EVIDENCE FOR THE HISTORICAL JESUS: Is the Jesus of History the Christ of Faith by Gary Habermas

Author:Gary Habermas [Habermas, Gary]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Christian Publishing House
Published: 2020-11-27T16:00:00+00:00

What accounts for this belief? Ehrman clearly answers that question, too: “we can say with complete certainty that some of his disciples at some later time insisted that . . . he soon appeared to them, convincing them that that he had been raised from the dead.”23

On this subject, then, we are asking straightforward, historical questions. We asked whether there existed a man named Jesus who walked and talked in Palestine, died on the cross and that some people believed that they saw him afterward? These are certainly claims that historians can get their fingers on—and we have strong data here. So as I said, let’s first talk about what is knowable history. The question concerning whether any of this could be a miraculous act of God is a further philosophical issue.

Ankerberg: Now, during these programs, you have heard Dr. Habermas constantly refer to historical facts about Jesus that are accepted by the majority of critical scholars. What are some of these? I asked him to identify 12 facts that most critical scholars accept as true. Listen:

Habermas: Now, the question arises, obviously, what kind of data do we have, then? What are these “historical facts” that I keep referring to? A few people may question if we even have historical facts!

Earlier I differentiated between audiences. Evangelicals may look at the New Testament text and say, “Everything I read here is a historical fact. Credible data are all over the place. Everywhere I read, I find them because I believe that the Scriptures are inspired.”

Skeptics, on the other hand, might say, “No. The New Testament is only a book of ancient literature. Some claims are clearly better than others, but there’s no way that it is all history.”

So, we have to address the question, which are the best-evidenced historical facts here? Most scholars will grant a list of at least twelve items surrounding the overall events towards the end of Jesus’ life, including his death, burial, and the nature of the disciples’ claim that they saw him alive again after his death. Actually, I have long said that there are more than just twelve of these admitted historical facts, but that’s the number that I’m going to list here. The majority of critical scholars will admit virtually every one of these:

1. Jesus died by crucifixion.

2. He was buried. There’s nothing strange about this fact. People die, and people are buried. (We’re not even designating a particular place or kind of burial.)

3. Jesus’ death caused his disciples to despair and lose hope, believing his life had ended. This is psychologically natural and understandable, for sure: how would you feel if your best friend, on whose account you had left everything in order to follow, died very suddenly and horribly?

4. Now I admit, as I likewise repeat all the time, that this next fact is not quite as widely held, but the majority of scholars still think that the tomb in which Jesus was buried was discovered to be empty just a few days later.

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