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SAMPLE: Y-JESUS, Y-ORIGINS
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Born Identity
Was Jesus A Real Person?
pg 7
Chief Editors: Bill Bright, Larry Chapman
Project Coordinator: Helmut Teichert
Editorial Director: Rick James
Design: Hydragraphik ® Studio ( www.hydragraphik.com )
Article Editors: Rick James, Eric Stanford
Copy Editor: Eric Stanford
Writers: Larry Chapman, Rick James, Eric Stanford
Bright Media Foundation
100 Lake Hart Drive, #3400
Orlando, FL 32832
Copyright 2005 by Bright Media Foundation and B & L Publications. All rights reserved.
ISBN 0-9717422-3-5
Jesus Complex
Was He Crazy, A Pathological Liar, Or The Son Of God?
pg 19
Mona Lisa’s Smirk
The Truth Behind The Da Vinci Conspiracy
pg 30
Jesus.doc
Is The New Testament Reliable?
pg 42
The Path Laid By Prophets
Was The Messiah’s Identity Encrypted Within
Ancient Hebrew Prophecy
pg 59
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. His agreement to coauthor this material reﬂects his genuine belief that
making a decision about who Jesus is and what he means to us is the most important decision we can make.
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 Dave Chapman, Brian Ricci and his team at the
University of Washington, including valuable input from ‘Jamin Latava. 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
Body Count
Explaining The Disappearance And Reappearance Of Jesus?
pg 72
Die Hard
The Reason For The Suffering And Death Of Jesus
pg 84
J
C
Jesus
Complex
WAS HE CRAZY, A
PATHOLOGICAL LIAR,
OR THE SON OF GOD?
18 • ARTICLE TWO • JESUS COMPLEX
JESUS COMPLEX • ARTICLE TWO • 19
GREAT
MORAL
TEACHER?
that is greatest among you, let him be your
to forgive sins. He says He always existed.
Almost all scholars acknowledge that
Some have tried to separate Jesus’ teach-
He says He is coming to judge the world at
Jesus was a great moral teacher. In fact,
ing on ethics from his claims about himself,
the end of time.”1
his brilliant insight into human morality
believing that he was simply a great man
is an accomplishment recognized even by
who taught lofty moral principles. This was
Theologian and author R. C. Sproul ran-
those of other religions. In his book Jesus of
the approach of one of America’s Founding
domly selected college students, asking
Nazareth, Jewish scholar Joseph Klausner
Fathers.
about their opinion of Jesus Christ. Many
wrote, “It is universally admitted … that
considered Jesus’ profound inﬂuence on
Christ taught the purest and sublimest eth-
President Thomas Jefferson, ever
ethics, calling him a great moral teacher.
ics … which throws the moral precepts and
the enlightened rationalist, sat
Others, impressed by two billion people
maxims of the wisest men of antiquity far
down in the White House with two
who call themselves Christians, responded
into the shade.”2
identical copies of the New Testa-
“Then comes the real shock,” wrote Oxford
professor C. S. Lewis. “Among these Jews
there suddenly turns up a man who goes
servant’—this is the inversion of all political
wisdom, of all sanity.”3
about talking as if He was God. He claims
ment, a straight-edge razor, and
that he was a great religious leader.
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has been
a sheaf of octavo-size paper. Over
Yet, from the eyewitness accounts of Jesus
called the most superlative teaching of
the course of a few nights, he made
to the present day, many of his two billion
human ethics ever uttered by an individual.
quick work of cutting and pasting
followers believe he is God, or the Son of
In fact, much of what we know today as
his own Bible, a slim volume he
God. So, who is right? Who really is Jesus
“equal rights” actually is the result of Jesus’
called “The Philosophy of Jesus of
Christ?
teaching. Historian Will Durant said of
Nazareth.” After slicing away every
Jesus that “he lived and struggled unremit-
passage that suggested Jesus’ di-
tingly for ‘equal rights’; in modern times
vine nature, Jefferson had a Jesus
he would have been sent to Siberia. ‘He
who was no more and no less than
a good, ethical guide.4
Brimming with conﬁdence after authoring
the Declaration of Independence, apparently Jefferson thought he’d have a go at
the Bible, cutting and pasting Jesus to
conform to his own views. In other words,
Jefferson liked Jesus’ teaching about ethics
and morals, but he discarded the miracles
and claims of divinity.
Ironically, Jefferson’s memorable words in
the Declaration of Independence were rooted in Jesus’ teaching that each person is
of immense and equal importance to God,
regardless of sex, race, or social status.
The famous document sets forth, “We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men
20 • ARTICLE TWO • JESUS COMPLEX
are created equal, that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights …”
There is in all of this a drastic logical
contradiction. Jefferson was by all counts
“Then comes the real shock. Among these Jews
there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if he was God. He claims to forgive sins. He
says He always existed. He says He is coming to
judge the world at the end of time.”
a genius, but he wasn’t able to spot the
key truth (most of us average mortals have
missed it as well): if Jesus taught that he
was God, could forgive sins, and was the
co-creator of the universe, then he would
not be a great moral teacher. It is hard to
say what label we would give him, but it
would best be given by a psychiatrist.
GREAT
RELIGIOUS
LEADER?
C. S. Lewis, Oxford scholar
delivers you; it is his Noble Truths
is he?’ They were Jesus and Buddha. The
that instruct you. It is not Moham-
answers these two gave were exactly the
mad who transforms you; it is the
opposite. Buddha said unequivocally that
beauty of the Koran that woos you.
he was a mere man, not a god—almost as
By contrast, Jesus did not only
if he foresaw later attempts to worship him.
teach or expound His message. He
Jesus, on the other hand, claimed … to be
was identical with His message.5
divine.”6
The truth of Zacharias’s point is underscored by the number of times in the
Gospels that Jesus’ teaching message was
Did Jesus deserve the title of “great reli-
simply “Come to me” or “Follow me” or
gious leader”? Surprisingly, Jesus never
“Obey me.”
claimed to be a religious leader. He never
and a few other religious groups outside the
earth? A danger of interpretation is to read
But this leads us to another point. Many
borders of traditional Christianity.
into a historical document our deﬁnition—
sayings of Jesus, if isolated and parsed,
in this case, what we mean by “complete
could be made to say something other than
Christians insist that Jesus did claim de-
authority.” But to locate meaning, context
what Jesus meant by them. Besides noting
ity. As a Deist, Thomas Jefferson had no
is everything.
historical context (that is, the meaning of
“authority” in ﬁrst-century Palestine), we
problem accepting Jesus’ teachings on
morals and ethics while denying his deity.7
“Authority” was a well-understood term in
ascertain meaning by referencing with
But as we’ve said, and will explore further,
Roman-occupied Israel. At that time, Cae-
other statements. In other words, is this an
if he was not who he claimed to be, then
sar was the supreme authority in the entire
isolated statement of Jesus, or is it aug-
we must examine some other alternatives,
Roman world. His edict could instantly
mented by other such claims?
none of which would make him a great
launch legions for war, condemn or exoner-
moral teacher.
ate criminals, and establish laws and rules
Here is a partial list of similar statements
of government. In fact, Caesar’s authority
found in the Gospels.
Familiarity can breed apathy. And familiar
was such that he himself claimed divinity.
statements by and about Jesus within the
So, at the very least Jesus was claiming au-
• “I am the resurrection and the life.”
Gospels, including descriptions of him as
thority on a par with Caesar himself. But He
(John 11:25)
the Son of God, can wash over us with-
didn’t just say he had more authority than
• “I am the light of the world.” (John
out our realizing how bold, radical, and
the Jewish leaders or Roman rulers; Jesus
8:12)
controversial they were. Even a superﬁcial
was claiming to be the supreme author-
• “I and my Father are one.” (John
reading of the Gospels reveals that Jesus
ity in the universe. To those he spoke to,
10:30)
claimed to be someone more than a prophet
it meant that he was God. Not a god—but
• “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
Clearly, from the earliest years of the
like Moses or Daniel. But it is the nature of
the God.
First and the Last, the Beginning and
church, Jesus was called Lord and regarded
those claims that concern us. Two questions are worthy of attention.
DID
JESUS CLAIM
TO BE GOD?
DID
JESUS CLAIM TO
BE THE CREATOR?
the End.” (Revelation 22:13).”
• “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
got into religious politics or pushed an am-
But does that mean Jesus was a self-cen-
by most Christians as God. Yet his divinity
bitious agenda, and he ministered almost
tered egoist? Certainly not. On the contrary,
was a doctrine that was subjected to great
entirely outside the established religious
his entire life and ministry were focused
debate (see “Mona Lisa’s Smirk,” page 30).
• Did Jesus actually claim to be God?
framework. When one compares Jesus with
on other people and their needs, especially
So the question—and it is the question—is
• When he said “God,” did Jesus
those who were hurting and disenfran-
this: Did Jesus really claim to be God (the
really mean he was the Creator of
But is it possible that Jesus was just
the other great religious leaders, a remark-
• “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the
chised. The hallmarks of his ministry were
Creator), or was his divinity something in-
the universe spoken of in the
reﬂecting God’s authority and was not
able distinction emerges. Ravi Zacharias,
Father.” (John 14:9)
humility, compassion, and forgiveness.
vented or assumed by the New Testament
Hebrew Bible?
stating that he was the actual Creator?
who grew up in a Hindu culture, has studied world religions and observed a funda-
Nevertheless, Jesus made it clear that he
authors?
mental distinction between other religious
was sent from God and that he had the
founders and Jesus Christ.
power to forgive sins—a claim that infuriated the religious leaders.
Whatever we may make of their
• “I am the only way to the Father
[God].” (John 14:6)
At ﬁrst glance that seems plausible. Yet
Strangely, the problem with answering
Jesus’ claim to have all authority seems to
Some scholars believe Jesus was such a
these questions is not having too little data
make sense only if he is the Creator of the
powerful teacher and compelling personal-
but having too much. But to see the answer
universe.
ity that his disciples just assumed he was
more clearly, looking at a deluge of instanc-
claims, one reality is inescap-
No other major religious leader ever
God. Or maybe they just wanted to think
es may be less helpful than exploring a few
able. They are teachers who point
claimed the power to forgive sins. But that
he was God. John Dominic Crossan and
in more detail—and better understanding
to their teaching or show some
is not the only claim Jesus made that sepa-
the Jesus Seminar (a fringe group skeptical
their contexts. Let’s consider Jesus’ words
particular way. In all of these, there
rated him from the others. In The World’s
of scholars with presuppositions against
in Matthew 28:18: “I have been given com-
emerges an instruction, a way of
Great Religions, Huston Smith observed,
miracles) are among those who believe
plete authority in heaven and on earth.”
living. It is not Zoroaster to whom
“Only two people ever astounded their
Jesus was deiﬁed in error. Others who say
you turn; it is Zoroaster to whom
contemporaries so much that the question
he didn’t claim to be God include Mormons,
What did Jesus mean when he claimed to
you listen. It is not Buddha who
they evoked was not ‘Who is he?’ but ‘What
Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Scientists,
have complete authority in heaven and on
22 • ARTICLE TWO • JESUS COMPLEX
(John 14:6)
JESUS COMPLEX • ARTICLE TWO • 23
Once again, we must go back to context. In
by calling him a great moral teacher? C. S.
