JESUS: HISTORY OR MYTHOLOGY?

 

JESUS: HISTORY OR MYTHOLOGY?

Historians study and write about the past. They are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events. The life of Jesus Christ is a past event and is of great interest to some historians.

One such historian is Canadian Earl Doherty. Doherty argues that Jesus did not exist as a historical figure. Doherty’s published works strongly promote the “Jesus myth theory.” The theory contends that “the story of Jesus is a piece of mythology”.

Agnostic Professor Bart Ehrman, confronts Earl Doherty in his volume, Did Jesus Exist? Here Dr Ehrman vigorously defends the historical Jesus. Using the most historically reliable sources for best understanding the mission and message of Jesus, Ehrman offers a compelling portrait of the person at the centre of the Christian tradition.

Agreed, non-Christian sources for the historical events of the Gospels are both few and polluted. Here are a few reasons that may explain this scarcity of historical information:

- Roman Palestine had a literacy rate of about 3% and we have almost no secular documents of any kind from Jesus’ lifetime;

- Most of the events of Jesus took place in rural Galilee;

- The Jesus movement was viewed as an insignificant sect of Judaism, a controversial religion;

- On at least three occasions, Jesus instructed His disciples not to tell others who He was and what He did – that does not augur well for historical research; and

- Neither does Mary’s decision to “treasure up all these things and ponder them in her heart.”

These considerations will most likely account for the rarity and the asperity with which Christian events were mentioned by non-Christian authors.

But does minimal mention of Jesus by non-Christian historians disprove His existence? The following first century non-Christian sources provide us with enough information to verify that Jesus was no mythical figure. Roman historian Tacitus (A.D. 54-119) acknowledged that Jesus was the founder of the Christian religion and had been put to death by the procurator Pontius Pilate, under the reign of Tiberius.

Seutonius (A.D. 75-160), another Roman historian, also showed his acquaintance with the historical Jesus and the movement which continued after His death. Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, born shortly after the death of Jesus, also wrote convincingly of Jesus Christ. 

Contemporary historians have tried and tested techniques for assessing evidence. Using these techniques, the overwhelming consensus is that there is ample evidence for the existence of Jesus from both Biblical and extra-Biblical sources.

Thankfully, whereas extra-biblical sources on the life of Jesus Christ seem sparce, the same cannot be said of biblical sources, more specifically, the New Testament. Within the field of ancient literature, the New Testament is by far the most credible.

In a recent newspaper article, my friend and scholar Dr Clinton Chisholm mentioned that “when one is considering the reliability of any ancient document, there are two basic issues to be considered – textual integrity and historical fidelity.”

Chisholm further contends, “that every event or person in ancient history attracts credibility if and only if, the ancient document providing the data purporting to be factual, possesses textual integrity.” Even a cursory examination of the New Testament will prove that the 25,000 manuscripts are far more credible than many other ancient documents.

Chisholm cited historical fidelity as equally critical in determining the reliability of ancient writings. Historical fidelity explores the closeness of the written document and the actual event to which it refers. Interestingly, the time lapse from event to writing in the New Testament is the shortest of all ancient documents except for three writers – Pliny the Younger, Herodotus and Thucydides.

So, when I read my New Testament about the life of Jesus Christ, I know that I am reading from a credible source. I am reading real history and not mythology. Rob Robinson was correct, “there is no myth in the history of the world which has radically changed the lives of billions of people”. The truth is, the message of Jesus Christ is proven both by empirical evidence in the historical record, and by the impact it has had on the lives of people, for more than 2,000 years. This is why I contend that the life of Jesus Christ is history, and not mythology.