (Ho-
whTH
atE
sea 11:1).
• He would live in Nazareth (Isaiah
CAV ESHELD
11:1).9
In 1947 an Arab boy named Muhammad discovered a limestone cave near the Dead Sea that
Now, what could Jesus do about fulfill-
contained some clay jars. After Muhammad’s initial surprise, he discovered that inside the jars
ing these prophecies? Neither he nor his were ancient scrolls. No one knew at the time how valuable these scrolls were. Inside those clay
parents had any control over his ancestry. jars were well-preserved manuscripts from every Old Testament book except Esther. Most impor-
His birth in Bethlehem was the result of a tantly, these were by far the oldest biblical manuscripts scholars had ever seen.
census mandated by Caesar Augustus. His

How did these manuscripts get there? Well, it seems they originally belonged to an ascetic reli-
parents’ move to Egypt was prompted by
gious group called the Essenes (a little like monks of the Middle Ages) who lived in a community
King Herod’s persecution. And once Herod
near the caves.
died, Jesus’ parents naturally decided to
resettle in Nazareth. The theory goes that the community (called the Qumran community, after their location) came
to an end in the late 60s A.D. when Roman troops marched through the area in the process of
Even if at a young age an imposter Jesus putting down a Jewish revolt. Quite possibly, all the Essenes were slaughtered at that time. But
looked at the prophecies he had acciden- before that, some of them hid their biblical scrolls and other community documents in caves to
preserve them. And there they remained for centuries until a curious boy found them, remarkably
tally fulfilled and decided to go for it and
unchanged in the dry desert climate.
see if he could make the rest (like someone
deciding to shoot the moon in the card
Archaeologists and paleographers were commissioned to date the documents scientifically.
game Hearts), the deck would still have Although these documents were well-preserved copies of the original prophecies written hun-
been impossibly stacked against him. dreds of year earlier, dating tests confirmed that these copies were transcribed prior to the birth
Consider some of the factors in the prophe- of Jesus. But this meant that the messianic prophecies were written well before Jesus’ birth. So
cies we’ve already looked at: the Messiah paleographers rechecked the dates to make certain. Carbon-dating of the ancient manuscripts
proved that the prophetic passages foretelling the Messiah, including the complete writings of
would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver; he
Isaiah, preceded the birth of Christ by over a hundred years.
would be killed by means of crucifixion; and
people would cast lots for his clothes. These
prophecies all came true for Jesus, yet what
control did he have over the fulfillment of
any of them?
THE PATH LAID BY PROPHETS • ARTICLE FIVE • 11

predicted many things; and we’ve seen them undeniably come to As a result, even scholars who deny Jesus
pass.’” Geisler was alluding to the fact that only a transcendent Be-
11 as the Messiah accept these manuscripts
ing outside of time would be able to accurately predict future events. of the Old Testament as having predated
his birth and therefore concede that the
prophecies about the Messiah contained
PRO O F within them have not been altered in order
JA R
NI A
to conform to Jesus.
We’ve looked at the evidence for Jesus’ fulfillment of messianic

prophecies from every angle but one. What if the Christian scribes
who copied scrolls of Isaiah and the other Old Testament prophetic
books altered them to make them correspond to Jesus’ life?
a n
I NTERE STING TWIS T
This is a question many scholars and skeptics have asked. And
it seems possible, even plausible at first glance. It would prevent
us from making Jesus into a lying imposter, which seems highly If these predictions were fulfilled so ac-
unlikely, and it would explain the amazing accuracy of his fulfillment curately through the life of Jesus, it seems
of prophecies. So, how do we know that the Old Testament prophetic logical to wonder why everyone in Israel
books, such as Isaiah, Daniel, and Micah, were written hundreds of would not have been able to see it. But as
years before Christ, as purported? And if they were, how do we know his crucifixion attests, not everyone did see
Christians didn’t alter the texts later? it. As the apostle John said of Jesus, “Even
in his own land and among his own people,
For 1,900 years, many skeptics held fast to that theory, based upon he was not accepted” (John 1:11, NLT).
the human impossibility of accurately predicting future events. But
then something occurred that doused all enthusiasm for such a clan- Of course, many Jews of Jesus’ day did
destine conspiracy. Something called the Dead Sea Scrolls. recognize him as the Messiah—the entire
foundation of the Christian church being
Half a century back, the finding of the Dead Sea scrolls provided Jewish. The majority, however, did not.
Bible scholars with copies of Old Testament books that were far older And it’s not so hard to comprehend why.
than any others known to exist. Extensive tests proved that many of To better understand the first-century Jews’
these copies were made before Jesus Christ even lived. And they are misunderstanding, consider this messianic
virtually identical to the texts of the Bible we were already using. prophecy written 700 years before the birth
of Jesus by the prophet Isaiah. Was it refer-
ring to Jesus?
Nearly 300 references to 61 prophecies of the

Messiah were fulfilled by Jesus Christ. The odds
against one person fulfilling that many prophecies
would be beyond all mathematical possibility

THE WORDS OF ISAIAH THE PROPHET: 700 B. C.
All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our
own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all.
He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led
as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he
whelming evidence seems to indicate that
did not open his mouth. From prison and trial they led him away to his death.
the signature on that check is not a forgery.
But who among the people realized that he was dying for their sins—that
he was suffering their punishment? He had done no wrong, and he never
deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s
grave.
But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and fill him with grief. Yet when
his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many
heirs….And because of what he has experienced, my righteous servant will
make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their
sins. ENDN OTES
(Portions of Isaiah 53:6-11, NLT)
1
Terence Hines, Pseudoscience and the
As Jesus hung on the cross, some understandably may have been thinking, How could this Paranormal (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus
be the Messiah? At the same time, others may have been wondering, Who else but Jesus Books, 2003), 193.
could Isaiah be talking about? 2
I POSSIB LE
W
IMP OSTER Demands a Verdict (San Bernardino, CA:
Here’s Life Publishers, 1999), 194.
3
Prediction 3, Quatrain 2, 28.
4
McDowell, Ibid.
5
Quoted in McDowell, 12-13.
6
McDowell, 164-193.
So, what are we to make of Jesus having fulfilled so many prophecies written hundreds 7
Peter W. Stoner, Science Speaks (Chicago:
of years prior to his birth? Leonardo DiCaprio … I mean, Frank Abagnale might be a good Moody Press, 1958), 97-110.
imposter, but even he got caught by the time he was old enough to drink a beer legally. 8
Stoner, 5.
9
The Hebrew word netzer, appearing in
Jesus doesn’t look anything like a more competent Frank Abagnale. He’s in a different Isaiah 11:1, is believed by many to refer to
category altogether. No imposter could ever beat such odds as those presented by Hebrew Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown.
prophecy. 10
Lee Strobel, The Case for Faith (Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), 262.
And what does that mean? Two conclusions emerge: First, only a transcendent Being 11
Quoted in Strobel, 141.
could orchestrate such events. And second, it makes all of Jesus’ other claims credible and
worthy of serious consideration.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus made the claim, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Over-
TITLE • ARTICLE
THE PATH LAID BY PROPHETS NUMBER
• ARTICLE FIVE • 13
$7.95
VOLUME TWO Y-JESUS
ARTICLE 6:
BODY
COUNT
EXPLAINING THE DISAPPEARANCE
AND REAPPEARANCE OF JESUS?
Body Count
EXPLAINING THE DISAPPEARANCE

AND REAPPEARANCE OF JESUS? Page 6
CYNICS AND SKEPTICS Page 6
SELF-PROPHECY Page 9
WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE END OF THE STORY Page 9
SOMETHING HAPPENED Page 10
WAS JESUS DEAD? Page 10
THE MATTER OF AN EMPTY TOMB Page 11
FRANK MORISON AND THE EXPOSE’ THAT NEVER WAS Page 11

GRAVE ROBBING? Page 12
CONSISTENT TO THE END Page 13
A BAD TRIP? Page 13
FROM LIE TO LEGEND? Page 14
WHY DID CHRISTIANITY WIN? Page 14
A SURPRISE CONCLUSION Page 14
ENDNOTES Page 15
A STUNNED PROFESSOR Page 15
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
presented.
Larry Chapman
BODY COUNT • ARTICLE SIX • 4
Atheist Bertrand Russell, who doubted ment, Jesus’ resurrection has given us Let’s look at the evidence.
Jesus’ very existence, assumed that the hope for eternal life beyond the grave. All of
resurrection of the body was impossible. In Christianity hinges on that one promise. CYNICS AND SKEPTICS
1926, Russell wrote, “I believe that when I
die I shall rot, and nothing of my own ego Theologian R. C. Sproul has stated, “The But not everyone is willing to fairly examine
will survive.”1 Well, that’s cheerful. Russell claim of resurrection is vital to Christianity. If the evidence. Bertrand Russell admits
clearly bordered on the morose, but we’ve Christ has been raised from the dead by God, his take on Jesus was “not concerned”
all wondered, with perhaps more optimism, then He has the credentials and certification with historical facts.4 Historian Joseph
what will happen to us when we die. that no other religious leader possesses. Bud- Campbell, without citing evidence, calmly
ead.
dha is dead. Mohammad is dead. Moses is told his PBS television audience that the
a i s d
“Buddh dead.
dead. Confucius is dead. But, according to … resurrection of Jesus is not a factual event.5
m a d i s
Moham
Christianity, Christ is alive.”2 Other scholars, such as John Dominic
.
s es i s dead ad. Crossan of the Jesus Seminar, agree with
Mo u s is de
c i So different and so abnormal is all this that him.6 None of these skeptics present any
Con f u o
c c o r ding t a part of us would like to dismiss it as myth. evidence for their views.
But a n ity...
But is the resurrection to be relegated to a
s t i a
Chri live.”
Sunday school story—or is there evidence? To be honest, the thought that anyone
s t i s a
Chri
could be dead for three days, and then
Researcher Josh McDowell said, “After come back to life is cause for a strong
rouL dose of skepticism. But whereas cynics

R. C. Sp
more than seven hundred hours of studying
Death has been this subject and thoroughly investigating are closed minded to the facts, according
called “the great equalizer.” Thousands its foundation, I have come to the conclu- to Skeptic magazine, true skeptics always
of stone markers surrounded by spacious sion that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is keep their minds open to the evidence. An
green lawns tell the stories. Nobel Prize one of the most wicked, vicious, heartless editorial in the magazine states, “When we
winners. Beauty queens. Billionaires. hoaxes ever foisted upon the minds of men, say we are ‘skeptical,’ we mean that we
Presidents. All die. Someday it will be our OR it is the most fantastic fact of history.”3 must see compelling evidence before we
turn. Are we to despair with Russell, or is Right. So which is it? believe.”7
there hope? According to the New Testa-