The question we must deal with is, what
Death, of course, brings all things into
know his message would survive? Jesus’
the Hebrew Scriptures, when Moses asked
Lewis argued, “I am trying here to prevent
could possibly motivate Jesus to live his
proper focus. And while many martyrs
disciples had ﬂed and Peter had denied
God his name at the burning bush, God
anyone from saying the really foolish thing
entire life as a lie? He taught that God
have died for a cause they believed in, few
him. Not exactly the formula for launching
answered, “I AM.” He was telling Moses
that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready
was opposed to lying and hypocrisy, so he
have been willing to die for a known lie.
a religious legacy.
that He is the only Creator, eternal and
to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher,
wouldn’t have been doing it to please his
Certainly all hopes for Jesus’ own personal
transcendent of time.
but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’
Father. He certainly didn’t lie for his follow-
gain would have ended on the cross. Yet, to
Do historians believe Jesus lied? Scholars
That is the one thing we must not say.”8
ers’ beneﬁt. (All but one were martyred.)
his last breath, he would not relinquish his
have scrutinized Jesus’ words and life to
And so we are left with only two other
claim of being the unique Son of God.
see if there is any evidence of a defect in
From that time on, no practicing Jew would
ever refer to himself or anyone else by “I AM.”
In his quest for truth, Lewis knew that
reasonable explanations, each of which is
his moral character. In fact, even the most
As a result, Jesus’ “I AM” claims infuriated
he could not have it both ways with the
problematic.
ardent skeptics are stunned by Jesus’ moral
the Jewish leaders. One time, for example,
identity of Jesus. Either Jesus was who he
some leaders explained to Jesus why they
claimed to be—God in the ﬂesh—or his
were trying to kill him: “Because you, a mere
claims were false. And if they were false,
man, have made yourself God” (John 10:33).
Jesus could not be a great moral teacher.
BENEFIT
A
LEGACY
and ethical purity. One of those was skeptic
and antagonist John Stuart Mill (1806–73),
So if Jesus was above lying for personal
the philosopher. Mill wrote of Jesus,
beneﬁt, perhaps his radical claims were
He would either be lying intentionally or he
Many people have lied for personal gain.
falsiﬁed in order to leave a legacy. But the
About the life and sayings of Jesus
would be a lunatic with a God complex.
In fact, the motivation of most lies is some
prospect of being beaten to a pulp and
there is a stamp of personal origi-
But the point here is not simply that such
wonders why Christians and Muslims can’t
a phrase fumed the religious leaders. The
just all get along. (In the extended version,
perceived beneﬁt to oneself. What could
nailed to a cross would quickly dampen the
nality combined with profundity
point is that they knew exactly what he
the ﬁnal battle ends with a sing-along of
Jesus have hoped to gain from lying about
enthusiasm of most would-be superstars.
of insight in the very ﬁrst rank of
was saying—he was claiming to be God,
“We Are the World.”) Characters like this
his identity? Power would be the most obvi-
the Creator of the universe. It is only this
are able to perceive events with the 20/20
ous answer. If people believed he was God,
Here is another haunting fact. If Jesus
our species can boast. When this
claim that would have brought the accusa-
moral clarity that a century or a millennium
he would have tremendous power. (That
were to have simply dropped the claim of
pre-eminent genius is combined
tion of blasphemy. To read into the text that
of reﬂection has provided.
is why many ancient leaders, such as the
being God’s Son, he never would have been
with the qualities of probably
Caesars, claimed divine origin.)
condemned. It was his claim to be God and
the greatest moral reformer and
his unwillingness to recant of it that got
martyr to that mission who ever
him cruciﬁed.
existed on earth, religion cannot
WAS
JESUS A
LIAR?
Jesus claimed to be God is clearly war-
men of sublime genius of whom
ranted, not simply by his words, but also by
The idea that we are all part of God, and
One of the best-known and most inﬂuential
their reaction to those words.
that within us is the seed of divinity, is sim-
political works of all time was written by
The rub with this explanation is that Jesus
ply not a possible meaning for Jesus’ words
Niccolò Machiavelli in 1532. In his classic,
shunned all attempts to move him in the
and actions. Such thoughts are revisionist,
The Prince, Machiavelli exalts power,
direction of seated power, instead chastis-
If enhancing his credibility and historical
in pitching upon this man as the
foreign to his teaching, foreign to his stated
success, image, and efﬁciency above
ing those who abused such power and
reputation was what motivated Jesus to lie,
ideal representative and guide for
beliefs, and foreign to his disciples’ under-
loyalty, faith, and honesty. According to
lived their lives pursuing it. He also chose
one must explain how a carpenter from a
humanity.10
standing of his teaching.
Machiavelli, lying is okay if it accomplishes
to reach out to the outcasts (prostitutes
poor Judean village could ever anticipate
a political end.
and lepers), those without power, creating
the events that would catapult his name
According to historian Philip Schaff, there
a network of people whose inﬂuence was
to worldwide prominence. How would he
is no evidence, either in church history or
WHAT
KIND OF GOD?
The theory that Jesus may have believed in
the divinity of all persons rests on what is
most loathed in a movie like The Kingdom
of Heaven. In revisionist historical movies, characters are plopped into the past,
equipped with modern-day sensibilities
and worldviews, immune to the prejudices,
values, and beliefs of the world that the
director has made them occupy. The result,
in The Kingdom of Heaven, is that the medieval pilgrim, played by Orlando Bloom,
24 • ARTICLE TWO • JESUS COMPLEX
Jesus taught that he is God in the way the
Jews understood God and the way the He-
Could Jesus Christ have been motivated
less than zero. In a way that could only be
brew Scriptures portrayed God, not in the
by this Machiavellian principle? We have
described as bizarre, all that Jesus did and
way the New Age movement understands
it on record that Muhammad lied, justify-
said moved diametrically in the other direc-
God. Neither Jesus nor his audience had
ing his actions by the principle that the
tion from power.
been weaned on Star Wars, and so when
end justiﬁes the means. Maybe Jesus also
they spoke of God, they were not speaking
lied. In fact, the Jewish opponents of Jesus
It would seem that if power was Jesus’ mo-
of cosmic forces. It’s simply bad history to
were constantly trying to expose him as
tivation, he would have avoided the cross at
redeﬁne what Jesus meant by the concept
a fraud and liar. They would barrage him
all costs. Yet, on several occasions, he told
of God.
with questions in attempts to trip him up
his disciples that the cross was his destiny
and make him contradict himself. Yet Jesus
and mission. How would dying on a Roman
responded with remarkable consistency.
cross bring one power?
But if Jesus wasn’t God, are we still okay
be said to have made a bad choice
9
JESUS COMPLEX • ARTICLE TWO • 25
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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.
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JESUS COMPLEX • ARTICLE TWO • 27
ENDNOTES
in secular history, that Jesus lied about
this theory, Jesus was deluded into actually
if the life and death of Socrates are those of
But, if Lewis is right, then the claims of
anything. Schaff argued, “How, in the name
believing he was the Messiah.
a philosopher, the life and death of Jesus
Jesus maintain their weight and press in
Christ are those of a God.”14
around us, soliciting a response. As Lewis
1
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1972), 51.
stated it:
2
Quoted in Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, vol. 1 (Nashville: Nelson,
of logic, common sense, and experience,
could a deceitful, selﬁsh, depraved man
C. S. Lewis considered this option care-
have invented, and consistently maintained
fully. Lewis deduced the insanity of Jesus’
Schaff posed the question we must ask
from the beginning to end, the purest and
claims—if they are not true. He said that
ourselves: “Is such an intellect—thoroughly
You must make your choice. Either
3
Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy (New York: Washington Square, 1961), 428.
noblest character known in history with the
someone who claimed to be God would not
healthy and vigorous, always ready and
this man was, and is, the Son of
4
Linda Kulman and Jay Tolson, “The Jesus Code,” U. S. News & World Report, December
most perfect air of truth and reality?”11
be a great moral teacher. “He would either
always self-possessed—liable to a radical
God: or else a madman or some-
be a lunatic—on a level with the man who
and most serious delusion concerning his
thing worse. You can shut Him up
5
Ravi Zacharias, Jesus among Other Gods (Nashville: Word, 2000), 89.
To go with the option of liar seems to swim
says he is a poached egg—or else he would
own character and mission?”15
for a fool, you can spit at Him and
6
Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli, Handbook of Christian Apologetics (Downers Grove, IL:
upstream against everything Jesus taught,
be the Devil of Hell.”12
lived, and died for. To most scholars, it just
1979), 127.
kill him as a demon or you can fall
So, was Jesus a liar or a lunatic, or was he
at his feet and call Him Lord and
22, 2003, 1.
InterVarsity, 1994), 150.
7
A Deist is someone who believes in a standofﬁsh God—a deity who created the world and
doesn’t make sense. Yet, to deny Jesus’
Even those most skeptical of Christianity
the Son of God? Could Jefferson have been
God. But let us not come with any
then lets it run according to pre-established laws. Deism was a fad among intellectuals
claims, one must come up with some
rarely question Jesus’ sanity. Social reformer
right by labeling Jesus “only a good moral
patronizing nonsense about His
around the time of America’s independence, and Jefferson bought into it.
explanation. And if Jesus’ claims are not
William Channing (1780–1842), admittedly
teacher” while denying him deity? Interest-
being a great human teacher. He
8
Lewis, 52.
true, and he wasn’t lying, the only option
not a Christian, made the following observa-
ingly, the audience who heard Jesus—both
has not left that open to us. He did
9
Norman L. Geisler and Abdul Saleeb, Answering Islam (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2003),
remaining is that he must have been self-
tion about Jesus: “The charge of an extrava-
believers and enemies—never regarded
not intend to.16
deceived.
gant, self-deluding enthusiasm is the last
him as a mere moral teacher. Jesus pro-
to be fastened on Jesus. Where can we ﬁnd
duced three primary effects in the people
traces of it in history? Do we detect them in
who met him: hatred, terror, or adoration.
the calm authority of His precepts?”13
178–80.
10
Quoted in Josh McDowell, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict (San Bernardino,
CA: Here’s Life, 1999), 159.
11
Quoted in McDowell, New Evidence, 160.
12
Lewis, 52.
There was no trace of apathy about Jesus
13
Quoted in McDowell, New Evidence, 161, 162.
Although his own life was ﬁlled with
and his message. No evidence of people
14
Quoted in McDowell, New Evidence, 122, 129.
immorality and personal skepticism, the re-
expressing mild approval of him. Yet, two
15
Quoted in McDowell, New Evidence, 162.
nowned French philosopher Jean-Jacques
centuries after Jefferson, many still cut and
16
Albert Schweitzer, who was awarded the
Lewis, 52.
Rousseau (1712–78) acknowledged Jesus’
paste their own version of Jesus to com-
Nobel Prize in 1952 for his humanitarian
superior character and presence of mind.
fortably ﬁt their lives, for a watered-down
efforts, had his own views about Jesus.
“When Plato describes his imaginary righ-
Jesus like Jefferson’s makes no demands
Schweitzer concluded that insanity was
teous man, loaded with all the punishments
upon us. And we need not concern our-
behind Jesus’ claim to be God. In other
of guilt, yet meriting the highest rewards of
selves with what Jesus said about life and
words, Jesus was wrong about his claims
virtue, he describes exactly the character of
purpose when we can more easily delete
but didn’t intentionally lie. According to
Christ. … What presence of mind. … Yes,
his claims.
WAS JESUS
A LUNATIC?
28 • ARTICLE TWO • JESUS COMPLEX
JESUS COMPLEX • ARTICLE TWO • 29
30 • ARTICLE THREE • MONA LISA’S SMIRK
MONA LISA’S SMIRK • ARTICLE THREE • 31
“Nobody is saying Christ was a fraud, or
THE JESUS CONSPIRACY
denying that He walked the earth and
inspired millions to better lives. All we are
The Da Vinci Code begins with the murder of a French museum curator named Jacques
saying is that Constantine took advantage
Saunière. A scholarly Harvard professor and a beautiful French cryptologist are commis-
of Christ’s substantial inﬂuence and impor-
sioned to decipher a message left by the curator before his death. The message turns out
tance. And in doing so, he shaped the face
to reveal the most profound conspiracy in the history of humankind: a cover-up of the true
of Christianity as we know it today.”1
message of Jesus Christ by a secret arm of the Roman Catholic Church called Opus Dei.
