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Where God-questions are put to the test This month’s question… Christians claim the evidence about Jesus is solid – so why do so many people doubt it? If we dig deep to look at why it is reasonable to trust what history says about Jesus we find lots of solid reasons to do so. To name just a few: What was written was by those who were there at the time, or talked to those who were. It was written down close enough to the event for anyone to have been able to say ‘It didn’t happen that way’. And those who wrote had a huge motivation to get it right – even down to recording the things that made them look like not being the fizziest bottle in the fridge. So – good question – how come intelligent and clever people scoff at the idea that we should trust what is written about Jesus? Why do they assume that belief has to involved us parking our brains? The best way to face this issue is to identify those who don’t have a problem with the record of Jesus’ life being accurate. What you’ll find, time and again, is that historians – those who deal in making sense of the past – will tell you the Gospels are an amazing record of history. In their eyes, diligent witnesses set it all out with care, archaeology supports what they wrote and we are inundated with good copies of the manuscripts to show they have not been meddled with during the passage of time. Historians will line up to tell you that the records of Jesus’ life outshine those of any other comparable figure in history. Who are those who struggle with the events recorded in the Gospels? Not historians but theologians – those who make their living working out what God is like. They are not scientists but thinkers, some of whom have a preconceived idea as to what is allowed to happen in the universe and how God should behave. That means when the historical record says something they have never seen happen, or they don’t think could happen, they make their own judgment against the hard evidence. In their terms, the things written down are impossible – people just don’t walk on water, deliver banquets for 5,000 people from a few fish and loaves, or rise from the dead – so there must be another explanation. And the explanation they like is that it is not true. This begs a simple but profound question: “If God had come to Earth as Jesus, lived among ordinary people, done extraordinary things, suffered a criminal’s death and come to life three days later, what evidence would have been left behind?” Disbelieving theologians say, “I don’t like the question because it just can’t have happened.” Open-minded historians say, “The Gospels, of course.” The Gospels record events that may seem beyond belief. And we may find it hard to accept they happened, judged against what goes on in the average high street on a Monday morning. But the authentic nature of the gospel record means we can be absolutely confident that the version of Jesus’ life found there can be trusted. The Y Course Peter Meadows is the co-author with Joseph Steinberg of The Book of Y the basis for the eight week Y Course that explores life’s biggest questions. If you have a Y Question relating to issues of faith and God, Peter or Joseph will do their best to answer it. Send your question to: challenge @veritecm.com Subject: Y Course We hope to publish their responses in future editions. |
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