Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ Facts
The Life of Jesus
· There are 45 ancient sources: 19 creedal, 4 archaeological, 17 non-Christian, 5 non-new testament Christian
· One of the most substantiated lives in ancient times
The Person of Jesus
· Of the 45 sources, 30 report teaching his deity, 15 are secular
The Death of Jesus
· Of the 45 sources, 28 specifically mention his death, 12 non-Christian, 14 mention details of his crucifiction
The Resurrection of Jesus
· Of the 45, eighteen specifically record the resurrection, 11 more report relevant facts, such as Yohanen’s skeleton, which reveals the assurance of death by crucifiction
· Alternative theories using natural grounds fail to explain the established facts
Written Testament
· The resurrection was reported and recorded by eye-witnesses of the risen Christ within a few years of the actual events—there is no known evidence of ancient evidence better than this!
· Early creeds pre-date the new testament: 1 Corinthians 15:3 and others, link gospel testimony to the original persons involved—disproving the “legend” theories
Trustworthiness of the New Testament
· New Testament has better manuscript evidence than any other ancient book: there are over 5,000 manuscripts and portions of manuscripts
· A majority of classical works (i.e. Homer’s works) have less than 20
· Most manuscripts are 50-150 years older than the originals, whereas most classical works are 700-1400 years older than their originals
· Each gospel was written by an eyewitness, or from first hand testimony by an eyewitness of the actual events. All four gospels were written within the lifetimes of the eyewitnesses.
Source: Gary Habermas
www.garyhabermas.com
Forget the hearsay, check out the experts-- the Converted Catholic
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