6 • ARTICLE SIX • BODY COUNT
www.KnowGodPersonally.org

As our cold case of Jesus’ resurrection gets religion known to men ever dared convicted of treason and condemned to die
underway, let’s put ourselves in the role of say a thing like that.8 on a wooden cross. Prior to being nailed to
a skeptic who needs compelling evidence the cross, Jesus was brutally beaten with
before we will believe such an incredible In other words, since Jesus had clearly a Roman cat-o’-nine-tails, a whip with bits
event really occurred. told his disciples that he would rise again of bone and metal that would rip flesh. He
after his death, failure to keep that promise was punched repeatedly, kicked, and spit
would expose him as a fraud. upon.
SELF-PROPHECY So let’s begin our skeptical inquiry of the res- Then, using mallets, the Roman execution-
urrection with the events surrounding Jesus’ ers pounded the heavy wrought-iron nails
In advance of his death, Jesus told his dis- death and burial. into Jesus’ wrists and feet. Finally they
ciples that he would be betrayed, arrested, dropped the cross in a hole in the ground
and crucified and that he would come back WHAT SHOULD HAVE between two other crosses bearing con-
to life three days later. That’s a strange BEEN THE END OF THE victed thieves.
plan! What was behind it? Jesus was no en- STORY
tertainer willing to perform for others on de- Jesus hung there for approximately six
mand; instead, he promised that his death You know what Jesus’ last hours of earthly hours. Then, at 3:00 in the afternoon—that
and resurrection would prove to people (if life were like if you watched the movie by is, at exactly the same time the Passover
their minds and hearts were open) that he road warrior/braveheart Mel Gibson. If you lamb was being sacrificed as a sin offer-
was indeed the Messiah. missed parts of The Passion of the Christ ing—Jesus cried out, “It is finished” (in
because you were shielding your eyes (it Aramaic), and died. Suddenly the sky went
Bible scholar Wilbur Smith remarked about Jesus, would have been easier to simply shoot dark and an earthquake shook the land.9
the movie with a red filter on the camera),
When he said that He himself just flip to the back pages of any Gospel in Pilate wanted verification that Jesus was
would rise again from the dead, the your New Testament to find out what you dead before allowing his crucified body to
third day after He was crucified, missed. be buried. So a Roman guard thrust a spear
He said something that only a fool into Jesus’ side. The mixture of blood and
would dare say, if He expected lon- As Jesus predicted, he was betrayed by water that flowed out was a clear indica-
ger the devotion of any disciples— one of his own disciples, Judas Iscariot, tion that Jesus was dead. Jesus’ body was
unless He was sure He was going and was arrested. In a mock trial under then taken down from the cross and buried
to rise. No founder of any world the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, he was in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb. Roman
“The silence of
history is deafening
when it comes to the
testimony against
the resurrection.”
Tom Anderson
former president,
California Trial Lawyers
Association

guards next sealed the tomb and secured it 4. The account is legendary. One place to find that is in the reports of
with a 24-hour watch. 5. It really happened. non-Christian historians from around the
time when Jesus lived. Three of these histo-
Meanwhile, Jesus’ disciples were in shock. Let’s work our way through these options rians mentioned the death of Jesus.
Dr. J. P. Moreland writes of their mental state. and see which one best fits the facts.
“They no longer had confidence that Jesus • Lucian (c.120–after 180 A.D.)
had been sent by God. They also had been WAS JESUS DEAD? referred to Jesus as a crucified
taught that God would not let his Messiah sophist (philosopher).13
suffer death. So they dispersed. The Jesus “Marley was deader than a doornail, of that • Josephus (c.37–c.100A.D.) wrote,
movement was all but stopped in its tracks.”10 there was no doubt.” So begins Charles “At this time there appeared
Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, the author Jesus, a wise man, for he was
SOMETHING HAPPENED not wanting anyone to be mistaken as to a doer of amazing deeds. When
the supernatural character of what is soon Pilate condemned him to the
But it wasn’t the end. The Jesus movement to take place. In the same way, before we cross, the leading men among
did not disappear (obviously), and in fact take on the role of CSI and piece together us, having accused him, those
Christianity exists today as the world’s larg- evidence for a resurrection, we must first who loved him did not cease to
est religion. Therefore, we’ve got to know establish that there was, in fact, a corpse. do so.”14
what happened after Jesus’ body was taken After all, occasionally the newspapers will • Tacitus (c. 56–c.120 A.D.) wrote,
down from the cross and laid in the tomb. report on some “corpse” in a morgue who “Christus, from whom the name
was found stirring and recovered. Could had its origin, suffered the ex-
In a New York Times article, Peter Stein- something like that have happened with treme penalty … at the hands of
fels cites the startling events that occurred Jesus? our procurator Pontius Pilate.”15
three days after Jesus’ death: “Shortly after
Jesus was executed, his followers were Some have proposed that Jesus lived
suddenly galvanized from a baffled and through the crucifixion and was revived
cowering group into people whose mes- by the cool, damp air in the tomb–“Whoa,
sage about a living Jesus and a coming how long was I out for?” But that theory
kingdom, preached at the risk of their lives, doesn’t seem to square with the medical
eventually changed an empire. Something evidence. An article in the Journal of the
happened… But exactly what?”11 That’s American Medical Association explains
the question we have to answer with an why this so-called “swoon theory” is unten-
investigation into the facts. able: “Clearly, the weight of historical and
medical evidence indicated that Jesus was
There are only five plausible explanations dead. … The spear, thrust between His
for Jesus’ alleged resurrection, as portrayed right ribs, probably perforated not only the
in the New Testament: right lung but also the pericardium and
heart and thereby ensured His death.”12
1. Jesus didn’t really die on the But skepticism of this verdict may be in
cross. order, as this case has been cold for 2,000
2. The “resurrection” was a con- years. At the very least, we need a second
spiracy. opinion.
3. The disciples were hallucinating.

fairly conclusive.
EMPTY TOMB
THE MATTER OF AN
FR
how Jesus’ body disappeared from the

and dead. Not bad detective work, and
century The Jerusalem Post ran a front-
No serious historian really doubts Jesus

san, a skeptic of the resurrection, agrees
finding that on one spring day in the first
was dead when he was taken down from

that Jesus really lived and died: “That he
ing the first of our five options. Jesus was

EX AN
In fact, there is no historical account from
Christians, Romans, or Jews that disputes
clearly dead, “of that there was no doubt.”

page story saying that Jesus was crucified
tomb. English journalist Dr. Frank Morison

the cross. However, many have questioned
was crucified is as sure as anything histori-
initially thought the resurrection was either

either Jesus’ death or his burial. Even Cros-
cal can ever be.”16 In light of such evidence,

This is a bit like going into the archives and
we seem to be on good grounds for dismiss-

PO K M
In
SÉ OR
the TH ISO
na ea
list rly AT N
mo 19
Un 00
ite ve s,
NE AN
me Ge
ha
dS
tat n tw rm VE D T
pp e e an
en s, re cri
R W HE
ca ap ca sw tic
me art rryin eep ism
a
AS
sk fro gw ing of
res
urr ep m ith ov the
ec tic na
t th e r Bib
tio ism ura em We le
no l la ste an
f tow w s
the
b r n
On Je
su a rd .W elie Eu
dt
he Iw
ew sC the ith f th rop rat
En ho h f a e an
glis w rist o un
tha
tn t no a nd
io-
Je ted
h as . d a a t h t s u to
sto jou gre tio tur ing he s,
ry rna atl
y
no alis ca its wi tak
fai o fJ list infl f C tic n s h th et
ry es ue hri be arp all his
us Fra
n s t l ie f
an , it
tal
ef ris nk ce ian di
ts c l s qu
las
tp
or Mo db ity ea
ing
r i y — int t r e r- c ic ha
ad fr o s o su th e e m u k se
Mo ult m n, ch t
res en tb an
d of
ris s. the wh s k i t— d a c p
o o e p
ve
b to ou k g u the
su
pp
nd
ec
de
ad c am tic se eli str s rou lsa life
e ism e i ps n
os ide w to
efs p ych
tin of
of ed dt as
b wa
w
thi
s a n it o o
do gd
r
ho re o no el s a s d f lo fa a
les su inv thi
ng
iev s. 17 up d its gic nti ma
wo ,m rre es
tig
et
ha rem ogm ov qu ,
uld iss cti
o a mo t B e a t erg al an ity
wr wr
ite
ing n,
ful
te re the u tM l y ic r o d hu ,
ote ev ly e the tha gre su wt
of ab ide
xp fac na cla ori at pp ho ma
oo nc ts im so P os f n
his k e , e c s e n w e r i ti p r
int ex an t ing u rro an d, as so on i
en
t:
po d illo t und d “T s n s ,
mi
-
sin od dry he tun as an
gt gic isc ing fin .” 18 bo ne He dt
he al
c ov
e Je
s
ally M ok db re o
my on r u g o r a s y a l
th. clu as s’ tha et iso it w wh ly
Th sio tor n wr n ’s b as a t
is ns yf he itte he
no .H ull ha n, oo ori
gin dis
bu k— co
tab
le
et
he
di
nte t it Wh a lly ve
jou n nd ha oM pla red
rna ed da
o n n .H
list . n en ve ed ee
tire dt
he
wa x-
sl
ly d S ton e ft h
iffe igh
ren e?
te —
nd did
ing

a myth or a hoax, and he began research to The Jewish leaders were stunned and ac- of his death but the fact that he was widely
write a book refuting it. The book became
19
cused the disciples of stealing Jesus’ body. and obstinately believed, by an expanding
famous but for reasons other than its origi- But the Romans had assigned a 24-hour circle of people, to have risen again.”22
nal intent, as we’ll see. watch at the tomb with a trained guard The tomb was indeed empty. But it wasn’t
unit (from 4 to 12 soldiers). Morison asked, the mere absence of a body that could have
Morison began by attempting to solve “How could these professionals have let galvanized Jesus’ followers (especially if they
the case of the empty tomb. The tomb Jesus’ body be vandalized?” It would have had been the ones who had stolen it). Some-
belonged to a member of the Sanhedrin been impossible for anyone to have slipped thing extraordinary must have happened,
Council, Joseph of Arimathea. In Israel by the Roman guards and to have moved for the followers of Jesus ceased mourning,
at that time, to be on the council was to a two-ton stone. Yet the stone was moved ceased hiding, and began fearlessly proclaim-
be a rock star. Everyone knew who was away and the body of Jesus was missing. ing that they had seen Jesus alive.
on the council. Joseph must have been a
real person. Otherwise, the Jewish leaders If Jesus’ body was anywhere to be found, Each eyewitness account reports that Jesus
would have exposed the story as a fraud in his enemies would have quickly exposed suddenly appeared bodily to his followers,
their attempt to disprove the resurrection. the resurrection as a fraud. Tom Anderson, the women first. Morison wondered why
Also, Joseph’s tomb would have been at a former president of the California Trial Law- conspirators would make women central
well-known location and easily identifiable, yers Association, summarizes the strength to its plot. In the first century, women had
so any thoughts of Jesus being “lost in the of this argument: virtually no rights, personhood, or status. If
graveyard” would need to be dismissed. the plot was to succeed, Morison reasoned,
With an event so well publicized, the conspirators would have portrayed men,
Morison wondered why Jesus’ enemies don’t you think that it’s reasonable not women, as the first to see Jesus alive.
would have allowed the “empty tomb that one historian, one eye witness, And yet we hear that women touched him,
myth” to persist if it wasn’t true. The dis- one antagonist would record for spoke with him, and were the first to find
covery of Jesus’ body would have instantly all time that he had seen Christ’s the empty tomb.
killed the entire plot. body? … The silence of history is
deafening when it comes to the tes- Later, according to the eyewitness ac-
And what is known historically of Jesus’ timony against the resurrection. 21
counts, all the disciples saw Jesus on more
enemies is that they accused Jesus’ dis- than ten separate occasions. They wrote
ciples of stealing the body, an accusation So, with no body of evidence, and with a that he showed them his hands and feet
clearly predicated on a shared belief that known tomb clearly empty, Morison accept- and told them to touch him. And he report-
the tomb was empty. ed the evidence as solid that Jesus’ body edly ate with them and later appeared alive
had somehow disappeared from the tomb. to more than 500 followers on one occasion.
Dr. Paul L. Maier, professor of ancient his-
tory at Western Michigan University, simi- GRAVE ROBBING? Legal scholar John Warwick Montgomery
larly stated, “If all the evidence is weighed stated, “In 56 A.D. [the apostle] Paul wrote
carefully and fairly, it is indeed justifiable As Morison continued his investigation, that over 500 people had seen the risen
… to conclude that the tomb in which Je- he began to examine the motives of Jesus’ Jesus and that most of them were still alive
sus was buried was actually empty on the followers. Maybe the supposed resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:6ff.). It passes the bounds
morning of the first Easter. And no shred of was actually a stolen body. But if so, how of credibility that the early Christians could
evidence has yet been discovered … that does one account for all the reported ap- have manufactured such a tale and then
would disprove this statement.” 20 pearances of a resurrected Jesus? Historian preached it among those who might easily
Paul Johnson, in History of the Jews, wrote, have refuted it simply by producing the
“What mattered was not the circumstances body of Jesus.”23

