CAN WE USE THE BIBLE FOR HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF JESUS?

One of the most common challenges to the reliability of the New Testament is that the documents are unreliable because they are biased. In one sense, this is a fair charge. Yet not all biases are equal. The apostles had biases. John admits that he wrote his gospel in part so that readers will believe in Jesus (John 20:31). Some biases can cause people to distort the truth, but others can motivate them to proclaim truth. In the case of John, who was an eyewitness of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we believe it motivated him to carefully preserve the truth (John 21:24–25).

When it comes to the historical Jesus, the vast majority of sources we have for the historical Jesus are Christian. Naturally, people may reject such sources because they assume Christian documents are biased. But doesn’t this show an unfair bias against Christian sources? Accusations of bias can cut both ways. Consider the example of Holocaust survivors. Such individuals would undoubtedly be biased. But this does not in itself provide good reason to discount their testimony. We must be open-minded to the possibility that Christian sources are historically reliable testimonies to the historicity of Jesus and consider them as part of a larger, cumulative case. As with Holocaust survivors, we should not reject Christian testimonies outright. In this chapter, we will consider what the New Testament documents reveal about the existence of Jesus. Later we will consider further claims about his identity and miracles.

New Testament Documents

The Gospels

The authors of the four gospels don’t argue for Jesus’s existence—they assume it. They want the reader to know that their accounts are reliable (e.g., John 21:24), but their focus is to convince readers that Jesus, whom they knew, is God and should be followed.

Many skeptical scholars question whether every story about Jesus contained in the Gospels actually took place. Yet those who don’t believe in the authenticity of every story in the Gospels still affirm that Jesus existed. Agnostic New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman is skeptical about the supernatural accounts surrounding Jesus’s life. But this does not lead him to deny the existence of Jesus. After examining the Gospels, as well as the traditions from which they arose, Ehrman concluded, “The vast network of these traditions, numerically significant, widely dispersed, and largely independent of one another, makes it almost certain that whatever one wants to say about Jesus, at the very least one must say that he existed.”1

The gospel accounts provide sufficient New Testament evidence to conclude that Jesus existed. But there’s more. Let’s move on to the writings of Paul.

The apostle Paul, once a persecutor of Christians, changed dramatically into a missionary who tried to bring more people to the faith. His letters don’t contain a complete picture of Jesus’s life because they are occasional letters designed to address specific concerns within the churches to which he wrote. Still, Paul clearly based many arguments on the assumption that Jesus did exist. His writings are important because they are likely the earliest Christian documents and the earliest writings we have concerning Jesus as a historical person. Even critical scholars accept that Paul wrote seven of the letters attributed to him (Galatians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Romans, Philemon, Philippians, and 1 Thessalonians). Let’s examine five things that Paul affirms regarding Jesus’s life:

Paul believed Jesus died

Direct claims or allusions in nearly all his writings

Paul cites Jesus’s teaching on divorce and expounds on it

Jesus’s death (a public crucifixion for anyone to see) was central to Paul’s teaching

Fact Reference Comment

Paul believed Jesus rose from the dead

Paul believed there were contemporary witnesses to Jesus

Specific references in nine of his thirteen letters

In 1 Cor. 15, Paul mentions that many people (including himself) saw the risen Jesus, and encourages doubters to ask them

Gal. 1:18–20; 1 Cor. 9:5; 1 Cor. 15:6–8

Paul mentions meeting James the brother of Christ, Peter, and others who met Jesus

On top of the five things listed in the previous chart, in their book defending the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth, The Jesus Legend, theologians Paul Rhodes Eddy and Gregory A. Boyd offer a list of historical facts that Paul affirms about Jesus’s life and ministry. Paul knew that Jesus

• was born and raised as a Jew (Gal. 4:4)

• was a descendant of Abraham and David (Rom. 1:3; Gal. 3:16)

• had a brother named James (Gal. 1:19)

• possibly had other brothers as well (1 Cor. 9:5)

• had numerous disciples (1 Cor. 9:5)

