Somehow, 2000 years after the fact, skeptics can declare with a straight face that Jesus Christ never existed. Imagine if we treated a historical figure like George Washington in a similar way. While admitting that there is some legend and mystery surrounding the life of George Washington it would be idiotic to declare him as a myth by placing him on a billboard next to Santa Claus. Relegating the existence of Jesus Christ to myth is just as idiotic, because...
History Needs an Explanation!
You're walking along the shore of a lake and you hear a loud splash. You turn and and you see the disturbed water along with ripples racing to the shoreline.
"What was that!" You exclaim.
12 men, a handful of women and a group of 500 other onlookers tell you that it was a large stone that a youth had hurled in the water.
"Give me evidence!" You demand, so that I may believe you.
The witnesses look around at each other puzzled and give you a strange look. "We all saw it."
"I don't believe you."
"Why not?" They reply.
"Because I don't believe it was a stone that hit the water."
"Then what caused the splash? You yourself saw the disturbance in the water, you heard the ripples, you heard the sound, there are many witnesses that saw the stone. If it wasn't a stone then what was it and why would we lie about such a thing?"
"I don't know why you would be lying. I don't know what else it would be. But I know it wasn't a stone. Anyone who believes that it was a stone needs to have their head checked!"
The parable is silly. But so is the objection to the existence of Jesus Christ. Every man, woman and child in the United States has been given a four digit number by which they mark their birthday. Everyone's birthday, whether or not they are Christian, is marked by the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is as historically verifiable as any other person who has ever existed.
The world's largest religion along with its impact on the last 2,000 years of civilization needs an explanation. The gospel of Christ has created the world's greatest cultural shift and we are still experiencing the ripple effect. What caused such a stir? What caused such a splash? For the Christian the answer is simple, the resurrection of Jesus. The ripples match the splash of the resurrection of Son of God. If Christ did not exist then what's the explanation? Such an explanation would need to account for an empty tomb and the early witnesses. The explanation would also need evidence. For those who relegate the resurrection of Jesus to myth, the evidence is lacking. Even more problematic is that they can't even come up with a consistent explanation for the big splash of Christianity and its subsequent ripples.
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