“The appearance
s of Jesus are a
well authenticat s
ed as anything
in antiquity....T
here can be no
rational doubt
that they occurr
Michael Green, Br e d.”
itish Bible schola
r
Bible scholars Geisler and Turek agree. “If No one has adequately explained why the cannot be explained away. … This fact is that
the Resurrection had not occurred, why disciples would have been willing to die for … a profound conviction came to the little
would the apostle Paul give such a list of a known lie. But even if they all conspired group of people—a change that attests to the
supposed eyewitnesses? He would immedi- to lie about Jesus’ resurrection, how could fact that Jesus had risen from the grave.”29
ately lose all credibility with his Corinthian they have kept the conspiracy going for de-
readers by lying so blatantly.” 24
cades without at least one of them selling
out for money or position? Moreland wrote, A BAD TRIP?
British Bible scholar Michael Green remarked, “Those who lie for personal gain do not
“The appearances of Jesus are as well authen- stick together very long, especially when Sometimes certain people can “see” things
ticated as anything in antiquity. … There can hardship decreases the benefits.”27 they want to, things that aren’t really there.
be no rational doubt that they occurred.”25 And that’s why some have claimed that the
Chuck Colson, implicated in the Watergate disciples were so distraught over the cru-
CONSISTENT TO scandal, pointed out the difficulty of several cifixion that their desire to see Jesus alive
THE END people maintaining a lie for an extended caused mass hallucination. Plausible?
period of time.
As if the eyewitness reports were not enough Psychologist Gary Collins, former president
to challenge Morison’s skepticism, he was I know the resurrection is a fact, of the American Association of Christian
also baffled by the disciples’ behavior. A and Watergate proved it to me. Counselors, was asked about the possibility
fact of history that has stumped historians, How? Because 12 men testified that hallucinations were behind the dis-
psychologists, and skeptics alike is that these they had seen Jesus raised from ciples’ radically changed behavior. Collins
11 former cowards were suddenly willing to the dead, then they proclaimed remarked, “Hallucinations are individual
suffer humiliation, torture, and death. All but that truth for 40 years, never once occurrences. By their very nature only one
one of Jesus’ disciples were slain as martyrs. denying it. Every one was beaten, person can see a given hallucination at
Would they have done so much for a lie, tortured, stoned and put in prison. a time. They certainly aren’t something
knowing they had taken the body? They would not have endured which can be seen by a group of people.”30
that if it weren’t true. Watergate
The Islamic martyrs on September 11 embroiled 12 of the most power- Hallucination is not even a remote possibil-
proved that some will die for a false cause ful men in the world—and they ity, according to psychologist Thomas J.
they believe in. Yet to be a willing martyr couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. Thorburn. “It is absolutely inconceivable
for a known lie is insanity. As Paul Little You’re telling me 12 apostles could that … five hundred persons, of average
wrote, “Men will die for what they believe keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely soundness of mind … should experience
to be true, though it may actually be false. impossible.28 all kinds of sensuous impressions—visual,
They do not, however, die for what they auditory, tactual—and that all these …
know is a lie.”26 Jesus’ disciples behaved in Something happened that changed every- experiences should rest entirely upon …
a manner consistent with a genuine belief thing for these men and women. Morison hallucination.”31
that their leader was alive. acknowledged, “Whoever comes to this prob-
lem has sooner or later to confront a fact that

FROM LIE WHY DID Many scholars believe (in the words of an
TO CHRISTIANITY WIN? ancient commentator) that “the blood of
LEGEND? the martyrs was the seed of the church.”
Morison was bewildered by the fact that Historian Will Durant observed, “Caesar
Some unconvinced skeptics attribute the “a tiny insignificant movement was able to and Christ had met in the arena and Christ
resurrection story to a legend on a par with prevail over the cunning grip of the Jew- had won.”37
King Arthur’s round table, or Robin Hood. ish establishment, as well as the might of
Rome.” Why did it win, in the face of all A SURPRISE
But there are three major problems with those odds against it? CONCLUSION
that theory.
He wrote, “Within twenty years the claim Morison became convinced that his precon-
1. Legends rarely develop while of these Galilean peasants had disrupted ceived bias against Jesus Christ’s resur-
multiple eyewitnesses are alive the Jewish church. … In less than fifty rection had been wrong. He began writing
to refute them. One historian of years it had begun to threaten the peace a different book—entitled Who Moved the
ancient Rome and Greece, A. N. of the Roman Empire. When we have said Stone?—to detail his new conclusions. Mor-
Sherwin-White, argued that the everything that can be said … we stand ison simply followed the trail of evidence,
resurrection news spread too soon confronted with the greatest mystery of all. clue by clue, until the truth of the case
and too quickly for it to have been Why did it win?”35 seemed clear to him. His surprise was that
a legend. 32 the evidence led to a belief in the resurrec-
2. Legends develop by oral tradition By all rights, Christianity should have died tion. He writes, “It was as though a man set
and don’t come with contempo- out at the cross when the disciples fled out to cross a forest by a familiar and well-
rary historical documents that can for their lives. But the apostles went on to beaten track and came out suddenly where
be verified. Yet the Gospels were establish a growing Christian movement. he did not expect to come out.” 38
written within three decades of

the resurrection. 33 J. N. D. Anderson wrote, “Think of the Morison is not alone. Countless other skep-
3. The legend theory doesn’t ad- psychological absurdity of picturing a little tics have examined the evidence for Jesus’
equately explain either the fact of band of defeated cowards cowering in an resurrection, and accepted it as the most
the empty tomb or the historically upper room one day and a few days later astounding fact in all of human history.
verified conviction of the apostles transformed into a company that no perse- But the resurrection of Jesus Christ brings
that Jesus was alive. 34 cution could silence—and then attempt- us back to the question: What does the
ing to attribute this dramatic change to fact that Jesus defeated death have to do
nothing more convincing than a miserable with my life? The answer to that question
fabrication. … That simply wouldn’t make is what New Testament Christianity is all
sense.”36 about. (See article 7)
s
ic a n t m o vement wa
nif
“a tiny insig o v e r the cunnin
g
va il
able to pre is h e s ta b lishment
Jew
grip of the ig h t o f R o me....we
the m greatest
as well as w it h t h e
fronted
stand con . W h y did it win?”
a l l
mystery of ournalist
on , English j
Frank Moris
ENDNOTES The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus 27
J. P. Moreland, Scaling the Secular City,
(Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2004), 49. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House,
1
Paul Edwards, “Great Minds: Bertrand
17
Frank Morison, Who Moved the Stone? 2000), 172.
Russell,” Free Inquiry, December 2004/Jan- (Grand Rapids, MI: Lamplighter, 1958), 28
Charles Colson, “The Paradox of Power,”
uary 2005, 46. back cover. Power to Change, www.powertochange.

2
R. C. Sproul, Reason to Believe (Grand
18
Morison, preface, 8. ie/changed/index_Leaders.
Rapids, MI: Lamplighter, 1982), 44.

19
Morison, 9. 29
Morison, 104.
3
20
Quoted in Josh McDowell, The Resur- 30
Quoted in Strobel, 238.
Demands a Verdict (San Bernardino, CA: rection Factor (San Bernardino, CA: Here’s 31
Here’s Life, 1999), 203. Life, 1981), 10. 32

Quoted in Jesus Under Fire, 154.
4
Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian
21
Quoted in McDowell, The Resurrection 33
Habermas, 85.
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1957), 16. Factor, 66. 34

Habermas, 87.
5
Joseph Campbell, an interview with Bill
22
Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews (New 35
Morison, 115.
Moyers, Joseph Campbell and the Power of York: Harper & Row, 1988), 130. 36
Myth, PBS TV special, 1988.

23
Quoted in McDowell, New Evidence, 249. 37
Durant, 652.
6
Michael J. Wilkins and J. P. Moreland,
24
Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I 38
McDowell, Resurrection Factor, 111.
eds, Jesus Under Fire (Grand Rapids, MI: Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist 39
Zondervan, 1995), 2. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 243. 40

Quoted in McDowell 9.
7
“What Is a Skeptic?” editorial in Skeptic,
25
Michael Green, The Empty Cross of Jesus
vol 11, no. 2), 5. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1984), 97,
8
McDowell, New Evidence, 209. quoted in John Ankerberg and John ol
ho
Sc
9
Historian Will Durant reported, “About the Weldon, Knowing the Truth about the Res- w
La e law
rd th rd
urrection (Eugene, OR: Harvest House), 22. rva of
middle of this first century a pagan named
Ha e rva
on Ha
Thallus … argued that the abnormal dark-
26
Paul Little, Know Why You Believe t he as his
ut ed ts
p to n
to rd d de
ness alleged to have accompanied the death (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1967), 44. d e ga at
e stu
lpe ll r st
sti d law
of Christ was a purely natural phenomenon R ) he i s h a
h is nt
. to
O
3 f
85 ich lea of ou ble
SS
1 h n e c a
3– w re
e
hr
e ac un
and coincidence; the argument took the exis- 78 e, as e
E l, t n th
nc rG tio
F a f (1
i d e s o
u t t a
re c
c e
w
h
of
O
s r t
tence of Christ for granted. The denial of that nle Ev of
e b su n
tru ry
PR ee of re ide to
Pr a re ev he rs
Gr w e . I n h e t e i
D La
existence never seems to have occurred even . t g
on nc nd to tin ing th
E im th
e ide ge e lua m ed
NN
, S n e v l e n c a s u i n
to the bitterest gentile or Jewish opponents o al e ev s ta
ion ise is
a
vid ta ain
ct leg in
U re at st fe rt ou m
ST
r e g r i o e t h e
of nascent Christianity.” Will Durant, Caesar su Tr sh
in Ch les ex
p wi ha
v
re A
bli us ru is les
A he t e a s h i p ul d d
and Christ, vol. 3 of The Story of Civilization t o t Je d t
of wr n
es of im
e
Ye
t
dis
c
e
co
er
se
it c e o l a . e p l v
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1972), 555. ep .H ks ion ac
c
ng
e
ft
h eo 39 rr
e
sk ap or ct is lle ro fp so th
e
A m w r re h h a i o o e . e s or
h e g s u l y c v p r u o f f
10
Quoted in Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ t
nd
in re ap
p
ts’ ha ou st pr nc
e
on e en be gr wa
t sta t th to u d h e n o i t law v ide ny
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998), 246. ou th
a
him st i n
t
h at e w ar
d
e
e u ta
s e t n r v r o
s ed th ng
e
ed yk Ha
o ab
11
Peter Steinfels, “Jesus Died—And Then cla ng te
d
ha on he e is
m
st
a lle p c s t t h re j u
ch cc
e ic ea les
s
ce
, e fo
r
at fr Th
What Happened?” New York Times, April a fa a m lea un d en g ,“ h an
e r n n i t
nl d
re
e io ev din ist
ee th
e ut e clu hr
3, 1988, E9. Gr in n .G s ec g
th n C
r o s
pla ct
io pe tin ,c su
12
Quoted in McDowell, New Evidence, 224. ex rre ch a lua t ion f Je
s u s u e v c o
re re ion
Quoted in McDowell, Evidence, 82. gh lly ur ct
ou ica es
13
r t r r re
th m
a
th
e
su
McDowell, 82. ste st re
14
y i n e
rs ag
a th 40
”
te of ry.
McDowell, 81, 82. Af s t
15
c o
bia l fa his
t
16
Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona, his r ica t in
to ve
n
his re
h e
ot

$7.95
VOLUME TWO Y-JESUS
ARTICLE 7:
WHY
JESUS?
IS HE RELEVANT TODAY?
Why Jesus?
Click on the e-article headlines
IS JESUS RELEVANT TODAY? Page 6
WHAT DID JESUS SAY ABOUT GOD? Page 7
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST Page 8
WHAT DID JESUS SAY ABOUT US? Page 10
WHAT DID JESUS SAY ABOUT HIMSELF? Page 12
A NEW COSMIC CHAPTER Page 13
YOU CHOOSE THE ENDING Page 14
ENDNOTES Page 16
RETURN OF THE KING Page 17
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
presented.
Larry Chapman
4 • WHY JESUS • ARTICLE SEVEN
WHY JESUS • ARTICLE SEVEN • 5
In the February, 2006 cover story, “The Passion of Kanye West,” Rolling Stone magazine To Kanye West, Jesus is real, but irrelevant
features Grammy award winner West with a crown of thorns on his head. The image is a to his personal guilt and need to connect
parody of Jim Caviezel’s portrayal of Jesus in The Passion of the Christ. with God. If Jesus is who he claimed to be,
the Creator of life, we would expect him to
Although West is known for his irreverence, having drawn fire for suggesting that he be relevant to our lives. In fact, Jesus said
should be “a part of the Bible,” a near fatal automobile accident in 2002 set him on a that he came to bring us a life beyond our
search for life’s meaning. In his hit, “Jesus Walks,” West reveals an inner struggle where wildest dreams. If that is true, we would
he admits that the wrongs in his life have kept God distant, yet he still speaks of his need expect him to provide answers to our in-
for Jesus. A few verses in the rap tune, “Jesus Walks,” relate West’s struggle:1 nermost questions:
I ain’t here to argue about his facial features • “Who am I?”