• was betrayed (1 Cor. 11:23) and executed by crucifixion (1 Cor. 1:17–18; Gal. 5:11; 6:12; Phil. 2:8; 3:18) with the help of some Judean Jews (1 Thess. 2:14–15)

• instituted the Lord’s Supper the night before his death (1 Cor. 11:23–25)

• was buried and resurrected three days later (Rom. 4:24–25; 1 Cor. 15:4–8; 2 Cor. 4:14; Gal. 1:1; 1 Thess. 4:14)

• was meek, gentle, self-sacrificial, and humble (2 Cor. 10:1; Phil. 2:5–7)

• lived a model life that should be imitated by all (1 Cor. 11:1)2

In addition to this list, Paul also recognized that Jesus taught on marriage and divorce (1 Cor. 7:10) and that he testified before Pontius Pilate (1 Tim. 6:13). In sum, Paul and the people to whom he witnessed believed in a literal, historical Jesus who lived, ministered, died, and rose again on the third day.

Early Christian Creeds

Early Christian creeds also provide evidence for the historical Jesus. Now, by creeds we don’t mean the cherished belief statements often recited in churches such as the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed. We mean the teachings and sayings that the earliest Christians shared among themselves before the New Testament was even written. Several of the early creeds were incorporated into the New Testament by Paul and other New Testament authors. These creeds are some of the first glimpses we have into early Christian beliefs. Let’s explore some.

Philippians 2:6–11

Philippians 2:6–11 is a “pre-Pauline hymn” that references Jesus’s divine and human nature. Jesus took on the “nature of a servant” (NIV) and “human likeness” (NIV), humbling himself “as a man” to die on the cross. Here, Jesus’s human nature is clearly contrasted with his divine nature, thus providing evidence that Jesus walked the earth as a flesh-and-blood human being.

2 Timothy 2:8 and Romans 1:3–4

Second Timothy 2:8 sets forth two aspects of Jesus’s life. Here Jesus’s birth in the lineage of David is presented along with his resurrection from the dead, showing the early Christians’ interest in linking Jesus to history. Similarly, Romans 1:3–4, plausibly an ancient, pre-Pauline creed, juxtaposes the man Jesus “born of the seed of David according to the flesh” to the divine Jesus whose claims were vindicated by his rising from the dead. For our purposes, we need note only the early interest in Jesus’s earthly, physical connections, as he was born of a descendant of David’s family.

1 Timothy 3:16

Like the others, the ancient creed in 1 Timothy 3:16 begins by affirming that Jesus became a human, showing how Jesus’s humanity was an important aspect of Christianity from the beginning. From this and other relevant texts, we can glean several important facts about the events in Jesus’s life: Jesus was born as a human (Phil. 2:7; 1 Tim. 3:16; 1 John 4:2) of the line of David (Rom. 1:3; 2 Tim. 2:8), and his teachings were spread throughout the world, leading others to believe in him (1 Tim. 3:16).

1 Corinthians 15:3–7

1 Corinthians 15:3–7 contains what may be the most important New Testament creed for the study of the historical existence of Jesus. Although this passage specifically addresses Jesus’s resurrection, it also provides information for a broader examination of the historicity of Jesus, mentioning his death, burial, and alleged appearances to many people.

The key to this passage’s importance is its early date, with 1 Corinthians believed to have been written around 54 or 55 AD. Even the most critical scholars across the entire theological spectrum recognize this as an early Christian creed that predated Paul. If Jesus died around 30 AD, this letter, by a major church leader who knew people who accompanied Jesus during his earthly ministry, was written within twentyfive years of Jesus’s death. And if this letter contains earlier tradition that Paul received and is passing on, then belief in the death, burial, and appearances of Jesus exists fewer than twenty-five years from the death and resurrection of Jesus.

One reason for the widespread support of the idea that Paul is relaying an ancient creed is Paul’s use of the words delivered and received in setting up his report. Paul states that he is passing on content that he received from another, meaning a tradition that was passed down to him. Paul believes tradition is important and carries authority, which he makes clear in numerous passages. Recall that Paul was once a Pharisee, a group that had a great zeal for tradition, as reported by Mark and Josephus.