Could this shocking assertion from Dan
Before his death, the curator had evidence that could disprove the deity of Christ. Although
Brown’s best-selling book, The Da Vinci
(according to the plot) the church tried for centuries to suppress the evidence, great think-
Code, be true? Or is the premise behind it
ers and artists have planted clues everywhere: in paintings such as the Mona Lisa and Last
just the stuff of a good conspiracy novel—
Supper by da Vinci, in the architecture of cathedrals, even in Disney cartoons. The book’s
on a par with a belief that aliens crash-
main claims are these:
landed at Roswell, New Mexico, or that
there was a second gunman on the grassy
• The Roman emperor Constantine conspired to deify Jesus Christ.
knoll in Dallas when JFK was assassinat-
• Constantine personally selected the books of the New Testament.
ed? Either way, the story is compelling. No
• The Gnostic gospels were banned by men to suppress women.
wonder Brown’s book has become one of
• Jesus and Mary Magdalene were secretly married and had a child.
the best-selling stories of the decade.
• Thousands of secret documents disprove key points of Christianity.
Since The Da Vinci Code has become so
Brown reveals his conspiracy through the book’s ﬁctional expert, British royal historian Sir
popular and has gotten so many people
Leigh Teabing, who is played by Nicholas Cage (wait … sorry, I keep confusing this with
wondering about Jesus, why don’t we take
National Treasure). Presented as a wise old scholar, Teabing reveals to cryptologist Sophie
a look at some of its key claims to ﬁnd out
Neveu that at the Council of Nicaea in a.d. 325 “many aspects of Christianity were debated
how reliable they might be? Along the way,
and voted upon,” including the divinity of Jesus. “Until that moment in history,” he says,
we may learn something about the histori-
“Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet … a great and powerful man, but a
cal evidence that bears on the historicity of
man nonetheless.”
Jesus.
32 • ARTICLE THREE • MONA LISA’S SMIRK
Neveu is shocked. “Not the Son of God?” she asks.
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
So, according to Teabing, Jesus was not regarded as God until the Council of Nicaea in a.d. 325, when the real records of Jesus were allegedly banned and destroyed. Thus, according to the theory, the entire foundation of Christianity rests upon a lie.
The Da Vinci Code has sold its story well, drawing comments from readers such as “If it were not true it could not have been published!”
Another said he would “never set foot in a church again.” A reviewer of the book praised it for its “impeccable research.”3 Pretty convincing for a ﬁctional work.
Let’s accept for the moment that Teabing’s proposal might be true. Why, in that case, would the Council of Nicaea decide to promote
Jesus to Godhood?
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.
“It was all about power,” Teabing continues. “Christ as Messiah was critical to the functioning of Church and state. Many scholars claim
that the early Church literally stole Jesus from His original followers, hijacking His human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak
of divinity, and using it to expand their own power.”4
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.
Although The Da Vinci Code is ﬁctional, it does base much of its premise upon actual events (the Council of Nicaea), actual people (Constantine and Arius), and actual documents (the Gnostic gospels). If we are to get to the bottom of the conspiracy, our project must be to
address Brown’s accusations and separate fact from ﬁction.
34 • ARTICLE THREE • MONA LISA’S SMIRK
CONSTANTINE AND
CHRISTIANITY
century. But in the fourth century, a church leader from the east, Arius, launched a cam-
But in the end the council overwhelmingly
New Testament canon (recognized by the
analysis of The Da Vinci Code, Dr. Erwin
paign to defend God’s oneness. He taught that Jesus was a specially created being, higher
declared Arius to be a heretic.
church as authentic eyewitness reports
Lutzer remarks, “Constantine did not
of the apostles). It further asserts that the
decide which books would be in the canon;
Something else Brown doesn’t mention is
New Testament accounts were altered by
indeed, the topic of the canon did not even
that Arius believed that Jesus was sinless,
Constantine and the bishops to reinvent
come up at the Council of Nicaea. By that
than the angels, but not God. This view is similar to that of Mormons and Jehovah’s WitIn the centuries prior to Constantine’s
nesses, who both deny Jesus’ deity.
reign over the Roman Empire, Christians
had been severely persecuted. But then,
Athanasius and most church leaders, on the other hand, were convinced that Jesus was
created the universe, and was a unique and
Jesus. This ﬁctional theory purports that
time the early church was reading a canon
while entrenched in warfare, Constantine
God in the ﬂesh. Constantine wanted to settle the dispute, hoping to bring peace to his
special created being—not a mere man.
the four New Testament Gospels were
of books it had determined was the Word of
reported to have seen a bright image of a
empire, uniting the east and west divisions. Thus, in 325 a.d., he convened more than 300
Arius simply was reluctant to take the next
cherry-picked from a total of “more than 80
God two hundred years earlier.”6 Although
cross in the sky inscribed with the words
bishops at Nicaea (now part of Turkey) from throughout the Christian world.
step and classify Jesus as God in the full
gospels,” most of which were supposedly
the ofﬁcial canon was still years from being
sense. Brown’s assertions of Jesus’ mere
suppressed by Constantine.5
ﬁnalized, the New Testament of today was
“Conquer by this.” He marched into battle
under the sign of the cross and took control
The crucial question is, did the early church think Jesus was the Creator or merely a cre-
mortality would have been as scandalous to
of the empire.
ation—Son of God or son of a carpenter? So, what did the apostles teach about Jesus?
Arius as to any other member of the Nicene
There are two central issues here, and we
council, since they clearly contradict the
need to address both. The ﬁrst is whether
apostles’ teaching.
Constantine altered or biased the selection
In The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (played
of the New Testament books. The second
by Teabing) doesn’t address the fact that
The bishops reasoned that if Jesus is not
is whether he barred documents that could
the New Testament books were in circula-
Constantine’s apparent conversion to
In the letter to the church at Philippi, the apostle Paul clearly afﬁrms Jesus’ status as de-
Christianity was a watershed in church
ity—as the very Creator of the universe.
history. Rome became a Christian empire.
deemed authentic more than two centuries
before Nicaea.
For the ﬁrst time in nearly 300 years it
Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made
God, worshiping him would be idolatry,
and perhaps should have been included in
tion more than two centuries prior to the
was relatively safe, and even cool, to be a
himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human
since God alone is to be worshiped (Exodus
the Bible.
council. But he does assert that the Gnostic
Christian.
form. And in human form obediently humbled himself even further by dying a
34:14; Isaiah 45:18-23).
The answer to the ﬁrst question ironically
rized Bibles commissioned by Constantine
The problem is that Jesus had publicly con-
comes from (among other evidences) two
at the council. He excitedly tells Neveu:
criminal’s death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6-7)
No longer were Christians persecuted for
writings were eliminated from 50 autho-
their faith. Constantine then sought to unify
These words from Paul were written well over 200 years before the council of Nicaea. But
doned the worship he received from his dis-
of the church’s earliest heretics: Marcion
his eastern and western empires, which
is this view that Jesus was already widely regarded as God reﬂected in The Da Vinci Code?
ciples. And, as we have seen, Paul and other
and Valentinus. Marcion, writing in the mid
Because Constantine upgraded
had been badly divided by schisms, sects,
Let’s check.
apostles clearly taught that Jesus is God and
second century listed books he considered
Jesus’ status almost four centuries
is worthy of worship. Paul continues to tell
authentic writings of the apostles, naming
after Jesus’ death, thousands of
Brown asserts in his book, through Teabing (not played by Nicolas Cage), that the majority
the Philippians, “At the name of Jesus every
11 of the 27 books contained in the New
documents already existed chroni-
of bishops at Nicaea overruled Arius’s belief
knee should bow” (Philippians 2:10).
Testament to this day. And Valentinus al-
cling His life as a mortal man. To
luded to many of the themes and passages
rewrite the history books, Constan-
and cults, centering mostly around the issue of Jesus Christ’s identity.
These are some of the kernels of truth in
that Jesus was a “mortal prophet” and
The Da Vinci Code, and kernels of truth are
adopted the doctrine of Jesus’ divinity by a
From the ﬁrst days of the Christian church,
from the New Testament. The key here is
tine knew he would need a bold
a prerequisite for any successful conspiracy
“relatively close vote.” True or false?
Jesus was regarded as far more than a
that scholars date the writings of these two
stroke. From this sprang the most
mere man, and most believers worshiped
heretics from 150 to 200 years before Con-
profound moment in Christian his-
stantine convened the bishops in 325 a.d.
tory. … Constantine commissioned
theory. But the book’s plot turns Constantine into a conspirator. So let’s address a
In reality, the vote was a landslide: only two
him as Lord—the Creator of the universe.
key question raised by Brown’s theory: did
of the 318 bishops dissented. Whereas Arius
So, how could Constantine have invented
Constantine invent the Christian doctrine
believed that the Father alone was God, and
the doctrine of Jesus’ divinity if the church
So, if the New Testament was already
omitted those gospels that spoke of
of Jesus’ divinity?
that Jesus was His supreme creation, the
had regarded Jesus as God for more than
widely in use 200 years before Constantine
Christ’s human traits and embel-
council concluded that Jesus and the Father
200 years? The Da Vinci Code doesn’t ad-
and the Council of Nicaea, how could the
lished those gospels that made
were of the same divine essence. They were
dress this question.
emperor have invented or altered it? By
Him godlike. The earlier gospels
that time the church was widespread and
were outlawed, gathered up, and
encompassed hundreds of thousands if
burned.7
DEIFYING JESUS
To answer Brown’s accusation, we must
ﬁrst determine what Christians in general
believed before Constantine ever convened
the council at Nicaea. Christians had been
worshiping Jesus as God since the ﬁrst
36 • ARTICLE THREE • MONA LISA’S SMIRK
distinct, coexistent, coeternal Persons, but
one God. Finally the church had a deﬁnitive
FIRING ON THE CANON
and ﬁnanced a new Bible, which
not millions of believers, all of whom were
doctrine on the Godhead, called the Nicene
Creed. Now, it is true that Arius was per-
The Da Vinci Code also states that Con-
suasive and had considerable inﬂuence. The
stantine suppressed all documents about
landslide vote came after considerable debate.
Jesus other than those found in our current
familiar with the New Testament accounts.
According to Brown, not only did Constantine choose the books that make up our
In his book The Da Vinci Deception, an
New Testament (an assertion we have seen
MONA LISA’S SMIRK • ARTICLE THREE • 37
the bishops at Nicaea.
tament’s wide acceptance well before Constantine convened
Thus, even the “outlaws” of Christianity validate the New Tes-
Gospels were alluded to by Valentinus.
Vinci Code that “eighty gospels” existed, only New Testament
120 years after Jesus. In spite of Brown’s assertion in The Da
is a sizable portion of our New Testament, and it was in place
elation and likely contained 2 John, Hebrews, and Jude. This
Matthew, Luke, John, 10 of Paul’s 13 letters, 1 John, and Rev-
“The Gospel of Truth,” contains themes and passages from
One document, the manifesto of the Valentinian school called
the leading Gnostic, Valentinus.
the 52 writings, scholars discovered works many attribute to
these ancient Valentinian documents was unfolded. Among
belonged to a library in a monastery. Suddenly the mystery of
codices (handwritten books). They were written in Coptic and
the Gnostic gospels were found in 13 leather-bound papyrus
of Nag Hammadi. Fifty-two copies of ancient writings, called
In 1945 a discovery was made in Upper Egypt, near the town
Testament. Oh, wait a minute—we do.
before Constantine and Nicaea regarded as the ofﬁcial New
would know for sure what Christians nearly two centuries
If only we had a copy of what was in Valentinus’s gospel we
he saw ﬁt.