Or here to convert atheists into believers • “Why am I here?”
I’m just tryin to say the way school need teachers • “Where am I going?”
The way Kathy Lee needed Regis that’s the way yall need Jesus…
“Who am I” is a question that shockingly
And I don’t think there’s nothing I can do to right my wrongs confronted Academy Award winner Jack
Jesus Walks with me with me with me with me Nicholson. Abandoned by his father as an
I wanna talk to God but I’m afraid cause we ain’t spoke in so long ... infant, Nicholson was led to believe that
his grandmother was his mother and his
mother was his older sister. He grew up
believing their story until at the age of 37
a Time magazine researcher exposed the
truth.
Left without a sense of his own roots,

Nicholson sought his identity in plea-
sure---living for the moment. He states, “I
resist all established beliefs. My religion
basically is to be immediate, to live in the
now… I envy people of faith….I pray to
something…up there….It’s part of being
human, I guess.”2
Madonna attempted to answer the ques-

tion of, “Why am I here?” by becoming a
diva, confessing, “There were many years
“There were many years when I thought when I thought fame, fortune, and public
fame, fortune, and public approval would approval would bring me happiness. But
bring me happiness. But one day you wake one day you wake up and realize they
up and realize they don’t…. don’t….I still felt something was miss-
I still felt something was missing…” ing….I wanted to know the meaning of
true and lasting happiness and how I could
MADONNA go about finding it.”3

Others have given up on finding mean- self-indulgence, the rebellious son had to
WHAT DID JESUS SAY ABOUT GOD?
ing. Kurt Cobain, lead singer of the Seattle go to work on a pig farm. Soon he was
grunge band Nirvana, despaired of life at so hungry even the pig food looked good.
Relational
age 27 and committed suicide. Jazz-age Despondent and not sure his father would
cartoonist Ralph Barton also found life accept him back, he packed his bag and
Jesus told us and showed us what God is
to be meaningless, leaving the following headed home.
like. Many think of God more as a force
suicide note: “I have had few difficulties,
than a person who we can know
many friends, great successes; I have gone Jesus tells us that not only did his father
and enjoy. The God of whom Jesus spoke
from wife to wife, and from house to house, welcome him home, but he actually ran
is not like the impersonal Force in Star
visited countries of the world, but I am out to meet him. And then the father went
Wars, whose goodness is measured in
fed up with inventing devices to fill up 24 totally radical with his love and threw a
voltage. On the contrary, He is relational
hours of the day.”4 huge party celebrating his son’s return.
like us, but even more so. He thinks, He
hears. He communicates in language we
Pascal, the great French philosopher be- It is interesting that even though the
can understand. And Jesus told us that
lieved this inner void we all experience can father greatly loved his son, he didn’t
God is loving.
only be filled by God. He states, “There is chase after him. He let the son he loved
a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every feel pain and suffer the consequences of
man which only Jesus Christ can fill.”5 If his rebellious choice. In a similar way, the
Loving
Pascal is right, then we would expect Jesus Scriptures teach that God’s love will never
to not only answer the question of our compromise what is best for us. It will
God’s love is radically different from ours
identity and meaning in this life, but also allow us to suffer the consequences of our
in that it is not based upon attraction or
to give us hope for life after we die. own wrong choices.
performance. It is totally sacrificial and
unselfish. Jesus compared God’s love with
Can there be meaning, without God? Not Jesus also taught that God will never
the love of a perfect father. A good father
according to atheist Bertrand Russell, compromise His character. Character is
wants the best for his children, sacrifices
who wrote, “Unless you assume a god, the who we are down deep. It is our essence
for them, and provides for them. But in
question of life’s purpose is meaningless.”6 from which all our thoughts and actions
their best interests, he also disciplines
Russell resigned himself to ultimately “rot” stem. So what is God like—down deep?
them.
in the grave. In his book, Why I am not a
Christian, Russell dismissed everything Holy
Jesus illustrates God’s heart of love with a
Jesus said about life’s meaning, including
story about a rebellious son who rejected
his promise of eternal life. Throughout the Scriptures (nearly 600
his father’s advice about life and what is
times), God is spoken of as “holy.” Holy
important. Arrogant and self-willed, the
But if Jesus actually defeated death as means that God’s character is morally
son wanted to quit working and “live it
eyewitnesses claim, (see article 6) then he pure and perfect in every way. Unblem-
up.” Rather than waiting until his father
alone would be able to tell us what life is ished. This means that He never enter-
was ready to give him his inheritance, he
all about, and answer, “Where am I going?” tains a thought that is impure or inconsis-
began insisting that his father give it to
In order to understand how Jesus’ words, tent with His moral excellence.
him early.
life, and death can establish our identities,
give us meaning in life, and provide hope Furthermore, God’s holiness means that
In Jesus’ story, the father granted his
for the future, we need to understand what He cannot be in the presence of evil.
son’s request. But things went bad for
he said about God, about us, and about Since evil is the opposite of His nature, He
the son. After squandering his money on
himself. hates it. It’s like pollution to Him.

The Passion
Of The Christ
Watching Jim Caviezel portray Jesus in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ is a gut-wrenching experience. Sadistic Roman guards
take turns brutally beating the blindfolded Jesus, taunting him to identify which person did it. Then, after delivering a horrific beating
with barbed whips, his executioners nail his hands and feet to a wooden cross. Hours later, Jesus dies, following hours of indescrib-
able suffering. It’s enough to make even the most calloused viewers wince. Many stunned viewers were left wondering what it was all
about.
The movie never really answers that question, but fortunately the New Testament does. Paul told the Roman Christians that, “God
showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Since that event nearly two thousand years
ago, billions have accepted Jesus’ gift and committed their lives to him. And from the first Christians on into the 21st century, Jesus
has changed lives. One of those lives that changed dramatically came as a result of watching The Passion of the Christ.
On January 19, 2004, the Fort Bend County sheriff’s office received a tragic call: Renee Coulter had discovered her 19-year-old daugh-
ter, Ashley Wilson, dead in her apartment. A pillowcase was over her head, and a cord was wrapped around her neck. All the evidence
seemed to point to suicide.
In March 2004, less than six weeks after Ashley’s death, The Passion of the Christ came to Richmond, Texas. Dan Leach purchased
a ticket and went into the theater for an experience that would change his life forever. Almost immediately after watching the movie,
twenty-one-year-old Leach, walked into the Fort Bend County sheriff’s office and turned himself in for the murder of Ashley Wilson.
The police were stunned, thinking her death was a suicide. But Dan Leach convinced them otherwise. In an exclusive interview with
KTRH radio in Houston, Leach revealed that in seeing and understanding Christ’s death, he was led to confess. In a remarkable turn
of events, Jesus had changed another life.
88 • IN THE
• WHY MEDIA• ARTICLE SEVEN
JESUS
WHY JESUS • ARTICLEINSEVEN •9 •9
THE MEDIA
I’d be in big trouble Freedom to Choose Rebels
if Karma was going In the movie, Stepford Wives, weak, lying, C.S. Lewis reasoned that even though we
to finally be greedy and murderous men have engi- are internally programmed with a desire
my judge…. neered submissive, obedient robots to

replace their liberated wives who they con-
to know God, we rebel against it from the
moment we are born.9 Lewis also began to
Bono, U2
sidered threats. Although the men suppos- examine his own motives, which led him
edly love their wives, they replaced them to the discovery that he instinctively knew
with toys in order to force their obedience. right from wrong. This recognition that we
But if God is holy and abhors evil, why are programmed with an inner moral law
didn’t He make our character like His? Why God could have made us like that — robot- led the former atheist to the conclusion
are there child molesters, murderers, rap- ic people (iPeople) hardwired to love and there must be a moral “Lawgiver.”
ists, and perverts? And why do we struggle obey him, programming worship into us
so with our own moral choices? That brings like a screensaver. But then our compulsory Indeed, according to both Jesus and the
us to the next part of our quest for mean- love would be meaningless. He wanted Scriptures, God has given us a moral law
ing. What did Jesus say about us? us to love Him freely. In real relationships, to obey. And not only have we turned our
we want someone to love us for who we backs on a relationship with Him, we also
are, not out of compulsion — we’d prefer have broken these moral laws that God es-
WHAT DID JESUS SAY ABOUT US? a soul mate over a mail-order bride. Søren tablished. Most of us know some of the Ten
Kierkegaard summarized the dilemma in Commandments: “Don’t lie, steal, murder,
Made for a Relationship with Him this story. commit adultery,” etc. Jesus summarized
them by saying we should love God with
If you were to read through the New Suppose there was a king who loved a all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves.
Testament you would discover that Jesus humble maiden. The king was like no Sin, therefore, is not only the wrong that
continually spoke of our immense value to other king. Every statesman trembled we do in breaking the law, but also our
God, telling us that God created us to be before his power … and yet this mighty failure to do what is right.
His children. king was melted by love for a humble
maiden. How could he declare his love God made the universe with laws that
Irish U2 rock star Bono remarked in an in- for her? In an odd sort of way, his kingli- govern everything in it. They are invio-
terview, “It’s a mind-blowing concept that ness tied his hands. If he brought her to lable and unchangeable. When Einstein
the God who created the Universe might the palace and crowned her head with derived the formula E=MC2 he unlocked
be looking for company, a real relationship jewels … she would surely not resist—no the mystery of nuclear energy. Put the right
with people….”7 In other words, before one dared resist him. But would she love ingredients together under exacting condi-
the universe was created, God planned to him? She would say she loved him of tions and enormous power is unleashed.
adopt us into His family. Not only that, but course, but would she truly?8 The Scriptures tell us that God’s moral law
He has planned an incredible inheritance is no less valid since it stems from His very
that is ours for the taking. Like the father’s You see the problem. Less poetically put: character.
heart in Jesus’ story, God wants to lavish How do you break up with an all-know-
on us an inheritance of unimaginable ing boyfriend? (“It’s just not working out From the very first man and woman, we
blessing and royal privilege. In His eyes, between us, but I guess you already knew have disobeyed God’s laws, even though
we are special. that.”) But to make freely exchanged love they are for our best. And we have failed
possible, God created human beings with a to do what is right. We have inherited this
unique capacity: free will. condition from the first man, Adam. The
• WHY
1010 • ARTICLE
JESUS
SEVEN
• ARTICLE JESUS?
•WHY SEVEN
Bible calls this disobedience, sin, which
means “missing the mark,” like an archer
missing his intended target. Thus our sins
have broken His intended relationship with
us. Using the archer’s example, we have
missed the mark when it comes to the
purpose we were created for.
Sin causes the severing of all relationships:

the human race severed from its environ-
ment (alienation), individuals severed from
themselves (guilt and shame), people sev-
ered from other people (war, murder), and
people severed from God (spiritual death).
Like links on a chain, once the first link
between God and humanity was broken,
all contingent links became uncoupled.
And we are broken. As Kayne West raps,

“And I don’t think there’s nothing I can
do to right my wrongs…I wanna talk to
God but I’m afraid cause we ain’t spoke
in so long ....” West’s lyrics speak of the
separation that sin brings to our lives. And
according to the Bible, this separation is
more than just lyrics in a rap song. It has
deadly consequences.
Our Sins have Separated us

from God’s Love
Our rebellion (sin) has created a wall of

separation between God and us (see Isaiah
59:2). In the Scriptures, “separation” means
spiritual death. And spiritual death means
being completely separated from the light
and life of God.
“But wait a minute,” you might say.

