God

Have you ever asked for proof before you'd believe something is true? There aren't many things in life that we've contemplated the evidence and then came to a realization that they're true or false. As children we believed what our parents and teachers told us to believe or what we think they believed except perhaps in the case of Santa Claus.

I don't recall ever being directly told Santa exists nor do I recall ever being directly told Santa doesn't exist. Something that much fun doesn't matter; we believe because we want to believe and then we don't believe because we know it isn't true but we go on with the fun anyway. It doesn't matter.

As adults there aren't many things that we sit down and contemplate the evidence and then conclude whether they're true or false. We learn to use a television set but most us don't know and don't care how it works. When's the last time you argued with someone over whether or not an electron exists. You never have right?

So "seeing is believing" but we don't have to see the "thing" we have only to see its results right? We have no eye witnesses to an electron. No one has ever seen one. We have only men and women who've learned to use electrons in thousands of applications. They show us the effects and influence of electrons but they can't "show" us this thing they've decided to call an "electron."

That's okay. The observations and theoretical knowledge of what electrons do "prove" they exist and help us use them to our benefit. We believe by faith that electrons exist because we see their effects and benefits.

People who ask for "proof" of God's existence "without the Bible" miss the very essence of what a true God would be if he exists. By definition an all powerful all knowing creator God could easily keep his existence from humanity for all of time. There's nothing mankind could do to try to find God which God couldn't foil. No matter how advanced man's technology becomes, a true God could always keep himself hidden.

Thus, for man to know of God's existence, God would have to make himself known. He would have to revealhimself to mankind. That's exactly what he's done-through Jesus Christ and through the Bible. Therefore the "proof" of God's existence is simple (not easy to be sure)-it's in the authenticity of the Bible and the historical fact of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's all there is to it. As I said, it's simple but not easy.

It the last article we discussed the importance of "origins" in answering the question "is there a God." Now, setting aside the Bible for the time being we'll discuss Jesus Christ. If he is who he said he is when he was on earth then there's no doubt of the existence of God.

The Historical Jesus

According to scholars there are ten non-Christian sources that, within 150 years of Christ's death, mention Jesus Christ in their writings. During the same 150 years there are nine non-Christians sources that mention the Roman who was emperor during the time of Jesus, Tiberius Caesar. No one doubts that Tiberius Caesar was an actual man who lived during the first century nor should anyone doubt that Jesus Christ lived at the same time.

Let's take a look at the testimony of three ancient writers who were anti-Christian or at least non-Christian and mentioned Jesus in their writings as an actual historical figure.

Celsus was a 2^nd century anti-Christian Greek writer. His writings are mostly insignificant except for the fact that he wrote about Jesus as an actual historical figure. As far as is known Celsus made no claims that Jesus never lived. In fact, it was Celsus' belief that Jesus was not born of a virgin but rather he was the illegitimate son of Mary and a Roman soldier who'd been stationed in Palestine.

Jesus had come from a village in Judea, and was the son of a poor Jewess who gained her living by the work of her own hands. His mother had been turned out of doors by her husband, who was a carpenter by trade, on being convicted of adultery [with a soldier named Panthéra (i.32)]. Being thus driven away by her husband, and wandering about in disgrace, she gave birth to Jesus, a bastard. Jesus, on account of his poverty, was hired out to go to Egypt. While there he acquired certain (magical) powers which Egyptians pride themselves on possessing. He returned home highly elated at possessing these powers, and on the strength of them gave himself out to be a god

Note that Celsus didn't deny that Jesus possessed "magical" powers. He claimed that Jesus learned them while he was in Egypt. A validation of the New Testament that Jesus lived as a young boy in Egypt.

Tacitus was a Roman official and historian who lived from around 56 CE to about 117 CE. He wrote a history of the Roman Empire that spanned from around the birth of Christ until around 96 CE. Tacitus refers to Christ when he wrote about the Great Fire in Rome and how Nero blamed the Christians. Tacitus was also anti-Christian due to popular misconceptions of them at that time (their hate and enmity to human kind).

[Nero] transferred the guilt upon fictitious criminals, and subjected to most exquisite tortures, and doomed to executions singularly cruel those people who, for their detestable crimes were already in truth universally abhorred, and known to the vulgar by the name of Christians. The founder of this name was Christ, one who in the reign of Tiberius suffered death as a criminal, under Pontius Pilate Imperial Procurator of Judæa, and, for a while, the pestilent superstition was quelled, but revived again and spread, not only over Judæa, where this evil was first broached, but even through Rome, the great gulph into which, from every quarter of the earth, there are torrents for ever flowing of all that is hideous and abominable amongst men: Nay, in it the filthy glut of iniquity never fails to find popular reverence and distinction.

Josephus was a 1^st century Jew and Roman citizen who wrote volumes on the history of the Jews. By his own account he remained a devoid religious Jew and never converted to Christianity. Enemies of Christianity have tried without success to discount Josephus's reference to Jesus in his writing.

Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.

In another passage Josephus wrote...

so he assembled the sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, [or, some of his companions]; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned:

Conclusion

That Jesus was a real man who lived in historical time and space is indisputable. Also indisputable is the fact that that same man, Jesus, was executed on a cross by the Romans at the behest of Jewish leaders. Those facts are established historical facts. The only person who would deny them would have to be ignorant, evil, or both.

Of course knowing that Jesus actually lived and died is a far cry from admitting he was divinely conceived and born, that he performed miracles, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. That would require reliable testimony from reliable witnesses along with rational faith. That's where the Bible comes in and where we'll pick up in a later article.

Sources:
John Patrick: The apology of Origen in Reply to Celsus: a Chapter in the History of Apologetics
Norman Geisler & Frank Turek: I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist
The Online Library of Liberty: Translation of Tacitus
Celsus on Jesus
William Whiston: The Works of Flavius Josephus