Testament books intact but scribbled in his own changes as
showed the other way. Valentinus kept the agreed-upon New
cording to Tertullian, heretic number two, named Valentinus,
Scriptures whatever did not conform to his opinion. And ac-
One was Marcion’s way—he used a knife to excise from the
remarked that there were two ways to butcher Scripture.
Tertullian (c.155 or 160–after 220 a.d.), a church father,
Council of Nicaea.
in a.d. 135 afﬁrms their acceptance 200 years prior to the
tant point is that Marcion’s partial list of New Testament books
in ours. What he amputated is harder to discern. The impor-
know what was in his Bible, and it contained much of what is
that to him sounded like the Old Testament. We generally
the entire Old Testament as well as any New Testament books
removed this God from his version of the Bible. He amputated
he thought was the cranky God of the Old Testament, so he
The wealthy merchant Marcion (d. c.160 a.d.) didn’t like what
Heretics
confirm the
New Testament
is false) but also he purposely expunged
Persia and in the Greek Platonic schools
mysticism became fused with astrology,
Following the apostles’ teaching, the early
the church. Ironically, it is the Gnostic Gospel
other documents that presented Jesus as
of philosophy. The Gnostics had groups
magic. … They collected sayings of Jesus
church leaders unanimously condemned the
of Thomas that demeans women. It concludes
a man and a prophet, not the Son of God.
throughout the Roman Empire and drew
shaped to ﬁt their own interpretation (as
Gnostics as a cult. Church father Irenaeus,
(supposedly quoting Peter) with this eye-pop-
These other gospels to which Brown refers
those who had a fascination with the mysteri-
in the Gospel of Thomas), and offered their
writing 140 years before the Council of Ni-
ping statement: “Let Mary go away from us,
were Gnostic writings, and so some general
ous. In a sense, they were similar to the New
adherents an alternative or rival form of
caea, conﬁrmed that the Gnostics were con-
because women are not worthy of life.” Then
background of the writers of these works is
Age movement of today, delving into astrol-
Christianity.”8
demned by the church as heretics. He also
Jesus allegedly tells Peter that he will make
in order.
ogy and esoteric wisdom—the parallel is not
rejected their “gospels.” However, referring to
Mary into a male so that she may enter the
the four New Testament Gospels, he said, “It
kingdom of heaven. Read: women are inferior.
is not possible that the Gospels can be either
With sentiments like that on display, it’s dif-
more or fewer in number than they are.” 9
ﬁcult to conceive of the Gnostic writings as
exact, though, as the Gnostics never dabbled
SECRET “KNOWERS”
EARLY CRITICS
in the recording of whale music.
Contrary to Brown’s assertions, it was not
The Gnostic gospels are attributed to a
As Christianity spread, the Gnostics mixed
Constantine who branded the Gnostic
group known as (big surprise here) the
some doctrines and elements of Christian-
beliefs as heretical; it was the apostles
Christian theologian Origen wrote this in
Gnostics. Their name comes from the Greek
ity into their beliefs, morphing Gnosticism
themselves. A mild strain of the philosophy
the early third century, more than a hun-
word gnosis, meaning “knowledge.” These
into a counterfeit Christianity. Perhaps they
was already growing in the ﬁrst century
dred years before Nicaea:
people thought they had secret, special
did it to keep recruitment numbers up and
just decades after the death of Jesus. The
knowledge hidden from ordinary people. Of
make Jesus a poster child for their cause.
apostles, in their teaching and writings,
the 52 writings, only ﬁve are actually listed
However, for their system of thought to ﬁt
as gospels. As we shall see, these so-called
has recognized, which is that only
being a battle cry for women’s liberation.
four gospels should be accepted.10
On the contrary, the Jesus of the biblical
There we have it in the words of a highly
Gospels always treated women with dignity
regarded early church leader. The Gnostics
and respect. Revolutionary verses like this
I know a certain gospel which is
were recognized as a non-Christian cult
one found within the New Testament have
went to great lengths to condemn these be-
called “The Gospel according to
well before the Council of Nicaea.
been foundational to attempts at raising
with Christianity, Jesus needed to be rein-
liefs as being opposed to the truth of Jesus,
Thomas” and a “Gospel accord-
gospels are markedly different from the
vented, stripped of both his humanity and
to whom they were eyewitnesses.
ing to Matthias,” and many others
But there’s more evidence calling into ques-
or Gentile, slave or free, male or female.
New Testament Gospels, Matthew, Mark,
his absolute deity.
have we read—lest we should in
tion claims made in The Da Vinci Code.
For you are all Christians—you are one in
Luke, and John.
In The Oxford History of Christianity John
The origins of Gnosticism are obscure. It
McManners wrote of the Gnostics’ mixture
seems to have arisen centuries before Christi-
of Christian and mythical beliefs. “Gnosti-
anity and to have been rooted in the ancient
cism was (and still is) a theosophy with
religions of Syria, Babylonia, Phoenicia, and
many ingredients. Occultism and oriental
38 • ARTICLE THREE • MONA LISA’S SMIRK
women’s status: “There is no longer Jew
Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
Check out, for example, what the apostle
any way be considered ignorant
John wrote near the end of the ﬁrst century:
because of those who imagine they
“Who is the great liar? The one who says
possess some knowledge if they
that Jesus is not the Christ. Such people are
are acquainted with these. Never-
Brown suggests that one of the motives for
antichrists, for they have denied the Father
theless, among all these we have
Constantine’s alleged banning of the Gnostic
When it comes to the Gnostic gospels, just
and the Son” (1 John 2:22).
approved solely what the church
writings was a desire to suppress women in
about every book carries the name of a New
WHO’S SEXIST?
MYSTERY AUTHORS
MONA LISA’S SMIRK • ARTICLE THREE • 39
MRS. JESUS
Fraudulent writings that were rejected by
early Christians accepted as trustworthy.”12
harmonize with other testimony about Jesus that
the Gospel of Thomas excluded itself! It did not
on the part of a council: the right way to put it is,
Gospel of Thomas was excluded by some ﬁat
by the early church: “It is not right to say that the
why the Gospel of Thomas was not accepted
New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger revealed
church thought as well.
in favor of its reliability? If so, that’s what the early
it was written closer to the original events to be
of Luke appealing? And do you ﬁnd the fact that
Do you ﬁnd the open and aboveboard approach
you were taught. (Luke 1:1-4)
for you, to reassure you of the truth of all
have decided to write a careful summary
of these accounts from the beginning, I
promises. Having carefully investigated all
of what God has done in fulﬁllment of his
early disciples and other eyewitnesses
the reports circulating among us from the
us. They used as their source material
about the events that took place among
2. Many people have written accounts
the Twin recorded.11
living Jesus spoke and Judas Thomas
1. These are the hidden sayings that the
Luke (c. a.d. 60).
the second from the New Testament’s Gospel of
the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas (c. a.d. 150) and
sider the following two statements, the ﬁrst from
mind on”? Keeping that question in mind, con-
and history and here it is for you to make up your
one who says, “I’ve searched all the evidence
that were mysteriously revealed to me,” or some-
one who says, “Hey, I’ve got some secret facts
Who would you be more likely to believe—some-
MYSTERY
VERSUS
HISTORY
Testament character: the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary, and so
ENDNOTES
1
Doubleday, 2003), 234.
2
Brown, 233.
3
Quoted in Erwin Lutzer, The Da Vinci De-
ception (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2004), xix.
HISTORY’S VERDICT
the early church for heretical views are not
on. (Sounds a little like roll call at a parochial school.) These are the books that conspiracy
Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code (New York:
4
Brown, 233.
5
Brown, 231.
6
Lutzer, 71.
7
Brown, 234.
John McManners, ed., The Oxford History
theories like The Da Vinci Code are based upon. But were they even written by their pur-
A Newsweek magazine article concluded
secret, having been known about for centu-
So, what are we to conclude regarding the
8
ported authors?
that the theory that Jesus and Mary
ries. If Brown is referring to the apocryphal,
various conspiracy theories about Jesus
of Christianity (New York: Oxford University
Magdalene were secretly married has no
or infancy, Gospels, they have been known
Christ? Karen King, professor of ecclesiastical
Press, 2002), 28.
The Gnostic gospels are dated about 110 to 300 years after Christ, and no credible scholar
historical basis.16 The proposal set forth
about for centuries. No surprise there. They
history at Harvard, has written several books
9
believes any of them could have been written by their namesakes. In James M. Robinson’s
in The Da Vinci Code is built upon one
have never been considered part of the
on the Gnostic gospels, including The Gospel
Code (Nashville: Nelson, 2004), 114.
comprehensive The Nag Hammadi Library, we learn that the Gnostic gospels were written
obscure verse in the Gospel of Philip. And
authentic writings of the apostles.
of Mary of Magdala and What Is Gnosticism?
10
Bock, 119-120.
by “largely unrelated and anonymous authors.”13 Dr. Darrell L. Bock, professor of New Tes-
its account, saying that Jesus “kissed Mary
King, though a strong advocate of Gnostic
11
Marvin Meyer, The Gospel of Thomas
tament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, wrote, “The bulk of this material is a few
Magdalene,” is subject to interpretation
And if Brown (Teabing) is referring to the
teaching, concluded, “These notions about
(San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1992), 21.
generations removed from the foundations of the Christian faith, a vital point to remember
and isn’t corroborated by any shred of reli-
Gnostic gospels, that cat is also out of the
the conspiracy theory ... are all very marginal
12
when assessing the contents.”14
able evidence.
bag. They are not secret and neither do
ideas that have no historical basis.”
Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,
In spite of the lack of historical evidence,
13
Robinson, 13.
conspiracy theories will still sell millions of
14
Bock, 64.
books and draw millions of people to the box
15
Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks, When
ofﬁce. Scholars in related ﬁelds, some Chris-
Skeptics Ask (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker,
they disprove Christianity. New Testament
New Testament scholar Norman Geisler commented on two Gnostic writings, the Gospel
Perhaps the Gnostics felt the New Tes-
scholar Raymond Brown has said of the
of Peter and the Acts of John. (These Gnostic writings are not to be confused with the
tament was a bit shy on romance and
Gnostic gospels, “We learn not a single
New Testament books written by John and Peter.) “The Gnostic writings were not written
decided to sauce it up a little. Whatever the
veriﬁable new fact about the historical
by the apostles, but by men in the second century (and later) pretending to use apostolic
reason, this isolated and obscure verse writ-
Jesus’ ministry, and only a few new sayings
authority to advance their own teachings. Today we call this fraud and forgery.”15
ten two centuries after Christ isn’t much to
that might possibly have been his.”17
base a conspiracy theory upon. Interesting
The Gnostic gospels are not historical accounts of Jesus’ life but instead are largely esoter-
reading perhaps, but deﬁnitely not history.
ic doctrine, shrouded in mystery, leaving out historical details such as names, places, and
events. This is in striking contrast to the New Testament Gospels, which contain innumerable historical facts about Jesus’ life, ministry, and words.