“Didn’t God know all of that before He
made us?

Why didn’t He see that His plan was the judge is your father. Knowing that he Those who believe all religions are the
doomed for failure?” Of course, an all- loves you, you immediately begin to plead, same deny we have a sin problem. They re-
knowing God would realize that we would “Dad, just let me go!” fuse to take Christ’s words seriously. They
rebel and sin. In fact, it is our failure that say God’s love will accept all of us, regard-
makes His plan so mind-blowing. This To which he responds, “I love you, son, but less what we have done. Perhaps Hitler is
brings us to the reason that God came I’m a judge. I can’t simply let you go.” deserving of judgment, they reason, but not
to Earth in human form. And even more them or others who live “decent lives”. It’s
incredible—the remarkable reason for his He is torn. Eventually he bangs the gavel like saying that God grades on the curve,
death. down and declares you guilty. Justice and everybody who gets a D- or better will
cannot be compromised, at least not by a get in. But this presents a dilemma.
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT judge. But because he loves you, he steps
HIMSELF? down from the bench, takes off the robe, As we have seen, sin is the absolute oppo-
and offers to pay the penalty for you. And site of God’s holy character. Thus we have
God’s Perfect Solution in fact, he takes your place in the electric offended the one who created us, and loved
chair. us enough to sacrifice His very Son for
Author Ray Stedman writes of God’s prom- us. In a sense our rebellion is like spitting
ised Messiah: “From the very beginning This is the picture painted by the New in His face. Neither good deeds, religion,
of the Old Testament, there is a sense of Testament. God stepped down into human meditation, or Karma can pay the debt our
hope and expectation, like the sound of history, in the person of Jesus Christ, and sins have incurred.
approaching footsteps: Someone is com- went to the electric chair (read: cross) in-
ing!...That hope increases throughout the stead of us, for us. Jesus is not a third-party According to theologian R. C. Sproul, Jesus
prophetic record as prophet after prophet whipping boy, taking our sins, but rather alone is the one who can pay that debt. He
declares yet another tantalizing hint: he is God himself. Put more bluntly, God writes,
Someone is coming!”10 had two choices: to judge sin in us or to
assume the punishment himself. In Christ, Moses could mediate on the law;
The ancient prophets had foretold that a He chose the latter. Muhammad could brandish a sword;
Messiah would come and be God’s perfect Buddha could give personal counsel;
sin offering, satisfying his justice. This per- Although U2’s Bono doesn’t pretend to be a Confucius could offer wise sayings; but
fect man would qualify to die for us. theologian, he accurately states the reason none of these men was qualified to offer
According to the New Testament authors, for Jesus’ death: an atonement for the sins of the world. …
the only reason Jesus was qualified to Christ alone is worthy of unlimited
die for the rest of us is because, as God, The point of the death of Christ is that devotion and service.12
he lived a morally perfect life and wasn’t Christ took on the sins of the world, so
subject to sin’s judgment. that what we put out did not come back A Gift Undeserved
to us, and that our sinful nature does not
It’s difficult to understand how Jesus’ reap the obvious death. That’s the point. The biblical term to describe God’s free for-
death paid for our sins. Perhaps a judicial It should keep us humbled. It’s not our giveness through Christ’s sacrificial death
analogy might clarify how Jesus solves the own good works that get us through the is grace. Whereas mercy saves us from
dilemma of God’s perfect love and justice. gates of Heaven.11 what we deserve, the grace of God gives
us what we don’t deserve. Let’s review for
Imagine entering a courtroom, guilty of Jesus didn’t say he was a way to God. He a minute how Christ has done for us what
murder (you have some serious issues). As said he was the way, and that his death we could not do for ourselves:
you approach the bench, you realize that was the only solution for our sins (John 14:6).

A NEW COSMIC CHAPTER
The new life emerging from receiving Christ and his death for sin is described as
“eternal life.” A forgiven and transformed life is something graspable; it is the story
line of countless movies and biographies. But the idea of “eternal life” is temporally
disorienting—a transformed life that goes on forever. While to think of living beyond
death is both a powerful and freeing concept, it brings with it fears of the unknown.
Will we lose our identities and freedom? Will our dwelling be a cumulus cloudbank?
Will we be bored?
C. S. Lewis noted that Jesus’ resurrection opens a radically new chapter in the cos-
mic scheme of the universe.13 Lewis also provides a helpful analogy in regard to the
unknown of eternal life, stating that if a small child were told that the sexual act was
the highest bodily pleasure, he would probably ask if you ate chocolate at the same
time. If told no, the child would only think of sexuality in terms of negation, that it
was “chocolateless.” He would see sexuality as less desirable than what he knows,
when in fact it is abundantly more. So, said Lewis, are our concepts of heaven and
eternal life; we will see them only as negations of earth rather than what they are,
abundantly more.14
Dr. Randy Alcorn, who has spent 25 years researching Bible passages on heaven
and has taught postgraduate courses on the subject, provides an insightful account
of the afterlife in his book (appropriately titled) Heaven.
Alcorn describes heaven as “a bright, vibrant, and physical New Earth, free from sin,
suffering, and death, and brimming with Christ’s presence, wondrous natural beauty,
and the richness of human culture as God intended it.”
Alcorn compares our experience in heaven to that of a child

whose imagination is set loose. We will be “real people
with real bodies enjoying close relationships with
God and each other, eating, drinking, working,
playing, traveling, worshiping, and discovering.”15
Although Alcorn bases his views on several

scriptures, one verse sums it up:
No eye has seen, no ear has heard,

and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him.
(1 Corinthians 2:9. NLT)

YOU CHOOSE THE ENDING Shortly after 9:00 A.M., another jet
• God loves us and created us for a crashed into the 80th floor of the south
relationship with Himself 16 Author and international lecturer, Ravi tower. Nearly all 600 people in the top
• We have been given the freedom to ac- Zacharias states, “Jesus’ message reveals floors of the south tower perished. The
cept or reject that relationship 17 that every individual, whether Jew or failure to evacuate the building was one
• Our sin and rebellion against God and His Greek or Roman or from any other civiliza- of the day’s great tragedies.22
laws have created a wall of separation tion, comes to know God not by virtue of
between us and Him 18 birth, but by a conscious choice to let Him Those 600 people perished because they
• Though we are deserving of eternal have His rule in his or her individual life.”21 relied on the wrong information, even
judgment, God has paid our debt in full though it was given by a person who was
by Jesus’ death in our place, making Our choices are often influenced by others. trying to help. The tragedy would not have
eternal life with Him possible 19 The following true story illustrates how occurred had the 600 victims been given
well-intended advice can sometimes result the right information.
Bono gives us his perspective on grace. in tragic consequences.
“Grace defies reason and logic. Love Our conscious choice about Jesus is infi-
interrupts, if you like, the consequences One man who was on the 92nd floor of nitely more important than the one facing
of your actions, which in my case is very the south tower of the World Trade Cen- the ill-informed 9/11 victims. Eternity is at
good news indeed, because I’ve done a ter had just heard a jet crashing into stake. We can choose one of three different
lot of stupid stuff….I’d be in big trouble if the north tower. Stunned by the explo- responses. We can ignore him. We can
Karma was going to finally be my judge…. sion, he called the police for instructions reject him. Or, we can accept him.
It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m on what to do. “We need to know if we
holding out for Grace. I’m holding out that need to get out of here, because we know The reason many people go through life
Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because there’s an explosion,” he said urgently on ignoring God is that they are too busy
I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to the phone. pushing their own agenda. Chuck Colson
depend on my own religiosity.”20 was like that. At age 39, Colson occupied
The voice on the other end advised him the office next to the president of the
We now have the picture of God’s plan of not to evacuate. “I would wait ’til further United States. He was the “tough guy” of
the ages coming together. But there still is notice.” the Nixon White House, the “hatchet man”
one missing ingredient. According to the who could make the hard decisions. Yet,
New Testament, each of us individually “All right,” the caller said. “Don’t evacu- in 1972, the Watergate scandal ruined his
must respond to the free gift Jesus offers ate.” He then hung up. reputation and his world became unglued.
us. He won’t force us to take it. Later he writes,
“I had been concerned with myself. I

had done this and that, I had achieved,
I had succeeded and I had given God
none of the credit, never once thank-
ing Him for any of His gifts to me. I had
never thought of anything being ‘immea-
“JESUS’ MESSAGE REVEALS THAT EVERY INDIVIDUAL, WHETHER JEW, OR GREEK, surably superior’ to myself, or if I had
OR ROMAN OR FROM ANY OTHER CIVILIZATION, COMES TO KNOW GOD, NOT BY in fleeting moments thought about the
VIRTUE OF BIRTH, BUT BY A CONSCIOUS CHOICE TO LET HIM HAVE HIS RULE
IN HIS OR HER INDIVIDUAL LIFE.” infinite power of God, I had not related
Him to my life.”23
RAVI ZACHARIAS, PHILOSOPHER AND APOLOGIST
1414 • ARTICLE
• WHY JESUSSEVEN JESUS?
•WHYSEVEN
• ARTICLE
Many can identify with Colson. It’s easy defeated enemy surrendering his arms:
to get caught in the fast pace of life and Fallen man is not simply an imperfect Colson discovered that his questions,
have little or no time for God. Yet ignoring creature who needs improvement: he “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” and
God’s gracious offer of forgiveness has is a rebel who must lay down his arms. “Where am I going?” are all answered in
the same dire consequences as outright Laying down your arms, surrendering, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
rejection. Our sin debt would still remain saying you are sorry, realizing that you The apostle Paul writes, “It is in Christ
unpaid. have been on the wrong track and get- that we find out who we are and what we
ting ready to start life over again….is are living for.”
In criminal cases, few ever turn down what Christians call repentance.25 (Ephesians 1:11, The Message)
a full pardon. In 1915, George Burdick,
city editor for the New York Tribune, had Repentance is a word that means a When we enter into a personal relation-
refused to reveal sources and broken the dramatic turn-around in thinking. That’s ship with Jesus Christ, he fills our inner
law. President Woodrow Wilson declared what happened to Nixon’s former “hatchet void, gives us peace, and satisfies our
a full pardon to Burdick, which he sur- man”. After Watergate was exposed, Col- desire for meaning and hope. And we no
prisingly rejected. The Supreme Court son began thinking about life differently. longer need to resort to temporary stimuli
ruled that for a pardon to be valid, it must Sensing his own lack of purpose, he began for our fulfillment. When He enters into us,
be accepted. Thus Burdick’s rejection reading Lewis’s Mere Christianity, given he also satisfies our deepest longings and
held. to him by a friend. Trained as a lawyer, needs for true, lasting love and security.
Colson took out a yellow legal pad and
Rejection of Christ’s full pardon occurs began writing down Lewis’s arguments. And the staggering thing is that God
for several reasons. Some use intellectual Colson recalled, Himself came as a man to pay our entire
reasons, but fail to investigate the debt. Therefore, no longer are we under
evidence. Others refuse to look beyond I knew the time had come for me. … the penalty of sin. Paul states this clearly
some hypocritical Christians they know, Was I to accept without reservations to the Romans when he writes,
pointing to unloving or inconsistent Jesus Christ as Lord of my life? It was
behavior as an excuse. Still others reject like a gate before me. There was no way You were his enemies, separated from
Christ because they blame God for to walk around it. I would step through, him by your evil thoughts and actions,
some sad or tragic experience they have or I would remain outside. A ‘maybe’ or yet now he has brought you back as his
suffered. However, Zacharias, who has ‘I need more time’ was kidding myself. friends. He has done this through his
lectured on hundreds of college campuses death on the cross in his own human
has observed a deeper reason. After an inner struggle, this former aide to body. As a result, he has brought you
the president of the United States finally into the very presence of God, and you
“A man rejects God neither because of realized that Jesus Christ was deserving of are holy and blameless as you stand
intellectual demands nor because of the his full allegiance. He writes, before him without a single fault.
scarcity of evidence. A man rejects God (Colossians 2:21b-22a NLT)
because of moral resistance that refuses And so early Friday morning, while I sat
to admit his need for God.”24 alone staring at the sea I love, words His gift of eternal life is absolutely free—
I had not been certain I could under- and it is for the taking. The choice is yours.
C. S. Lewis recognized that his own desire stand or say fell naturally from my lips:
for moral freedom had put him at war ‘Lord Jesus, I believe You. I accept You.
with God, a war he couldn’t win by simply Please come into my life. I commit it to
changing his behavior. Lewis compares You.’26
our acceptance of Christ with that of a

