Today, I’m quoting renowned historian Will Durant. Durant, who was not a Christian, wrote the following incisive statement in The Story of Civilization, Vol III: Caesar and Christ.
“The Christian evidence for Christ begins with the letters ascribed to Saint Paul. Some of these are of uncertain authorship; several, antedating A.D. 64, are almost universally accounted as substantially genuine. No one has questioned the existence of Paul, or his repeated meetings with Peter, James, and John; and Paul enviously admits that these men had known Christ in his flesh. The accepted epistles frequently refer to the Last Supper and the Crucifixion…. The contradictions are of minutiae, not substance; in essentials the synoptic gospels agree remarkably well, and form a consistent portrait of Christ. In the enthusiasm of its discoveries the Higher Criticism has applied to the New Testament tests of authenticity so severe that by them a hundred ancient worthies, for example Hammurabi, David, Socrates would fade into legend. Despite the prejudices and theological preconceptions of the evangelists, they record many incidents that mere inventors would have concealed the competition of the apostles for high places in the Kingdom, their flight after Jesus’ arrest, Peter’s denial, the failure of Christ to work miracles in Galilee, the references of some auditors to his possible insanity, his early uncertainty as to his mission, his confessions of ignorance as to the future, his moments of bitterness, his despairing cry on the cross; no one reading these scenes can doubt the reality of the figure behind them. That a few simple men should in one generation have invented so powerful and appealing a personality, so lofty an ethic and so inspiring a vision of human brotherhood, would be a miracle far more incredible than any recorded in the Gospel. After two centuries of Higher Criticism the outlines of the life, character, and teaching of Christ, remain reasonably clear, and constitute the most fascinating feature of the history of Western man.”
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A New Exercise
Liked this post. With so much skeptism around about the historicity of Jesus at the moment (why do we keep getting old and defeated arguments coming back on the web?) it is good to have some good counter arguments.
Thanks for sharing Frank! Glad u r back!
Will Durant wrote this while there was yet a smaller body of evidence. Many contributors have added to the foundational archaeological linguistic work of Drs. Robert Linsey and David Flusser. This group of Christian and Jewish scholars have fleshed out first century life that helps us understand the mode of living and message of Jesus. They have helped to corroborate what early writers have said about the gospels; that Matthew wrote the first gospel in Hebrew a few years after the Resurrection and then translated it into Greek when he was about to go out to the nations.
If Will had known that the idioms Jesus used were ways to communicate Who He was and that the apostles lived what He was and taught, he would have understood that Jesus was exactly God’s Messiah. It would have changed his life as well.
Paul
I don’t understand the last part. What is he saying is the most fascinating failure of the history of Western man?
You misread him: “the most fascinating feature of the history . . .” Feature, not failure. I hope it doesn’t show up as “failure” on smart phones. Say it isn’t so.
I have a few of Durant’s books. One of my favorites of his is his book on the meaning of life. If you do not have it, I would encourage you to get it (“On the Meaning of Life” published in 1932).