Unlike the Gnostic gospels, whose authors
are unknown and who were not eyewit-
THE “SECRET” DOCUMENTS
nesses, the New Testament we have today
has passed numerous tests for authenticity
(see “Jesus.doc” page 42). The contrast is
The rejected documents and church power struggle that The Da Vinci Code purports were
Along with all the other problems with
devastating to those pushing conspiracy
covered up is interesting but not the stuff of a full-blown conspiracy. To create a sell-20-
claims in The Da Vinci Code, there isn’t
theories. New Testament historian F. F.
million-copies kind of conspiracy, you need something truly scandalous. How about this:
any evidence to support Teabing’s asser-
Bruce wrote, “There is no body of ancient
Jesus was actually married to Mary Magdalene, fathering a child with her, and the church
tion that thousands of secret documents
literature in the world which enjoys such
has covered this up for nearly 2,000 years? Yeah, that will sell. But are there any historical
disproving Christianity exist. If there were
a wealth of good textual attestation as the
such documents, scholars opposed to Chris-
New Testament.”18
facts backing this assertion?
tianity would have a ﬁeld day with them.
40 • ARTICLE THREE • MONA LISA’S SMIRK
19
Darrell L. Bock, Breaking the Da Vinci
Quoted in Lee Strobel, The Case for
1998), 68.
tians and some with no faith at all, have
1998), 156.
disputed the claims of The Da Vinci Code.
16
However, the easily swayed will still wonder,
wood, “Decoding ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ ”
Could there be something to it after all?
Newsweek, December 8, 2003, 54.
Barbara Kantrowitz and Anne Under-
17
Quoted in Lutzer, 32.
Award-winning television journalist Frank
18
Quoted in Josh McDowell, The New
Sesno asked a panel of historical scholars
Evidence That Demands a Verdict (San
about the fascination people have with con-
Bernardino, CA: Here’s Life, 1999), 37.
spiracy theories. Professor Stanley Kutler
19
from the University of Wisconsin replied,
in America,” U. S. News & World Report,
“We all love mysteries—but we love con-
December 22, 2003, 2.
spiracies more.”
20
20
Linda Kulman and Jay Tolson, “Jesus
Stanley Kutler, interview with Frank
Sesno, “The Guilty Men: An Historical Review,” The History Channel, April 6, 2004.
MONA LISA’S SMIRK • ARTICLE THREE • 41
Jesus.doc
Is the New Testament reliable?
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 accurate. 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.
(The Jesus Seminar is a group of scholars who
debate Jesus’ recorded words and actions and
then use red, pink, gray, or black beads to cast
votes indicating how trustworthy they believe
statements in the Gospels are.)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.
While Jennings may have an undiscerning eye
when it comes to theology, he knows what
makes for a good news program. And 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.”
42 • ARTICLE FOUR • JESUS.DOC
JESUS.DOC • ARTICLE FOUR • 43
ANCIENT GREEK DOCUMENT COMPARISON
(PARTIAL & COMPLETE MANUSCRIPTS)9
This is entertainment, and so the investigation will never end nor yield answers, as
that would eliminate future programming.
Instead, those with radically different views
are thrown together like an episode of
Survivor, hopelessly convoluting the issue
rather than bringing clarity.
A serious investigation of the issues related to the historical Jesus
cannot be conducted through sound-bite analysis. And we’re
prepared to admit that neither is a magazine article.
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
LOST IN TRANSLATION
to know if this is really true?
A serious investigation of the issues related
to the historical Jesus cannot be conducted
through sound-bite analysis. In this magazine we have tried to go beyond the sound
bites and examine the evidence. But we’re
prepared to admit that a magazine article
can only summarize scholars’ conclusions.
Yet, these summaries are sufﬁcient to show
that sound bites about Jesus frequently
scholarly consensus regarding the Jesus of
the New Testament.
44 • ARTICLE FOUR • JESUS.DOC
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
c.900 a.d.
1,000 yrs.
10
part—4th cent.
400 yrs.
1 partial
most—10th cent.
1,000 yrs.
19 copies
Caesar
Gallic Wars
100–44 B.C.
Livy
History of Rome
59 B.C.–A.D.17
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
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.
New Testament
gin with two simple questions: When were
the original documents of the New Testament written? And who wrote them?
A major part of the New Testament is the
of approximately 100 years from Christ’s
• numerous writings of early Chris-
The importance of these questions should
apostle Paul’s 13 letters to young churches
death (scholars put Jesus’ death between
tian sources, such as Clement of
be obvious. If the accounts of Jesus were
and individuals. Paul’s letters, dated be-
a.d. 30 and 33). And since all the eyewit-
Rome, Ignatius, and Polycarp
written after the eyewitnesses were dead,
tween the mid 40s and the mid 60s (12 to
nesses would have been dead, the Gospels
• discovered copies of Gospel
no one could verify their accuracy. But if
33 years after Christ), constitute the earliest
could only have been written by unknown,
fragments carbon-dated as early as
the New Testament accounts were written
witnesses to Jesus’ life and teaching. Will
fraudulent authors.
a.d. 117
while the original apostles were still alive,
Durant wrote of the historical importance
then their authenticity could be estab-
of Paul’s letters, “The Christian evidence
So, what evidence do we have concerning
lished. Peter could say of a forgery in his
for Christ begins with the letters ascribed
when the Gospel accounts of Jesus were
name, “Hey, I didn’t write that.” And Mat-
to Saint Paul. … No one has questioned the
really written? The consensus of most
thew, Mark, Luke, or John could respond
existence of Paul, or his repeated meetings
scholars is that the Gospels were written by
to questions or challenges aimed at their
with Peter, James, and John; and Paul en-
the apostles during the ﬁrst century. They
accounts of Jesus.
viously admits that these men had known
cite several reasons that we will review
Christ in the ﬂesh.”
later in this article. For now, however, note
do more to distort historical truth than
enlighten. There actually is considerable
BOOK
So, what does the evidence show? We be-
largely unreliable and fail to give us an accurate picture of the real Jesus. How are we
AUTHOR
2
The New Testament writers claimed to be
rendering eyewitness accounts of Jesus.
BUT IS IT TRUE?
that three primary forms of evidence appear
to build a solid case for their conclusions:
The apostle Peter stated it this way in
one letter: “We were not making up clever
In books, magazines, and TV documen-
• early documents from heretics
stories when we told you about the power
taries, the Jesus Seminar suggests the
such as Marcion and the school of
of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming
Gospels were written as late as a.d. 130
Valentinus citing New Testament
again. We have seen his majestic splendor
to 150 by unknown authors. If those later
books, themes, and passages (see
with our own eyes” (2 Peter 1:16).
dates are correct, there would be a gap
“Mona Lisa’s Smirk”)
JESUS.DOC • ARTICLE FOUR • 45
Robinson dates the New Testament earlier
Every letter was meticulously penned in ink
than even most conservative scholars. In
on parchment or papyrus. And so, today,
Redating the New Testament Robinson
scholars can study the surviving copies
asserts that most of the New Testament
(and the copies of copies, and the copies of
was written between a.d. 40 and 65. That
copies of copies—you get it), to determine
puts its writing as early as seven years after
authenticity and arrive at a very close ap-
Christ lived.5 If that is true, any histori-
proximation of the original documents.
cal errors would have been immediately
exposed by both eyewitnesses and the
In fact, scholars studying ancient literature
enemies of Christianity.
have devised the science of textual criticism
to examine documents such as The Odys-
So let’s look at the trail of clues that takes
sey, comparing them with other ancient
us from the original documents to our New
documents to determine their accuracy.
Testament copies today.
More recently, military historian Charles
WHO NEEDS KINKO’S?
The original writings of the apostles were
Sanders augmented textual criticism by
Imagine if we had only two or three copies
When counting translations into other
devising a three-part test that looks at not
of the original New Testament manu-
languages, the number is a staggering
only the faithfulness of the copy but also the
scripts. The sampling would be so small
24,000—dating from the 2ND to 4TH centuries.
credibility of the authors. His tests are these:
that we couldn’t possibly verify accuracy.
revered. Churches studied them, shared
Compare that with the second-best-document-
them, carefully preserved them and stored
1. The bibliographical test
even thousands, we could easily weed out
ed ancient historical manuscript, Homer’s
them away like buried treasure.
2. The internal evidence test
the errors of poorly transmitted documents.
Iliad, with 643 copies.7 And remember that
But, alas, Roman conﬁscations, the passage
most ancient historical works have far fewer
So, how well does the New Testament
existing manuscripts than that one does (usu-
of 2,000 years, and the second law of ther-
Let’s see what happens when we apply
compare with other ancient writings with
ally fewer than 10). New Testament scholar
modynamics have taken their toll. So, to-
these tests to the early New Testament
regard to both the number of copies and
Bruce Metzger remarked, “In contrast with
day, what do we have of those original writ-
manuscripts.
the time gap from the originals? More than
these ﬁgures [of other ancient manuscripts],
ings? Nothing. The original manuscripts are
5,000 manuscripts of the New Testament
the textual critic of the New Testament is em-
all gone (though each week Bible scholars,
exist today in the original Greek language.
barrassed by the wealth of his material.”8
48 • ARTICLE FOUR • JESUS.DOC
TIME GAP
Not only is the number of manuscripts signiﬁcant, but so is the time gap between when
On the other hand, if we had hundreds or
3. The external evidence test6
curacy of the New Testament.
under the supervision of church leaders.
pare with other ancient history?
Sinaiticus has been of enormous help to scholars in verifying the ac-
The notoriously skeptical scholar John A. T.
• How well does a document com-
commissioned Eusebius to prepare in the early fourth century. Codex
hundreds of copies were carefully made
Sir William Ramsey,
Archaeologist
speculate that it is one of the 50 Bibles the emperor Constantine
As the number of churches multiplied,
New Testament we have, and it is among the most important. Some
between about 50 A.D. and 75 A.D.”4
the earliest copies?
Codex Sinaiticus is one of the earliest complete manuscripts of the
New Testament at “very probably sometime
between the original writings and
manuscript to the British Museum for £100,000.
they faithful to the originals?
as protector of the Greek Church. In 1933 the Soviet Union sold the
where Albright put the writing of the entire
• How large of a time gap is there
The monastery agreed to present the manuscript to the tsar of Russia
the New Testament available, and if so, are
portions of the manuscripts he had seen earlier.
New Testament critics of today.”3 Else-
document are in existence?
dishes. Tischendorf immediately recognized the valuable remaining
examine. But are there ancient copies of
wrapped manuscript that had been stored on a shelf with cups and
A.D. 130 and 150 given by the more radical
• How many copies of the original
a monk took Tischendorf to his room and pulled down a cloth-
manuscripts if they have reliable copies to
time with help from the Russian Tsar Alexander II. Once he was there,
full generations before the date of between
Fifteen years later, Tischendorf returned to the Sinai monastery, this
rians aren’t troubled by the lack of original
to take the 43 pages he had discovered.
for dating any book after about A.D. 80, two
asks:
show him any more manuscripts. However, they did allow Tischendorf
ancient history exists today either. Histo-
Tischendorf’s enthusiasm made the monks wary, and they would not
cally that there is no longer any solid basis
ancient history from the same period. It
had already been burned!
fate; no other comparable document from
been discarded to be used as fuel. Two basketloads of such papers
He wrote, “We can already say emphati-
This test compares a document with other
the librarian about them and was horriﬁed to learn that the pages had
Yet the New Testament is not alone in this
He had never seen Greek manuscripts that old. Tischendorf asked
while most of the apostles were still alive.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TEST
at Mount Sinai. The German scholar was both elated and shocked.
all the New Testament books were written
“Luke is a historian
of the ﬁrst rank….
This author should
be placed along with
the very greatest
historians…Luke’s
history is unsurpassed
in trustworthiness.”