End Notes
1
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/
kanyewest/jesuswalks.html
2
Jack Nicholson, interviewed by Mike 11
Quoted in Assayas, 204.
Sager, Esquire, “The Meaning of Life,” 12
R. C. Sproul, Reason to Believe (Grand
(January, 2004), 70, 71. Rapids, MI: Lamplighter, 1982), 44.
3
O: The Oprah Magazine, “Oprah talks to 13
C. S. Lewis, The Best of C. S. Lewis
Madonna,” (January, 2004), 120. (Washington, DC: Canon, 1974), 343.
4
Quoted in Josh McDowell, The Resurrec- 14
Lewis, 357.
tion Factor (San Bernardino, CA: Here’s 15
Randy Alcorn, Heaven (Wheaton, IL:
Life Publ., 1981), 1. Tyndale, 2004).
5
Quoted in William R. Bright, Jesus and the 16
John 3:16; Ephesians 1:3-11
Intellectual (San Bernardino, CA: Here’s 17
Genesis 3:6,7; Romans 5:12; John 3:19
Life Publ., 1968), 33. 18
Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:2
6
Quoted in Rick Warren, The Purpose 19
Romans 5:15-21; Romans 6:23; Titus 3:5-7
Driven Life (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 20
Quoted in Assayas, 204.
2002), 17. 21
Ravi Zacharias, Jesus among Other Gods
7
Quoted in Michka Assayas, Bono in (Nashville: Word, 2000), 158.
Conversation (New York: Riverhead Books, 22
Martha T. Moore and Dennis Cauchon,
2005), 203. “Delay Meant Death on 9/11,” USA Today,
8
Søren Kierkegarrd, Philosophical Frag- Sept. 3, 2002, 1A.
ments, trans. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. 23
Charles W. Colson, Born Again (Old Tap-
Hong (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University pan, NJ: Chosen, 1976), 114.
Press, 1985), 26-28. 24
Ravi Zacharias, A Shattered Visage: The
9
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (San Fran- Real Face of Atheism (Grand Rapids, MI:
cisco: Harper, 2001), 160. Baker, 2004), 155.
10
Ray C. Stedman, God’s Loving Word 25
Lewis, Mere Christianity, 56.
(Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House, 1993), 26
Colson, 129.
50. 27
Ibid., 130.

Return
of the
King
In J.R.R. Tolkien’s, Lord of the Rings: The After Jesus’ resurrection, he spent 40 And, we are still waiting. Peter said
Return of the King, the mythical land of days with his disciples, teaching them that “in the last days” people would
Gondor is overrun by the orcs of Mordor. what they would need to know to carry give up on the idea of Jesus returning.
Aragorn must realize his true identity and on his message in a hostile world. Yet, events in the world, particularly
purpose as the King of Men, in order that During this time he reiterated to them Jerusalem and the Middle East, seem
the final battle against evil can be won. that he would someday return to set up to be moving towards a conclusion that
his kingdom, just as the prophets had only the Creator will be able to resolve.
The roots of Tolkien’s plot of a returning promised. What he didn’t tell them was Scripture tells us that when the Jews
king who destroys evil and restores when. Jesus did say that although no see Jesus returning in the clouds, they
peace to the world is taken from Jesus man would know the day or the hour of will recognize their tragic mistake of
Christ’s words spoken to his followers. On his return, that there would be signs when rejecting him, and weep bitterly:
several occasions he had told them that that event was drawing near. One sign
he would return when the time was right. would be the return of the Jews to their They will look on me whom they have
They expected it to be soon, but it has homeland of Israel. pierced and mourn for him as for an
now been nearly 2,000 years since Jesus only son. They will grieve bitterly for
left the Earth. Jesus had a job for his As Jesus left the Earth after those 40 him as for a firstborn son who has
followers to do before he returned. days, he was lifted up into the clouds. died. (Zechariah 12:10, NLT)
As the disciples were gazing up at what
Most Jews were bitterly disappointed must have been an incredible sight, some In Revelation, the last book of the
by Jesus. The Messiah they wanted angels appeared and began speaking to New Testament, the apostle John
would conquer their enemies, and restore them. They told the disciples, summarizes the cataclysmic events that
national prominence to Israel. The will culminate in Jesus’ return. Turmoil
prophets had spoken of the Messiah as a Men of Galilee, why are you standing in Jerusalem will bring the world to the
coming king to rule over Israel’s enemies. here staring at the sky? Jesus has been brink of destruction. The world will be
Five hundred years before Jesus was taken away from you into heaven. And hopeless without God’s intervention.
born the prophet Zechariah had written, someday, just as you saw him go, he
will return! (Acts 1:11, NLT) Those who oppose Jesus at his return
This is what the Lord Almighty says…I will be terrified. Those who have trusted
am returning to Mount Zion, and I will in him will be looking for him with joy
live in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will and anticipation. And, prior to his return,
be called the Faithful City; the mountain they will be taken up to meet him in the
of the Lord Almighty will be called the clouds. Are we nearing the day when
Holy Mountain. (Zechariah 8: 2a, 3, NLT) the return of the real King will occur?

“WHY JESUS?” IS ONE OF SEVEN ARTICLES FROM
Y-JESUS MAGAZINE
Y-Jesus Magazine investigates

the evidence for Jesus Christ.
• Scholars examine the facts
• Relevant illustrations
• Dramatic photos
• Contemporary graphics
• Easy to read and understand
Y-Jesus is a full color, 100 page magazine.

It includes these seven articles:
Born Identity
Jesus Complex
Was He crazy, a pathological liar, or the Son of God?
Mona Lisa’s Smirk

The truth behind the Da Vinci conspiracy.
Jesus.doc
The Path Laid By Prophets

Was the Messiah’s identity encrypted within ancient Hebrew prophecy?
Body Count
Is there evidence that Jesus rose from the dead?
Why Jesus?
Is He relevant today?
CLICK HERE to read excerpts from these articles at www.y-Jesus.com

HELPFUL WEBSITES DISCOVER THE LATEST
EVIDENCE FOR A CREATOR
IN YOUR DISCOVERY OF THE REAL JESUS:
IN Y-ORIGINS MAGAZINE
Da Vinci and Jesus

What can you believe, and what book can you trust? Dan
Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” is a book of fiction that
proposes that Jesus Christ is not the Son of God described
in the Bible. But this book is fiction and not fact. The Bible
clearly states that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who gave
His life for you. If you are searching for God and a life that is
full and meaningful, you can find what you are looking for in
Jesus Christ of the Bible.
www.DaVinciAndJesus.com
Jesus: Fact or Fiction

Explore the evidence for Jesus Christ. Hear experts in DISCOVER IN Y-ORIGINS:
history, philosophy, science and theology answer more than
50 of life’s toughest questions. Find the answers to your Leading scientists like Einstein admit to a
“superintelligence.”
questions about Jesus Christ.
www.JesusFactOrFiction.com DNA causes leading atheist to renounce 50
years of unbelief
DNA stuns evolutionists by tracing all

humans to a single parent
Would You Like to Know God New theories predict other dimensions that
Personally? make “miracles” possible
God loves you and wants you to know Him intimately. The Creator has left clues in the cosmos that
Four principles will help you discover how to know God tell us what He is like.
personally and experience the abundant life He promised.
This colorful, easy-to-read magazine provides
www.KnowGodPersonally.org startling insights about our origins from
such leading scientists as Stephen Hawking,
Stephen Jay Gould, Roger Penrose, and Paul
Davies. In his review of Y-Origins Jon Greene
writes,
“Y-Origins is a wonderful work on intelligent

design, designed to appeal to the Y-
generation. For readers who have never
been exposed to the evidence for intelligent
design, Y-Origins is a great introduction.”
WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU. To get a copy of
CLICK HERE to give us comments Y-Origins Magazine
visit www.Y-zine.com
or mail $7.95 per magazine to:
Y-Zine
P.O. BOX 6017
(Shipping & handling is free

within the continental US)
EL COMPLEJO DE JESÚS:
¿Es Jesús Dios?
¿Alguna vez has conocido a alguien con tal magnetismo personal que ellos son siempre el
centro de atención? Quizás sea su personalidad o su inteligencia –pero algo acerca de ellos
es enigmático. Bueno, esa es la manera en que fue hace dos mil años con Jesucristo. Pero lo
que hace a Jesús relevante incluso hoy en el siglo 21 son las afirmaciones que él hizo sobre
si mismo.
Como un impredecible carpintero de un oscuro pueblo en Palestina, Jesús hizo
afirmaciones que, si son ciertas, tienen implicaciones profundas en nuestras vidas. Según
Jesús, usted y yo somos especiales, parte de un gran plan cósmico.
Fue ante todo las escandalosas afirmaciones de Jesús que le causaron ser visto como una
persona excéntrica tanto por las autoridades romanas como por la jerarquía judía. Si bien él
era un forastero sin credenciales o base de poder político, dentro de tres años, Jesús cambió
el mundo para los siguientes 20 siglos. Otros líderes morales y religiosos han dejado un
impacto – pero nada como ese desconocido carpintero de Nazaret.
¿Qué era lo que en Jesucristo hizo la diferencia? ¿Era él meramente un gran hombre, o algo
más?
Estas preguntas llegan al corazón de quien fue Jesús realmente. Algunos creen que él era
meramente un gran maestro moral; otros creen que él era simplemente el líder de la más
grande religión del mundo. Pero muchos creen algo más grande. Los cristianos creen que
Dios de hecho nos ha visitado en forma humana. Y ellos creen en la evidencia que lo
respalda. Entonces, ¿quién es el verdadero Jesús? Echemos un vistazo más de cerca.
Así como nosotros tomamos un vistazo más profundo a la persona más controversial del
mundo, empezamos preguntándonos: ¿Jesús podría haber sido meramente un gran maestro
moral?
¿Un Gran Maestro de la Moral?
Casi todos los eruditos reconocen que Jesús fue un gran maestro moral. De hecho, su
brillante entendimiento de la moralidad humana es un logro reconocido incluso por
aquellos de otras religiones. En su libro Jesús de azaret, el erudito judío Joseph Klausner
escribió, “Es universalmente admitido… que Cristo enseñó las más puras y sublimes
éticas… las cuales arrojan los preceptos morales y máximas de los hombres más sabios de
la antigüedad lejos dentro de la sombra.”1
El sermón del monte de Jesús ha sido llamado la enseñanza más excelente de ética humana
jamás pronunciada por un individuo. De hecho, mucho de lo que nosotros conocemos hoy
como “igualdad de derechos” en realidad son el resultado de la enseñanza de Jesús. El
historiador Will Durant dijo de Jesús que “él vivió y luchó incansablemente por la
ìgualdad de derechos; en tiempos modernos él habría sido enviado a Siberia. ‘El que es
mayor entre ustedes, será vuestro siervo’- esta es la inversión de toda sabiduría política, de
toda cordura”.2
Algunos han tratado de separar las enseñanzas de Jesús en ética de las afirmaciones sobre el
mismo, creyendo que el fue simplemente un gran hombre quien enseñó elevados principios
morales. Esta fue la propuesta de uno de los Padres Fundadores de los Estados Unidos de
América.
El Presidente Thomas Jefferson, nunca el educado racionalista, se sentó en la Casa

