A historical discussion considers evidence outside the Bible for Jesus’ life, with references to Lee Strobel and Gary Habermas.
Primary passage: John 21:25
Historical evidence from outside the Bible
- What is circular reasoning?
(I believe the Bible, because the Bible tells me to. Since the Bible tells me, it’s true, I believe it.)
- Do you know anyone who does not believe that Jesus ever lived? Not that Jesus is or isn’t God, but that the historical figure of Jesus of Nazareth never even existed?
- There actually are a lot of people who believe this. So the question is, is there any historical evidence from outside the Bible to show that it is true?
And the answer, as you might have guessed, is yes, and there are many…
Dr. Gary Habermas wrote a book called The Historical Jesus. In this book, he details 39 ancient sources documenting the life of Jesus, from which he covers over 100 reported facts concerning Jesus‘s life which includes his existence, crucifixion, and even resurrection.
- What are some things we know about the life of Jesus from sources other than the Bible?
We know that Jesus was a Jewish teacher
We know that many people believed that he performed healings and exorcisms
We know that many people believed he was the messiah
We know that he was rejected by the Jewish leaders
We know that he was crucified under Pontius Pilate
We know that his followers believed he was still alive
We know that the people who believed Jesus was God spread this news throughout the entire countryside
We know that all kinds of people from cities around the world, men, women, slave, free, worshiped him as God
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, tell a historical story of Jesus. These books not only tell about Jesus, but explain to us how he is not just a man, but also the promised Messiah, and God himself.
John 21:25
Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
The historical Jesus by Dr. Gary Habermas
Translation notice: The historical source does not explicitly identify the Scripture translation. Quotations are preserved as supplied; NIV is used only as the default passage-link destination.
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