ﬁlled with old pages in the library of the monastery of St. Catherine
hoping one might emerge).
for New Testament manuscripts. By accident, he noticed a basket
concluded on the basis of his research that
In 1844 the German scholar Constantine Tischendorf was searching
no doubt, tune in to Antiques Roadshow
THE DISCOVERY OF
CODEX SINAITICUS
Biblical archaeologist William Albright
the original was written and the date of the
copy. Over the course of a thousand years of
copying, there’s no telling what a text could
evolve into—I wonder what Jesus meant by
“blessed are the cheesemakers.” But over a
hundred years, that’s a different story.
German critic Ferdinand Christian Baur
(1792–1860) once contended that John’s
Gospel was not written until about a.d. 160;
JESUS.DOC • ARTICLE FOUR • 49
therefore, it could not have been written by
In fact, there is a nearly complete copy of
The point is this: If the New Testament re-
Let’s take as an example the movie Friday
Finally, the use of actual towns and familiar
Details. Historians love details in a docu-
John. This, if true, would have not only under-
the Bible called, Codex Vaticanus, that was
cords were made and circulated so closely
Night Lights. It purports to be based on
landmarks such as the Houston Astrodome
ment because they make it easy to verify
mined John’s writings but cast suspicion on
written only about 250 to 300 years after the
to the actual events, their portrayal of
historical events, but like so many movies
leads us to take as history those elements
reliability. Paul’s letters are ﬁlled with de-
the entire New Testament as well. But then,
apostles’ original writing. The oldest known
Jesus is most likely accurate. But external
loosely based on actual events, it leaves
of the story, because they’re too easy to cor-
tails. And the Gospels abound with them.
when a cache of New Testament papyri frag-
complete copy of the New Testament in an-
evidence is not the only way to answer the
you constantly questioning, “Did things re-
roborate or falsify.
For example, both Luke’s Gospel and his
ments were discovered in Egypt, among them
cient uncial script is named, Codex Sinaiti-
question of reliability; scholars also use
ally happen that way?” So, how would you
was a fragment of the Gospel of John (speciﬁ-
cus, now housed at the British Museum.
internal evidence to answer this question.
determine its historical reliability?
cally, P52: John 18:31-33) dated to roughly 25
Like Codex Vaticanus, it is dated from the
years after John wrote the original.
fourth century. Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, going back to early in Christian history, are like
INTERNAL EVIDENCE
TEST
These are but a few examples of how inter-
named Theophilus, who was undoubtedly a
nal evidence leads either toward or away
well-known individual at the time.
One clue would be the presence of irrel-
from the conclusion that a document is
evant material. Let’s say that in the middle
historically reliable. We’ll look brieﬂy at the
If these writings had been mere inventions
of the ﬁlm the coach, for no apparent
internal evidence for the historicity of the
of the apostles, phony names, places, and
New Testament.
events would have quickly been spotted by
Metzger explained, “Just as Robinson
other early biblical manuscripts in that they
Crusoe, seeing but a single footprint in the
differ minimally from each other and give
Like good detectives, historians verify reli-
reason, gets a phone call informing him
sand, concluded that another human being,
us a very good picture of what the original
ability by looking at internal clues. Such
that his mother has brain cancer. The event
with two feet, was present on the island
documents must have said.
clues reveal motives of the authors and
has nothing to do with the plot and is never
their willingness to disclose details and
mentioned again. The only explanation for
with him, so P52 [the label of the fragment]
Book of Acts were written to a nobleman
WHAT’S IN THERE
their enemies, the Jewish and Roman leaders. This would have become the Watergate
of the ﬁrst century. Yet many of the New
proves the existence and use of the Fourth
Even critical scholar John A. T. Robinson
other features that could be veriﬁed. The
the presence of this irrelevant fact would
Several aspects of the New Testament help
Testament details have been proved true
Gospel during the ﬁrst half of the second
has admitted, “The wealth of manuscripts,
key internal clues these scholars use to test
be that it actually happened and that the
us determine its reliability based on its own
by independent veriﬁcation. Classical his-
century in a provincial town along the Nile
and above all the narrow interval of time
for reliability are the following:
director had a desire to be historically ac-
content and qualities.
torian Colin Hemer, for example, “identiﬁes
far removed from its traditional place of
between the writing and the earliest extant
composition (Ephesus in Asia Minor).”10
copies, make it by far the best attested text
• consistency of eyewitness reports
of any ancient writing in the world.”12
• details of names, places, and events
Find after ﬁnd, archeology has unearthed
curate.
84 facts in the last 16 chapters of Acts that
Consistency. Phony documents either leave
have been conﬁrmed by Archaeological
Another example, same movie. Following
out eyewitness reports or are inconsis-
research.”15
• letters to individuals or small groups
the ﬂow of the drama, we want the Permian
tent. So outright contradiction among the
copies of major portions of the New Testa-
Professor of law John Warwick Montgomery
• features embarrassing to the authors
Panthers to win the state championship.
Gospels would prove that they contain
In the previous few centuries, skepti-
ment dated to within 150 years of the
afﬁrmed, “To be skeptical of the resultant
• the presence of irrelevant or counter-
But they don’t. This feels counterproductive
errors. But at the same time, if each Gospel
cal Bible scholars attacked both Luke’s
originals.11 Most other ancient documents
text of the New Testament books is to allow
productive material
to the drama, and immediately we know
said exactly the same thing, it would raise
authorship and its dating, asserting that
have time gaps of from 400 to 1,400 years.
all of classical antiquity to slip into obscu-
• lack of relevant material
it’s there because in real life Permian lost
suspicions of collusion. It would be like co-
it was written in the second century by an
For example, Aristotle’s Poetics was written
rity, for no documents of the ancient period
the game. The presence of counterproduc-
conspirators trying to agree on every detail
unknown author. Archaeologist Sir William
about 343 b.c., yet the earliest copy is dated
are as well attested bibliographically as the
tive material is also a clue to historical
of their scheme. Too much consistency is
Ramsey was convinced they were right,
a.d. 1100, with only ﬁve copies in existence.
New Testament.”13
accuracy.
as doubtful as too little.
and he began to investigate. After exten-
14
sive research, the archaeologist reversed
And yet no one is going in search of the
historical Plato, claiming he was actually a
Eyewitnesses to a crime or an accident
his opinion. Ramsey conceded, “Luke is a
ﬁreman and not a philosopher.
generally get the big events right but see it
historian of the ﬁrst rank. … This author
from different perspectives. Likewise, the
should be placed along with the very great-
four Gospels describe the events of Jesus’
est historians. … Luke’s history is unsur-
life from different perspectives. Yet, regard-
passed in respect of its trustworthiness.”16
less of these perspectives, Bible scholars
are amazed at the consistency of their
accounts and the clear picture of Jesus and
his teaching they put together with their
complementary reports.
50 • ARTICLE FOUR • JESUS.DOC
JESUS.DOC • ARTICLE FOUR • 51
Acts chronicles Paul’s missionary voyages,
Well, some of them were clearly intended
Counterproductive or irrelevant material.
The external evidence test thus builds
listing places he visited, people he saw,
to be circulated widely. Yet large portions
The Gospels tell us that the empty tomb of
on the evidence provided by other tests.
messages he delivered, and persecution he
of the New Testament consist of personal
Jesus was discovered by a woman, even
In spite of the conjecture of a few radical
suffered. Could all these details have been
letters written to small groups and individu-
though in Israel the testimony of women
skeptics, the New Testament portrait of the
faked? Roman historian A. N. Sherwin-
als. These documents, at least, would not
was considered to be virtually worthless
real Jesus Christ is virtually smudgeproof.
White wrote, “For Acts the conﬁrmation of
be considered prime candidates for falsiﬁ-
and was not even admissible in court.
Although there are a few dissenters such
5
historicity is overwhelming. … Any attempt
cation.
Jesus’ mother and family are recorded as
as the Jesus Seminar, the consensus of
Testament, quoted in Norman L. Geisler
to reject its basic historicity must now ap-
John A. T. Robinson, Redating the New
stating their belief that he had lost his
“Overall, at least seventeen non-Christian
experts, regardless of their religious beliefs,
and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough
pear absurd. Roman historians have long
Embarrassing features. Most writers don’t
mind. Some of Jesus’ ﬁnal words on the
writings record more than ﬁfty details
conﬁrms that the New Testament we read
Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Cross-
taken it for granted.”17
want to publicly embarrass themselves.
cross are said to have been “My God, my
concerning the life, teachings, death, and
today faithfully represents both the words
way, 2004), 243.
Historians have therefore observed that
God, why have you forsaken me?” And so
resurrection of Jesus, plus details concern-
and events of Jesus’ life.
6
McDowell, 33-68.
From the Gospel accounts to Paul’s let-
documents containing embarrassing rev-
goes the list of incidents recorded in the
ing the early church.”22 This is astounding,
7
McDowell, 34.
ters, the New Testament authors openly
elations about the authors are generally to
New Testament that are counterproductive
considering the lack of other history we
Clark Pinnock, professor of interpretations
8
Bruce M. Metzger, The Text of the New
described details, even citing the names
be trusted. What did the New Testament
if the intent of the author were anything
possess from this time period. Jesus is men-
at McMaster Divinity College, summed
Testament (New York: Oxford University
of individuals who were alive at the time.
authors say about themselves?
but the accurate transmission of the life
tioned by more sources than the conquests
it up well when he said, “There exists no
Press, 1992), 34.
and teachings of Jesus Christ.
of Caesar during this same period. It is even
document from the ancient world wit-
9
more astounding since these conﬁrmations
nessed by so excellent a set of textual
10
Metzger, 39.
Historians have veriﬁed at least thirty of
these names.18
Surprisingly, the authors of the New
McDowell, 38.
Testament presented themselves as all too
Lack of relevant material. It is ironic (or
of New Testament details date from 20 to
and historical testimonies. … An honest
11
Metzger, 36-41.
Letters to small groups. Most forged texts
frequently dimwitted, cowardly, and faith-
perhaps logical) that few of the major is-
150 years after Christ, “quite early by the
[person] cannot dismiss a source of this
12
John A. T. Robinson, Can We Trust the
are from documents both general and
less. For example, consider Peter’s threefold
sues facing the ﬁrst-century church—the
standards of ancient historiography.”23
kind. Skepticism regarding the historical
New Testament? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
public in nature, like this magazine article
denial of Jesus or the disciples’ arguments
Gentile mission, spiritual gifts, baptism,
credentials of Christianity is based upon an
1977), 36.
(no doubt countless forgeries are already
over which of them was the greatest—both
leadership—were addressed directly in
The reliability of the New Testament is
irrational basis.”27
13
Quoted in McDowell, 36.
circulating on the black market). Historical
stories recorded in the Gospels. As respect
the recorded words of Jesus. If his follow-
further substantiated by over 36,000 extra-
14
J. P. Moreland, Scaling the Secular City
expert Louis Gottschalk notes that personal
for the apostles was crucial in the early
ers were simply generating the material
biblical Christian documents (quotes from
(Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000), 134-157.
letters intended for small audiences have a
church, inclusion of this kind of material
to encourage the growing church, it is in-
church leaders of the ﬁrst three centuries)
high probability of being reliable.19 Which
doesn’t make sense unless the apostles
explicable why they would not have made
dating as early as ten years after the last
category do the New Testament documents
were reporting truthfully.20
up instructions from Jesus on these issues.
writing of the New Testament24). If all the
1
In one case, the apostle Paul ﬂatly stated
copies of the New Testament were lost, you
In The Story of Civilization, Will Durant
about a certain subject, “On this we have
wrote about the apostles, “These men were
no teaching from the Lord.”
fall into?
hardly of the type that one would have
chosen to remold the world. The Gospels
realistically differentiate their characters,
15
Quoted in Geisler and Turek, 256.
