Myth or Man?

Is Jesus a real person or a myth?

According to a 2015 survey conducted by the Church of England, four in ten people, a full 40 percent, did not believe Jesus was a real person, with a quarter of 18 to 34-year-olds believing he was a mythical or fictional character. The random survey of 4,000 people was a cross-section of those who self-identified by various faiths or none at all.

To have a serious contemplation about Jesus requires answering the most basic question - did He exist? Contrary to what critics assert, there are many sources outside of the Bible that affirm the historicity of Jesus' life and His death. Even before considering the historical reliability of the Bible, one can look to secular sources for a reliable record that establishes Jesus as a real person in time and place.

As we consider non-biblical records of the life of Jesus, it is significant to realize that up until the last few hundred years, written records chronicling a person's life and impact were reserved almost exclusively for kings, rulers, the wealthy, and for memorializing military exploits. Jesus fell in none of those categories. That makes the documented record of Jesus' life even more authoritative. As a person of no great consequence except to those who were His own followers, a man of no political influence or power to merit their attention, yet reliable sources in history affirm Jesus' existence.

Among those who speak of Jesus are Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, early Greek writers Lucian of Samosata and Mara bar Serapion, and Roman era historians Thallus, Pliny, and Suetonius.

In a book by theology professor Craig Bloomberg titled "Who is Jesus of Nazareth?" (Lexham Press 2021), we are provided with an example from Tacitus, a Roman historian and senator who lived from AD 56 to 120. Taken from his Annals, a history of the Roman Empire from the reign of Tiberius to that of Nero, the years AD 14–68, he addresses Nero's persecution of Christians and includes, "The founder of this name, Christ, had been executed in the reign of Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate” (44:3).

From Josephus' writing, Bloomberg quotes, "Josephus, in the late first century, calls Jesus 'a wise man,' 'a worker of amazing deeds,' 'a teacher,' and 'one accused by the leading men among us [who] condemned him to the cross'” (Ant. 18.3.3).

Summarizing a variety of secular sources, Michael Gleghorn of Probe Ministries, writes:

First, both Josephus and Lucian indicate that Jesus was regarded as wise. Second, Pliny, the Talmud, and Lucian imply He was a powerful and revered teacher. Third, both Josephus and the Talmud indicate He performed miraculous feats. Fourth, Tacitus, Josephus, the Talmud, and Lucian all mention that He was crucified. Tacitus and Josephus say this occurred under Pontius Pilate. And the Talmud declares it happened on the eve of Passover. Fifth, there are possible references to the Christian belief in Jesus' resurrection in both Tacitus and Josephus. Sixth, Josephus records that Jesus' followers believed He was the Christ, or Messiah. And finally, both Pliny and Lucian indicate that Christians worshipped Jesus as God!(Article: Ancient Evidence for Jesus from Non-Christian Sources, 2001m M. Gleghorn)

To those and other secular references to the man called Jesus of Nazareth, we can add the reliable Biblical record that details His birth, family genealogy, occupation, and means and time of death.

Neither the histories cited above, nor Jesus' own followers, had any idea that the man named Jesus would shape the entire world for centuries to come. Which is even more convincing proof that the records were not motivated by any agenda, but a documenting of observable facts.

CONSIDER:

• How does understanding that Jesus' life was included as part of the secular record of history impact your thinking?
• How might it be argued that it takes more faith to believe Jesus did not exist that to accept His life as a fact?

What kind of Man?

Jesus is a man, but what kind of man is He?

Those who don't count themselves among His followers, focus on His notable lifestyle as worthy of emulation. Perhaps you have heard him admired in one of these ways:

A life coach

A leadership expert

A political advocate (claimed by all sides)

A social reformer

A humanitarian

A prophet

A good moral teacher

CONSIDER

• Are any of these descriptions views you hold of Jesus? Why do you subscribe to that view?
• What do you risk by holding a false view of Jesus?

By far the most commonly held view of Jesus is that He was a good teacher.

This is particularly true in Western cultures. A 2020 survey conducted by Ligonier Ministries found that a majority of Americans, 52 percent, believe Jesus was a good teacher and nothing more.

His lessons on how to treat others, how to live in unity, how to be a good citizen, how to work hard, and even how to endure hardship are widely lauded as incomparable to the wisdom found from any other source. Those realities lead many to declare Him a "good and wise man" worthy as an example to live by. There is only one problem with that belief: Jesus' claims about Himself go much further. He claimed to be God. That creates a conflict.

C. S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity,

“I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher . . . You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool . . . or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.

If one rejects the most astounding claims Jesus made about Himself, one cannot also call Him "good."

If He is lying about His core identity, His mission, and His power, then He is a liar. Only a fool would follow the teaching of a liar and declare that teacher "good." To do so is what psychologists call cognitive dissonance - the uncomfortable tension that exists from holding two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes.

CONSIDER:

• In what way do you hold conflicting views of Jesus?
• How might such inconsistencies lead to internal or external conflict?