Blanca con dos copias idénticas del Nuevo Testamento, una recta punta de navaja,
y una gavilla de un octavo de tamaño de papel. En el transcurso de unas pocas
noches, él hizo un rápido trabajo de cortar y pegar su propia Biblia, un delgado
volumen que él llamó “La filosofía de Jesús de Nazaret”. Después de cortar cada
pasaje que sugería la naturaleza divina de Jesús, Jefferson tenía un Jesús quien era
no más ni menos que un buen guía ético. 3
Irónicamente, las palabras memorables de Jefferson en la Declaración de Independencia

tienen sus raíces en la enseñanza de Jesús de que cada persona es de inmensa e igual
importancia para Dios, sin tener en cuenta el sexo, la raza o el estatus social. El famoso
documento expone,:
“Nosotros sostenemos estas verdades que son evidentes por sí solas, de que todos los
hombres son creados iguales, que ellos son dotados por su creador con ciertos derechos
inalienables…”
Pero la pregunta que Jefferson nunca hizo es: ¿cómo podría Jesús ser un gran líder moral si
él mintió acerca de ser Dios? Entonces quizás él no era realmente moral después de todo,
pero su motivo fue comenzar una gran religión. Veamos si eso explica la grandeza de Jesús.
¿Un Gran Líder Religioso?
¿Se merecía Jesús el titulo de “gran líder religioso? Sorprendentemente, Jesús nunca
proclamo ser un líder religioso. Él nunca se metió en la política religiosa o impulso una
agenda ambiciosa, y él ministró casi en su totalidad fuera de la establecida estructura
religiosa. Cuando uno compara a Jesús con los otros grandes líderes religiosos, una notable
distinción emerge. Ravi Zacarías, quien creció en una cultura Hindú, ha estudiado las
religiones del mundo y observó una distinción fundamental entre otros fundadores
religiosos y Jesucristo.
“Lo que sea que nosotros podamos hacer de sus afirmaciones, una realidad es
inevitable. Ellos son profesores que apuntan a sus enseñanzas o muestran una
manera particular. En todo esto, ahí emerge una instrucción, una manera de vida.
No es Zoroastro a quien usted se vuelve, no es Zoroastro a quien usted escucha. No
es Buda quien te libra; son sus Verdades Nobles que te instruyen. No es Mahoma
quien te transforma; es la belleza del Corán que te corteja. Por contraste, Jesús no
solo enseña o expone Su mensaje. Él era idéntico con Su mensaje.”4
La verdad del punto de Zacarías subrayado por el número de veces en los evangelios que la
enseñanza del mensaje de Jesús fue sencillamente “Ven a mí” o “Sígueme” o
“Obedéceme”. También, Jesús hizo claro que su misión principal era perdonar los pecados,
algo que solo Dios podía hacer.
Ningún otro líder religioso importante jamás proclamó tener el poder para perdonar
pecados. Pero esa no es la única afirmación que Jesús hizo que lo separan de los otros. En
The World´s Great Religions, (Las Grandes Religiones del Mundo) Huston Smith observó,
“Solo dos personas asombraron a sus contemporáneos tanto que la pregunta que evocaron
no fue ´¿Quién es él?’ sino ´¿Qué es él?´ Ellos fueron Jesús y Buda. Las respuestas que
estos dos dieron fueron exactamente contrarias. Buda dijo inequívocamente que él era un
mero hombre, no un dios –casi como si él preveía intentos más tarde de adorarle. Jesús, por
otra parte, afirmó…ser divino.”5
¿Jesús afirmaba ser Dios?
Claramente, desde los primeros años de la iglesia, Jesús fue llamado Señor y considerado
por la mayoría de los cristianos como Dios. Sin embargo su divinidad fue una doctrina que
fue sometida a gran debate (ver “¿Jesús afirmaba ser Dios?”). Entonces la pregunta—y es
la pregunta—es esta: ¿Realmente afirmaba Jesús ser Dios (el Creador), o fue su divinidad
algo inventado o asumido por los autores del Nuevo Testamento?
Algunos eruditos creen que Jesús era un maestro tan poderoso y un personaje tan fascinante
que sus discípulos solo asumieron que él era Dios. O tal vez ellos solo querían pensar que él
era Dios. John Dominic Crossan y el Seminario Jesús (un grupo escéptico marginal de
estudiosos con presuposiciones en contra de los milagros) están entre aquellos que creen
que Jesús fue divinizado por error.
Aunque libros como El Código Da Vinci argumentan que la divinidad de Jesús fue una
doctrina tardía de la iglesia, la evidencia muestra lo contrario. (Ver “¿Existe una
Conspiración Da Vinci?”) La mayoría de cristianos que aceptan los evangelios como
fiables insisten que Jesús afirmó su deidad. Thomas Jefferson no tuvo problema aceptando
las enseñanzas de Jesús en moralidad y ética mientras negara su deidad.6 Pero como hemos
dicho, y estudiaremos mas adelante, si Jesús no fue quien él afirmó ser, entonces debemos
examinar algunas otras alternativas, ninguna de las cuales lo harían un gran maestro moral.
Incluso una lectura superficial de los evangelios revelan que Jesús afirmaba ser alguien más
que un profeta como Moisés o Daniel. Pero es la naturaleza de esas afirmaciones lo que nos
preocupa. Dos preguntas son dignas de atención.
• ¿Realmente afirmó Jesús ser Dios?

• Cuando él dice “Dios,” ¿Jesús realmente quiso decir que él era el Creador del
universo del que se habla en la Biblia Hebrea?
Para dirigir estas preguntas, consideremos las palabras de Jesús en Mateo 28:18: “Se me ha
dado toda autoridad en el cielo y en la tierra.”
¿Qué quiso decir Jesús cuando afirmó tener toda autoridad en el cielo y en la tierra? Un
peligro de interpretación es leer dentro de un documento histórico nuestra definición—es
este caso, lo que queremos decir por “toda autoridad.” Pero para localizar el significado, el
contexto lo es todo.
“Autoridad” era un termino bien entendido entre los romanos-que ocupaban el territorio de
Israel. En ese momento, César era la autoridad suprema en el mundo romano entero. Su
edicto podría al instante lanzar legiones para la guerra, condenar o exonerar a criminales, y
establecer leyes y reglas de gobierno. De hecho, la autoridad del César era tal que él mismo
alegó divinidad.
Entonces, al menos Jesús estaba afirmado autoridad comparable a César mismo. Pero él no
dijo solamente que él tenía más autoridad que los líderes judíos o gobernantes romanos;
Jesús estaba afirmando ser la autoridad suprema del universo. Para aquellos a quienes él les
habló, significó que él era Dios. No un dios—pero el Dios.
¿Jesús afirmó ser el Creador?
Pero, ¿es posible que Jesús estuviera solo reflejando la autoridad de Dios y no estaba
declarando que él era el verdadero Creador? A primera vista eso parece creíble. Sin
embargo la afirmación de Jesús de tener toda autoridad parece tener sentido solo si él es el
Creador del universo. La palabra “toda” abarca todo, incluyendo la creación misma.
Así como miramos mas profundo dentro de las propias palabras de Jesús, un patrón parece
emerger. Jesús hizo afirmaciones radicales sobre él mismo que, si ciertas,
inconfundiblemente apuntan s su deidad. Aquí esta una lista parcial de tales declaraciones
como registradas por relatos de testigos oculares.
• “Yo soy la resurrección y la vida.” (Juan 11:25)

• “Yo soy la luz del mundo.” (Juan 8:12)
• “Yo y mi padre somos uno.” (Juan 10:30)
• “Yo soy el Alfa y la Omega, el Primero y el Ultimo, el Principio y el Fin.”
(Apocalipsis 22:13).”
• “Yo soy el camino, la verdad, y la vida.” (Juan 14:6)
• “Yo soy el único camino al Padre [Dios].” (Juan 14:6)
• “Si me has visto, has visto al Padre.” (Juan 14:9) Una vez más, debemos ir atrás al
contexto. En las Sagradas Escrituras Hebreas, cuando Moisés preguntó a Dios su
nombre en la zarza ardiente, Dios respondió, “YO SOY.” Él le estaba diciendo a
Moisés que Él es el único Creador, eterno y trascendente en el tiempo.
Desde el tiempo de Moisés, ningún judío practicante se referiría a sí mismo o ningún otro
por el “Yo Soy.” Como resultado, la afirmación del “YO SOY” de Jesús enfureció a los
líderes judíos. Una vez, por ejemplo, algunos líderes le explicaron a Jesús porque ellos
estaban tratando de matarlo: “Porque usted, un simple hombre, se ha hecho a usted mismo
Dios” (Juan 10:33).
Pero el punto aquí no es simplemente que tal frase enojara a los líderes religiosos. El punto
es que ellos conocían exactamente lo que él estaba diciendo—él estaba afirmando ser Dios,
el Creador del Universo. Sólo esta afirmación habría traído la acusación de blasfemia. Leer
en el texto que Jesús afirmó ser Dios es claramente justificado, no simplemente por sus
palabras, pero también por la reacción a estas palabras.
¿Qué clase de Dios?
La idea de que somos todos parte de Dios, y que dentro de nosotros esta la semilla de
divinidad, simplemente no es un posible significado de las palabras y acciones de Jesús.
Tales pensamientos son revisionistas, extraños a su enseñanza, extraños a su declaración de
creencias, y extraño al entendimiento de sus discípulos de su enseñanza.
Jesús enseño que él es Dios en la manera que los Judíos entendían a Dios y la manera que
las Escrituras Hebreas retrataban a Dios, no en la manera en que el movimiento de Nueva
Era entiende a Dios. Ni Jesús o su audiencia han sido criados en Star Wars, y entonces
cuando ellos hablaron de Dios, ellos no estaban hablando de fuerzas cósmicas. Es
simplemente mala historia redefinir lo que Jesús quiso decir con el concepto de Dios.
Pero si Jesús no era Dios, ¿seguimos bien nosotros llamándolo un gran maestro moral? C.S.
Lewis argumentó, “Estoy aquí tratando de impedir a cualquiera de decir la cosa realmente
absurda que la gente a menudo dicen de Él: ‘Estoy listo para aceptar a Jesús como un gran
maestro moral, pero no acepto su afirmación de ser Dios.’ Esa es la única cosa que no
debemos de decir.”7
En su búsqueda de la verdad, Lewis supo que él no podía tener ambos sentidos con la
identidad de Jesús. O Jesús era quien afirmaba ser—Dios en la carne, —o sus afirmaciones
eran falsas. Y si ellas eran falsas, Jesús no podría ser un gran maestro moral. Él estaría
mintiendo intencionalmente o sería un lunático con el complejo de Dios.
¿Era Jesús un Mentiroso?
Uno de los más conocidos y más influyentes trabajos políticos de todos los tiempos fue
escrito por Nicolás Maquiavelo en 1532. En su clásico, El Príncipe, Maquiavelo exalta el
poder, el éxito, la imagen, y la eficiencia por encima de la lealtad, la fe, y la honestidad.
Según Maquiavelo, mentir esta bien si logra un fin político.
¿Podría Jesucristo haber sido motivado por este principio Maquiavélico? De hecho, los
opositores Judíos de Jesús estuvieron constantemente tratando de exponerlo como un
fraude y un mentiroso. Ellos lo inundaron con preguntas en un intento de ponerle una
trampa y hacerlo contradecirse a si mismo. Sin embargo, Jesús respondió con notable
consistencia.
La pregunta con la que debemos lidiar es, ¿qué podría motivar a Jesús a vivir su vida entera
como una mentira? El enseñó que Dios se oponía a la mentira y la hipocresía, entonces él
no lo estaría haciendo para complacer a su Padre. Él claramente no mintió para el beneficio
de sus seguidores. (Todos menos uno fueron martirizados.) Y así somos dejados con sólo
otras dos explicaciones razonables, cada una de las cuales es problemática.
Beneficio
Mucha gente ha mentido por ganancia personal. De hecho, la motivación de la mayoría de