16
Quoted in McDowell, 61.
17
Quoted in McDowell, 64.
Seminar was organized under the aus-
18
Geisler and Turek, 269.
could reproduce it from these other letters
pices of the Westar Institute to renew the
19
J. P. Moreland, 136-137.
and documents with the exception of a few
quest of the historical Jesus. At the close
20
Geisler and Turek, 276.
verses.25
of debate on each agenda item, Fellows of
21
Durant, 563.
the Seminar vote, using colored beads to
22
Gary R. Habermas, “Why I Believe the
Boston University professor emeritus
indicate the degree of authenticity of Jesus’
New Testament is Historically Reliable,”
Howard Clark Kee concludes, “The result of
words or deeds.”
Why I am a Christian, eds Norman L.
The third and ﬁnal measure of a docu-
the examination of the sources outside the
2
ment’s reliability is the external evidence
New Testament that bear … on our knowl-
The Story of Civilization (New York: Simon
MI: Baker, 2001), 150.
test, which asks, “Do historical records
edge of Jesus is to conﬁrm his historical
& Schuster, 1972), 555.
23
Ibid.
outside the New Testament conﬁrm its
existence, his unusual powers, the devotion
3
24
Ibid.
reliability?” So, what did non-Christian
of his followers, the continued existence of
Biblical Lands (New York: Funk & Wag-
25
Metzger, 86.
historians say about Jesus Christ?
the movement after his death … and the
nalls, 1955), 136.
26
Quoted in McDowell, 135.
penetration of Christianity … in Rome itself
4
27
Quoted in Josh McDowell, The Resurrec-
by the later ﬁrst century.”26
Conservative View,” Christianity Today,
tion Factor (San Bernardino, CA: Here’s Life
January 18, 1993, 3.
Publishers, 1981), 9.
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE
TEST
and honestly expose their faults.”21
52 • ARTICLE FOUR • JESUS.DOC
ENDNOTES
According to jesusseminar.org, “The Jesus
Will Durant, Caesar and Christ, vol. 3 of
William F. Albright, Recent Discoveries in
William F. Albright, “Toward a More
Geisler & Paul K. Hoffman (Grand Rapids,
JESUS.DOC • ARTICLE FOUR • 53
th e
MESS IAH’S
Y
IT
T
N
E
ID
ENCR YP TE D
w as
WITHIN
ANC I E N T
Heb r e w
58 • ARTICLE FIVE • THE PATH LAID BY PROPHETS
PROP H E C Y.
THE PATH LAID BY PROPHETS • ARTICLE FIVE • 59
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
Today, Frank Abagnale is sought after by
So, could Jesus have been a fake Messiah,
governments and corporations as an expert
fooling even the most noteworthy religion
on detecting forgery, embezzlement, and
scholars? Is it possible he was groomed
document falsiﬁcation. But between the
by his parents or undisclosed mentors to
ages of 16 and 21, he was one of the world’s
become the long-promised king that Israel
The God of the Hebrews spoke to his people
wanted to be sawn in half. Thus most
most successful con artists. He cashed $2.5
had been looking for?
through prophets, men and women who
prophets waited until they were absolutely
Where is this guy? Have you seen him? And
mus prophecy fulﬁlled. Highly suspect, but
were especially attuned to God and who
convinced that God had spoken, or else
how about that lasting world peace—it’s
difﬁcult to disprove.
nice, huh?
million in fraudulent checks in all 50 states
GO D’S MOUTH
PIE CES
and 26 foreign countries. He also success-
In fact, if Jesus was an imposter, he would
may or may not have been a part of the reli-
they kept their mouths shut. Kings began
fully passed himself off as an airline pilot,
not be the ﬁrst person in the history of
gious establishment. Some of the prophets’
to shudder at their words. A true prophet’s
an attorney, a college professor, and a
Israel to have lied about being the Mes-
messages were for the present; others, for
messages were never wrong.
pediatrician before being apprehended by
siah. Through the centuries prior to Christ’s
the future. Either way, their role was to pro-
the French police.
birth, and afterward as well, many self-pro-
claim God’s declarations and disclosures to
claimed messiahs arose, only to be shown
the people.
psychics. When “The People’s Almanac” re-
tion yields two indisputable facts. Her rate
searched the predictions of 25 top psychics,
Now here’s a question: how would the ac-
of accuracy is equivalent to those guessing
92 percent of the predictions had proved
curacy of these biblical prophets match up
the future (about 11 percent, and her most
wrong. The other 8 percent were question-
with today’s psychics?
publicized fulﬁllments were prophecies so
able and could be explained by chance or
In general, being a prophet ranked up
intentionally vague as any number of events
general knowledge of circumstances. 4 In
could have been hailed as fulﬁllments.
other experiments with the world’s fore-
to be cons or lunatics.
ably because you watched the 2002 movie
And this is generally the track record of
In fact, an exhaustive search of her predic-
Catch Me If You Can, in which Abagnale
Ancient Hebrew prophecies had clearly
there with working at a meatpacking plant
was played by Leonardo DiCaprio (who
predicted the reign of a future king who
among the world’s most hazardous oc-
passed himself off as an actor in Titanic).
would bring peace to Israel and be their
cupations. Even when they were telling the
Savior. A sense of expectancy ﬁlled the
truth, prophets might be killed or thrown
What would it take to top Abagnale’s
land and captivated Jewish hopes and aspi-
performance as a con man? Well, if Jesus
PROP HET S
SA
If this story sounds familiar to you, it’s prob-
some insist this is evidence of a Nostrada-
PSY CHICS?
most psychics, their rate of accuracy has
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
into prison by people who didn’t like what
curacy approaches that of biblical prophets,
wrong in spite of his vague oracles, which
for the fact that people making random
rations. In such an atmosphere as Israel’s,
they were saying. (Some kings hated
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
Christ wasn’t the Messiah he claimed to
could not someone less qualiﬁed have been
hearing bad news.) According to historical
American psychic seemed to have a special
is one of the predictions of Nostradamus:
percentile. This doesn’t disprove all future
be, there would be no contest. We’re not
pressed into, or conformed himself to ﬁt, the
accounts, the prophet Isaiah was sawn in
ability to foretell events. But upon analysis
talking about conning thousands, as in
mold of Messiah? The answer to that ques-
half.
her reputation seems unwarranted.
the case of Abagnale. If Jesus Christ was
tion hangs on the Old Testament prophe-
an imposter, his con job has changed the
cies pointing to the Messiah.
telling, but it certainly explains why psyTakes 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
course of 2,000 years of history and inﬂu-
February 5, 1962, a child was born in the
Gods Law,
enced billions.
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 lasting world peace. She saw a cross growing
60 • ARTICLE FIVE • THE PATH LAID BY PROPHETS
THE PATH LAID BY PROPHETS • ARTICLE FIVE • 61
The difference between psychics and
prophets seems to be more one of kind
than one of degree. Prophets made speciﬁc
declarations about future events in relation
According to the Hebrew requirements that a
prophecy must have a 100 percent rate of
to God’s unfurling plan—and did it with
unwavering accuracy. Psychics are more
mercenary, providing vague sketches of
the future to a market willing to pay for
According to the Hebrew requirement that
a prophecy must have a 100 percent rate of
accuracy, the true Messiah of Israel must
fulﬁll them all or else he is not the Mes-
accuracy, the true Messiah of Israel must
fulﬁll them all or else he is not the Messiah.
their services. They offer information with a
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?
questionable track record.
When forensic scientists discover a DNA
everyday perspective, you can see how
r e l i g io us
PROPH ECY
I N
PERSPECTIV E
proﬁle match, the odds of having the wrong
TA HM
And if you put this degree of accuracy into
ARE
person is frequently less than one in several
astounding it is. For example, it would
billion (something for deviants to keep in
have been miraculous if in 1910 you had
mind). It would seem we are in the same
predicted that a man named George Bush
neighborhood of odds, and numbers of
would win the 2000 election. But imagine
zeros, in considering a single individual
if you had included some of these details in
th e O DDS
?
fulﬁlling these prophecies.
Prophecy can be rather mystical, meta-
But in the world of religion, prophecy serves
physical, and—for lack of a better word—
an important function. It becomes one sure
creepy. It conjures up images of séances
way to know if someone is speaking from
• The candidate with the most
and other worlds. In Star Wars there is the
God or if he is not, for only an omniscient
total votes would lose the election.
foretelling of one who would bring balance
God could exhaustively know the future.
• All major TV networks would
You, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are
person fulﬁlling eight speciﬁc prophecies.
to the Force. The Lord of the Rings movies
And on this point the prophecy in the Old
announce the winner and then
only a small village in Judah. Yet a
(This is not the same as ﬂipping a coin
weave their imaginary themes around
Testament stands as unique, for most of
reverse themselves.
ruler of Israel will come from you,
eight times in a row and getting heads
scenes of prophetic utterances. But such is
the renowned holy books are devoid of
• One state (Florida) would swing
one whose origins are from the
each time.) First the students calculated
the world of imagination.
predictive prophecy. For example, while the
the election.
distant past. (Micah 5:2)
the odds of one person fulﬁlling all the
Book of Mormon and the Hindu Veda claim
• The U.S. Supreme Court would
Regarding the real world, it has been said
divine inspiration, there is really no means
ultimately determine the winner.
that if a person knew just one minute of the
to corroborate their claims; you’re simply
future he could rule the world. Think about
left with “Yeah, that sounds like something
it. One minute of knowing every hand dealt
God might say.”
at the Trump Casino. You’d become the
your prediction:
Let’s look at two of the speciﬁc prophecies
Professor of mathematics Peter Stoner gave
about the Messiah in the Old Testament.
600 students a math probability problem
that would determine the odds for one
conditions of one speciﬁc prophecy, such
The Lord himself will choose [a]
as being betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces
sign. Look! The virgin will conceive
of silver. Then the students did their best to
Had such occurred, there would be
a child! She will give birth to a son
estimate the odds for all of the eight proph-
churches named after you and dashboard
and will call him Immanuel—“God
ecies combined.
statuettes bearing your likeness. But you
is with us.” (Isaiah 7:14)
richest person in the world and Donald
Bible scholar Wilbur Smith compared the
didn’t, so there aren’t. As difﬁcult (or
would become a postal worker.
prophecies of the Bible with other historical
impossible) as it would have been in 1910
Now, before considering the other 59 proph-
against one person fulﬁlling all eight
books, stating that the Bible “is the only
to have accurately predicted this precise
ecies, you have to stop and ask yourself
prophecies are astronomical—one in 1021.
volume ever produced by man, or a group of
sequence of events, the odds are incredibly
how many people in the category of poten-
To illustrate that number, Stoner gave the
men, in which is to be found a large body of
more difﬁcult for Jesus, or any one person,
tial Messiah throughout history were born
following example: “First, blanket the entire
prophecies relating to individual nations, to
to have fulﬁlled all the Hebrew prophe-
of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem. “Well,
Earth land mass with silver dollars 120 feet
Israel, to all the peoples of the earth, to cer-
cies for the Messiah. Contained within the
let’s see, there’s my neighbor George, but
high. Second, specially mark one of those
tain cities, and to the coming one who was
Old Testament, written hundreds of years
… no, never mind; he was born in Brook-
dollars and randomly bury it. Third, ask a
to be the Messiah.”5 Thus the Bible lays out
before the birth of Jesus, are 61 speciﬁc
lyn.” In the case of 61 detailed prophecies
person to travel the Earth and select the
its claim for inspiration in such a way that
prophecies and nearly 300 references about
being fulﬁlled by one person, we are talking
marked dollar, while blindfolded, from the
it can be either substantiated or disproved.
the Messiah.6
about virtually impossible odds.
trillions of other dollars.”7
62 • ARTICLE FIVE • THE PATH LAID BY PROPHETS
The students calculated that the odds
THE PATH LAID BY PROPHETS • ARTICLE FIVE • 63
Association, which stated, “The mathematical analysis … is based upon principles of prob-
have accused him of living his life in such a way as to intentionally fulﬁll them. A reason-
ability which are thoroughly sound, and Professor Stoner has applied these principles in a
able objection, but not as plausible as it might seem.
checked what the ﬁndings implied, experts
Old Testament prophecy. They have granted that Jesus fulﬁlled messianic prophecies but
checked and rechecked the dating. At last the
that), so it’s important to note that Stoner’s work was reviewed by the American Scientiﬁc
commissioned experts dated some of the docu-
And over the years a similar claim has been made by skeptics about Jesus’ fulﬁllment of
ments to 150 years before Christ.
