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As we noted, the famous philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote that “it is quite doubtful whether Christ ever existed at all, and if He did we do not know anything about Him.” Contrary to Russell’s assertion, it is quite certain that Christ existed. With this article let us discuss whether or not much is really known about Him.
Lee Strobel, in his book “The Case for the Real Jesus”, details some accusations made against the trustworthiness of the New Testament and then brings scholars to bear on the subjects. The first challenge he mentions in this regard comes in the form of this question: “Is the Bible’s portrait of Jesus unreliable because of mistakes or deliberate changes by scribes through the centuries? His answer: “No, there are no new disclosures that have cast any doubt on the essential reliability of the New Testament. Only about one percent of the manuscript variants affect the meaning of the text to any degree, and not a single cardinal doctrine is at stake. Actually, the unrivaled wealth of New Testament manuscripts greatly enhances the credibility of the Bible’s portrayal of Jesus.”
The second challenging question is: “Are scholars discovering a radically different Jesus in ancient documents just as credible as the four Gospels? (e.g. Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary, the Secret Gospel of Mark, the Jesus Papers, the Gospel of Judas)
His answer: “No! All of the alternative texts that are touted in liberal circles are too late to be historically credible.” In contrast, the Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are credible records of Jesus because: 1) they were certainly written in the middle of the first century, 2) they are consistent with one another, and 3) they present historical details which are consistent with the history and culture of Palestine in the 20s and 30s.
A third challenging question is: “Doesn’t the Da Vinci Code allegation that Emperor Constantine collated the books of the Bible in the fourth century and burn all the alternative gospels make sense?” New Testament scholar Craig Evans responds to this by saying, “…the Christians had no control over the city. They couldn’t command or coerce anyone to burn anything … The idea that there was some sort of culling process or purging that took place is really absurd.” Furthermore, the existence of so many fictional writings from the second century and later proves Evan’s point. If there was a culling process in the fourth century, why did they put out of existence only first century alternative writings?
Contrary to modern popular sensationalist media, we can trust the New Testament record, and so we do in fact know a lot about Jesus.
Joe Palmer is the pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Kearny. He is happily married with three terrific children and two adoring dachshunds. He is of the very firm opinion that God exists, that the Bible is true, and that God in the person of Jesus Christ has saved him from his sin and prepared a place for him in paradise. His firm opinion is a long studied opinion held with happy confidence, and so, though by nature a bit high-strung and timid, he looks to his future with a joy and happy expectation which makes him largely unafraid of anything or any circumstance. The worse thing that can happen to him is that he can die, and the best thing that can happen to him is that he can die. Everything else is a detail which God will work out for his best. His ambitions revolve around reconciling people to God through Jesus Christ. This he attempts to do by declaring in appropriate ways that God is purely good and that He is the source of all of our joy and happiness. There is nothing about God one would not like, and He is our only hope. Joe is over-weight, out of shape, and as old as the town of Kearny; but he has a peace which surpasses understanding, and such peace makes this middle class American very rich indeed!
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