los mentirosos es algún beneficio percibido para sí mismos. ¿Qué podría haber esperado
ganar Jesús al mentir sobre su identidad? El poder sería la respuesta más obvia. Si la gente
creía que él era Dios, él tendría un enorme poder. (Eso es por que muchos lideres antiguos,
tal como el del César, afirmaban un origen divino.)
El problema con esta explicación es que Jesús rechazó todos los intentos de moverlo a él en
la dirección del poder sentado, en vez de regañar a aquellos que abusaron de tal poder y
vivieron sus vidas persiguiéndolo. Él también escogió alcanzar a los relegados (prostitutas
y leprosos), aquellos sin poder, creando una red de gente cuya influencia era menos que
cero. En una manera que puede solo ser descrita como extraña, todo lo que Jesús hizo y dijo
se movió diametralmente en la otra dirección del poder.
Parece que si el poder fue la motivación de Jesús, él habría evitado la cruz a toda costa. Sin
embargo, en varias ocasiones, él dijo a sus discípulos que la cruz era su destino y misión.
¿Cómo podría morir en una cruz romana traerle a uno poder?
La muerte, por supuesto, trae todas las cosas en el enfoque adecuado. Y mientras muchos
mártires han muerto por una causa en la que ellos creían, pocos han estado dispuestos a
morir por una mentira conocida. Ciertamente toda esperanza para la propia ganancia
personal de Jesús habría terminado en la cruz. Aún, a su último aliento, él no renunciaría a
su afirmación de ser el único Hijo de Dios.
Un Legado
Por lo tanto si Jesús no iba a mentir para beneficio personal, quizás sus afirmaciones
radicales fueron falsificadas con el propósito de dejar un legado. Pero la posibilidad de ser
golpeado a una pulpa y clavado a una cruz humedecería rápidamente el entusiasmo de la
mayoría, que serían superestrellas.
Aquí hay otro hecho fascinante. Si Jesús estuvo hubiera simplemente dejado caer la
afirmación de ser el Hijo de Dios, él nunca habría sido condenado. Fue su afirmación de ser
Dios y su poca disposición de retractarse de ello que lo llevó a la crucifixión.
Si realzando su credibilidad y reputación histórica fue lo que motivó a Jesús a mentir, hay
que explicar cómo un carpintero de un pueblo pobre de Judea pudo anticipar estos eventos
que lanzarían su nombre a prominencia mundial. ¿Cómo sabría él que su mensaje
sobreviviría? Los discípulos de Jesús habían huido y Pedro lo había negado. No
exactamente la fórmula de lanzamiento de un legado religioso.
¿Los historiadores creen que Jesús mintió? Los estudiosos han escudriñado las palabras y
vida de Jesús para ver si hay alguna evidencia de un defecto en su carácter moral. De
hecho, incluso los más ardientes escépticos están atónitos por la moral y pureza ética de
Jesús. Uno de estos era el escéptico y antagonista John Stuart Mill (1806-73), el filósofo.
Mill escribió de Jesús,
“Sobre la vida y dichos de Jesús hay un sello personal de originalidad combinado

con profundidad de perspicacia en el primer rango de hombres de sublime genio
de los cuales nuestra especie puede jactarse. Cuando este preeminente genio es
combinado con las cualidades de probablemente el más grande reformador moral
y mártir de esa misión que jamás halla existido sobre la tierra, la religión no puede
decir haber hecho una mala elección escogiendo a este hombre como el
representante ideal y guía para la humanidad.”9
De acuerdo con el historiador Philip Schaff, no hay evidencia, ni en la historia de la iglesia

o en la historia secular, de que Jesús mintió acerca de nada. Schaff argumentó,:
“¿Cómo, en nombre de la lógica, sentido común, y experiencia, podría un mentiroso,

egoísta, un hombre depravado haber inventado, y continuamente mantenido desde el
principio hasta el fin, el más puro y noble carácter conocido en la historia con el más
perfecto aire de verdad y realidad?”10
Para ir con la opción de mentiroso parece nadar contra corriente ante todo lo que Jesús
enseñó, vivió, y por lo que murió. Para la mayoría de los estudiosos, simplemente no tiene
sentido. Sin embargo, para negar las afirmaciones de Jesús, uno debe llegar con alguna
explicación. Y si las afirmaciones de Jesús no son verdad, y él no estaba mintiendo, la
única opción restante es que él debió haber sido auto-engañado.
¿Era Jesús un Lunático?
Albert Schweitzer, quién fue galardonado con el Premio Nobel en 1952 por sus esfuerzos
humanitarios, tenía sus propias opiniones sobre Jesús. Schweitzer concluyó que la locura
estaba detrás de las afirmaciones de Jesús de ser Dios. En otras palabras, Jesús estaba
equivocado sobre sus afirmaciones pero no mintió intencionalmente. De acuerdo a esta
teoría, Jesús en realidad estaba engañado, creyendo que él era el Mesías.
C.S. Lewis consideró esta opinión cuidadosamente. Lewis dedujo la locura de las
afirmaciones de Jesús—si ellas no son verdad. Él dijo que alguien que afirmaba ser Dios no
sería un gran maestro moral.
“Él podría ser un lunático—al nivel de un hombre que dice que él es un huevo
hervido—o de lo contrario él sería el Diablo del Infierno.”11
Incluso los más escépticos del cristianismo rara vez cuestionan la cordura de Jesús. El
reformador social William Channing (1780-1842), ciertamente no un cristiano, hizo la
siguiente observación sobre Jesús:
“El cargo de un extravagante, auto-engañado entusiasmo es lo último de lo que puede

ser atribuido a Jesús. ¿Dónde podemos encontrar rastros de ello en la historia? ¿Los
detectamos en la tranquila autoridad de Sus preceptos?”12
Si bien su propia vida fue llena de inmoralidad y escepticismo personal, el nombrado

filosofo francés Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78) reconoció el carácter superior y la
presencia de juicio de Jesús:
“Cuando Platón describe su imaginario hombre recto, cargado con todos los castigos de
culpa, pero mereciendo la más alta recompensa de virtud, él describe exactamente el
personaje de Jesús. …Que presencia de juicio. …Si, si la vida y muerte de Sócrates son
aquellas de un filósofo, la vida y muerte de Jesús son aquellas de un Dios.”13
Schaff planteó la interrogación que debemos preguntarnos nosotros mismos:
“¿Es ese el intelecto—completamente sano y vigoroso, siempre listo y siempre sereno-

responsable de un radical y más serio engaño en relación con su propio carácter y
misión?”14
Entonces, ¿Fue Jesús un mentiroso o un lunático, o fue el Hijo de Dios? ¿Podría haber
estado en lo correcto, Jefferson al etiquetar a Jesús de “solo un buen maestro moral”
mientras negándole su deidad? Interesantemente, la audiencia que escuchó a Jesús—ambos
creyentes y enemigos—nunca lo consideró como un simple maestro moral. Jesús produjo
tres efectos principales en la gente que lo conocían: odio, terror, o adoración.
Y hoy, 2000 años más tarde, Jesús sigue siendo la persona más polarizadora en nuestro
mundo. Aún no son su moralidad y ética, o legado que inflaman pasiones. El mensaje que
Jesús trajo al mundo fue que Dios nos hizo con un propósito—y ese propósito esta envuelto
en Su Hijo.
Las afirmaciones de Cristo Jesús nos obligan a escoger. Como Lewis declaró, no podemos
poner a Jesús en la categoría de ser solamente un gran líder religioso o un buen maestro
moral.
“Usted debe hacer una elección. O este hombre fue y es el Hijo de Dios: o bien un
loco o algo peor. Usted puede encerrarlo a Él como un tonto, usted puede
escupirle a Él y matarlo como a un demonio o usted puede caer a sus pies y
llamarlo Señor y Dios. Pero no nos permita venir con ninguna afirmación
condescendiente y sin sentido acerca de que es un gran maestro humano. Él no
nos dejo esa posibilidad abierta a nosotros. No era su intención.”15
Notas Finales.
1. Citado in Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, vol. 1 (Nashville:

Nelson, 1979), 127.
2. Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy (New York: Washington Square, 1961), 428.
3. Linda Kulman and Jay Tolson, “The Jesus Code,” U. S. News & World Report,
December 22, 2003, 1.
4. Ravi Zacharias, Jesus among Other Gods (Nashville: Word, 2000), 89.
5. Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli, Handbook of Christian Apologetics (Downers

Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1994), 150.
6. Un deista es una persona que cree en un Dios no involucrado- una deidad que creo el
mundo y luego lo dejó caminar bajo leyes pre-establecidas. El Deismo era la moda entre
los intelectuales durante el tiempo de la independencia de Estados Unidos, y Jefferson
creyó en ella.
7. Lewis, 52.
8. Norman L. Geisler and Abdul Saleeb, Answering Islam (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker,
2003), 178–80.
9. Citado en Josh McDowell, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict (San
Bernardino, CA: Here’s Life, 1999), 159.
10. Citado en McDowell, New Evidence, 160.
11. Lewis, 52.
12. Citado en McDowell, New Evidence, 161, 162.
13. Citado en McDowell, New Evidence, 122, 129.
14. Citado en McDowell, New Evidence, 162.
15. Lewis, 52.

Who Was The Real Jesus

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Who Was The Real Jesus

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

$7.

CLICK HERE to see other articles from Y-Jesus Magazine at www.y-zine.com

Chief Editor: Larry Chapman

WAS JESUS A REAL PERSON? Page 5

MYTH VS. REALITY Page 6

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS ABOUT JESUS Page 8

THE NEW TESTAMENT Page 8

EARLY NON-CHRISTIAN ACCOUNTS Page 10

HISTORICAL IMPACT Page 10

TANGIBLE EVIDENCE Page 11

SCHOLARS’ VERDICT Page 13

THE GOSPELS IN BRIEF Page 13

THE WONDER YEARS Page 14

PUBLIC MINISTRY Page 14

DEATH AND RESURRECTION Page 15

BORN IDENTITY • ARTICLE ONE • 5

6 • ARTICLE ONE • BORN IDENTITY

In spite of the box ofﬁce ﬂop, historians cite

• written documentation from early

The historicity of Alexander the Great and

8 • ARTICLE ONE • BORN IDENTITY

EARLY existence. • Jesus’ small band of disciples

BORN IDENTITY • ARTICLE ONE • 11

12 • ARTICLE ONE • BORN IDENTITY

Jesus Christ has impacted history’s land-

in the history of Western culture for (Isaiah 9:6-7, NLT)

almost twenty centuries.... It is from his

millions pray.”19 announcement is heralded by an angel. This

NEWSFLASH to a lowly peasant woman, who was told she

BORN IDENTITY • ARTICLE ONE • 13

This, according to the Gospel of Luke,

One would assume that Jesus’ teaching

14 • ARTICLE ONE • BORN IDENTITY

BORN IDENTITY • ARTICLE ONE • 15

WAS HE CRAZY, A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR,

GREAT MORAL TEACHER? Page 6

GREAT RELIGOUS LEADER? Page 8

DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE GOD? Page 8

DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE THE CREATOR? Page 9

WHAT KIND OF GOD? Page 10

WAS JESUS A LIAR? Page 10

WAS JESUS A LUNATIC? Page 14

4 • ARTICLE TWO • JESUS COMPLEX

JESUS COMPLEX • ARTICLE TWO • 5

Some have tried to separate Jesus’ teach-

President Thomas Jefferson, ever

6 • ARTICLE TWO • JESUS COMPLEX

GREAT did not only teach or expound His

RELIGIOUS message. He was identical with His DID

8 • ARTICLE TWO • JESUS COMPLEX

• Did Jesus actually claim to be God?

JESUS COMPLEX • ARTICLE TWO • 9

10 • ARTICLE TWO • JESUS COMPLEX

JESUS COMPLEX • ARTICLE TWO • 11

“If you’re craving adventure, spiri-

—DOUG FIELDS, pastor to students,

AVAILABLE NOW AT BOOK RETAILERS NATIONWIDE

JESUS COMPLEX • ARTICLE TWO • 13

14 • ARTICLE TWO • JESUS COMPLEX

nonsense about His bought into it.

(San Bernardino, CA: Here’s Life, 1999), 159.

JESUS COMPLEX • ARTICLE TWO • 15

Y-Jesus Magazine investigates