People can do some pretty squishy things with numbers (especially with a last name like
of Jesus. Surprised at the early dating, experts
proper and convincing way.” 8
these copies were transcribed prior to the birth
Consider the nature of just four of the messianic prophecies:
dreds of year earlier, dating tests conﬁrmed that
With that as an introduction, let’s add six more predictions to the two we’ve already con-
copies of the original prophecies written hun-
• His lineage would come from David (Jeremiah 23:5).
Although these documents were well-preserved
• His birth would occur in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
Jeremiah 23:5
600 b.c.
• He would migrate to Egypt (Hosea 11:1).
• He would live in Nazareth (Isaiah 11:1).9
Prophecy: The Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of
silver.
Luke 3:23, 31
4 b.c.
Zechariah 11:13
487 b.c.
Matthew 26:15
a.d. 30
Psalm 22:16
1000 b.c.
tion. And once Herod died, Jesus’ parents naturally decided to resettle in Nazareth.
Luke 23:33
a.d. 30
Even if at a young age an imposter Jesus looked at the prophecies he had accidentally
Now, what could Jesus do about fulﬁlling these prophecies? Neither he nor his parents had
any control over his ancestry. His birth in Bethlehem was the result of a census mandated
pierced.
by Caesar Augustus. His parents’ move to Egypt was prompted by King Herod’s persecu-
and other community documents in caves to
Prophecy: The Messiah would have his hands and feet
preserve them. And there they remained for cen-
Fulﬁllment: “They gave him thirty pieces of silver.”
before that, some of them hid their biblical scrolls
putting down a Jewish revolt. Quite possibly, all
fulﬁlled and decided to go for it and see if he could make the rest (like someone deciding
stacked against him. Consider some of the factors in the prophecies we’ve already looked
Messiah were fulﬁlled by Jesus Christ.
many prophecies would be beyond all
The eight prophecies we’ve reviewed about the Messiah were written by men from differ-
mathematical possibility. It could never
ent times and places between about 500 and 1,000 years before Jesus was born. Thus there
happen, no matter how much time was
was no opportunity for collusion among them. Notice too, the speciﬁcity. This is not the
allotted. One mathematician’s estimate of
genre of a Nostradamus prediction—“When the moon turns green, the lima bean will lie
those impossible odds is “one chance in a
cloaked by the roadside.”
trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion,
trillion, trillion.”10
CONTROL
Bertrand Russell, adamant atheist, was
Imagine winning a Powerball lottery with merely
asked in a Look magazine interview what
one ticket among tens of millions sold. Now imag-
evidence it would take for him to believe in
ine winning a hundred of these lotteries in a row.
God. Russell responded, “Well, if I heard a
What would people think? Right, “It was rigged!”
voice from heaven and it predicted a series
Two conclusions
emerge: First, only a
transcendent Being
could orchestrate such
events. And second,
it makes all of Jesus’
other claims credible
and worthy of serious
consideration.
CAV ESHELD
The odds against one person fulﬁlling that
TH E
a.d. 27
wh at
John 1:26
references to 61 speciﬁc prophecies of the
In 1947 an Arab boy named Muhammad discov-
here in the crowd is someone you do not know.”
500 b.c.
ered a limestone cave near the Dead Sea that
Fulﬁllment: John told them, “I baptize with water, but right
Malachi 3:1
contained some clay jars. After Muhammad’s
siah.
Bible scholars tell us that nearly 300
seems they originally belonged to an ascetic reli-
Prophecy: A messenger would be sent to herald the Mes-
initial surprise, he discovered that inside the jars
a.d. 30
were ancient scrolls. No one knew at the time
Matthew 21:7
gious group called the Essenes (a little like monks
garments over the colt, and he sat on it.”
Jesus, yet what control did he have over the fulﬁllment of any of them?
of the Middle Ages) who lived in a community
Fulﬁllment: “They brought the animals to him and threw their
cruciﬁxion; and people would cast lots for his clothes. These prophecies all came true for
how valuable these scrolls were. Inside those
500 b.c.
clay jars were well-preserved manuscripts from
Zechariah 9:9
near the caves.
Prophecy: The Messiah would appear riding on a donkey.
at: the Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver; he would be killed by means of
every Old Testament book except Esther. Most
a.d. 30
The theory goes that the community (called the
John 19:23-24
not tear it but throw dice to see who gets it.’ ”
Qumran community, after their location) came to
Fulﬁllment: “The soldiers … took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said, ‘Let’s
to shoot the moon in the card game Hearts), the deck would still have been impossibly
importantly, these were by far the oldest biblical
1000 b.c.
manuscripts scholars had ever seen.
Psalm 22:18
an end in the late 60s a.d. when Roman troops
Prophecy: People would cast lots for the Messiah’s clothing.
marched through the area in the process of
criminals on either side.”
How did these manuscripts get there? Well, it
were cruciﬁed there—Jesus on the center cross, and the two
the Essenes were slaughtered at that time. But
Fulﬁllment: “They came to a place called The Skull. All three
64 • ARTICLE FIVE • THE PATH LAID BY PROPHETS
turies until a curious boy found them, remarkably
Fulﬁllment: “Jesus … the son of David …”
o ut
of HIS
Archaeologists and paleographers were com-
David.
missioned to date the documents scientiﬁcally.
Prophecy: The Messiah would be from the lineage of King
unchanged in the dry desert climate.
sidered, giving us a total of Professor Stoner’s eight:
THE PATH LAID BY PROPHETS • ARTICLE FIVE • 65
of things and they came to pass, then I guess I’d have to believe
To better understand the ﬁrst-century Jews’ misunderstanding, consider this messianic
there’s some kind of supernatural being.”
prophecy written 700 years before the birth of Jesus by the prophet Isaiah. Was it referring
to Jesus?
Bible scholar Norman Geisler responded to Russell’s skepticism. “I’d
say, ‘Mr. Russell, there has been a voice from heaven; it has predict-
All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
ed many things; and we’ve seen them undeniably come to pass.’”11
Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all.
Geisler was alluding to the fact that only a transcendent Being outside of time would be able to accurately predict future events.
a n
I NTERE STING TWIS T
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 did not open
his mouth. From prison and trial they led him away to his death. But who among
A
PRO O F
JA R
the people realized that he was dying for their sins—that he was suffering their
NI
If these predictions were fulﬁlled so ac-
punishment? He had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone. But he was
We’ve looked at the evidence for Jesus’ fulﬁllment of messianic
curately through the life of Jesus, it seems
buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.
prophecies from every angle but one. What if the Christian scribes
logical to wonder why everyone in Israel
who copied scrolls of Isaiah and the other Old Testament prophetic
would not have been able to see it. But as
But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and ﬁll him with grief. Yet when his
books altered them to make them correspond to Jesus’ life?
his cruciﬁxion attests, not everyone did see
life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs….
it. As the apostle John said of Jesus, “Even
And because of what he has experienced, my righteous servant will make it pos-
This is a question many scholars and skeptics have asked. And it
in his own land and among his own people,
sible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. (Portions of
seems possible, even attractive. It would prevent us from making
he was not accepted” (John 1:11). Why?
Isaiah 53:6-11)
Jesus into a lying imposter, which seems highly unlikely, and it
would explain the amazing accuracy of his fulﬁllment of prophecies.
Considering the embattled history of Israel,
As Jesus hung on the cross, some understandably may have been thinking, How could this
So, how do we know that the Old Testament prophetic books, such
it is not difﬁcult to read into the deﬁnition
be the Messiah? At the same time, others may have been wondering, Who else but Jesus
as Isaiah, Daniel, and Micah, were written hundreds of years before
of Messiah the idea of a political freedom
could Isaiah be talking about?
Christ, as purported? And if they were, how do we know Christians
ﬁghter. It is understandable how a ﬁrst-cen-
didn’t alter the texts later?
tury Jewish person might think, How could
1
I POSSIB LE
IMP OSTER
W
oppressed under Roman occupation?
the human impossibility of accurately predicting future events. But
then something occurred that doused all enthusiasm for the theory.
While Jesus fulﬁlled the messianic prophe-
Something called the Dead Sea Scrolls.
cies, he did so in ways that no one was
Terence Hines, Pseudoscience and the
Paranormal (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus
the Messiah have come and Israel still be
For 1,900 years, many skeptics held fast to that theory, based upon
ENDN OTES
Books, 2003), 193.
So, what are we to make of Jesus having fulﬁlled so many prophecies written hundreds
2
of years prior to his birth? Leonardo DiCaprio … I mean, Frank Abagnale might be a good
Demands a Verdict (San Bernardino, CA:
imposter, but even he got caught by the time he was old enough to drink a beer legally.
Here’s Life Publishers, 1999), 194.
Josh McDowell, The New Evidence That
3
Prediction 3, Quatrain 2, 28.
expecting. He sought a moral and spiritual
Jesus doesn’t look anything like a more competent Frank Abagnale. He’s in a different
4
McDowell, Ibid.
Half a century back, the ﬁnding of the Dead Sea scrolls provided
revolution, not a political one, accomplish-
category altogether. No imposter could ever beat such odds as those presented by Hebrew
5
Quoted in McDowell, 12-13.
Bible scholars with copies of Old Testament books that were far older
ing his objectives through self-sacriﬁce
prophecy.
6
McDowell, 164-193.
than any others known to exist. Extensive tests proved that many of
and humble service, healing and teaching.
7
Peter W. Stoner, Science Speaks (Chicago:
these copies were made before Jesus Christ even lived. And they are
Meanwhile, Israel was looking for another
And what does that mean? Two conclusions emerge: First, only a transcendent Being
Moody Press, 1958), 97-110.
virtually identical to the texts of the Bible we were already using.
Moses or Joshua who would lead them in a
could orchestrate such events. And second, it makes all of Jesus’ other claims credible and
8
Stoner, 5.
conquest to recover their lost kingdom.
worthy of serious consideration.
9
The Hebrew word netzer, appearing in
As a result, even scholars who deny Jesus as the Messiah accept
Isaiah 11:1, is believed by many to refer to
these manuscripts of the Old Testament as having predated his
Of course, many Jews of Jesus’ day did
In the Gospel of John, Jesus made the claim, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Over-
Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown.
birth and therefore concede that the prophecies about the Messiah
recognize him as the Messiah—the entire
whelming evidence seems to indicate that the signature on that check is not a forgery.
10
contained within them have not been altered in order to conform to
foundation of the Christian church being
Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), 262.
Jesus.
Jewish. The majority, however, did not.
11
Lee Strobel, The Case for Faith (Grand
Quoted in Strobel, 141.
And it’s not so hard to comprehend why.
66 • ARTICLE FIVE • THE PATH LAID BY PROPHETS
THE PATH LAID BY PROPHETS • ARTICLE FIVE • 67