But what about Jesus claiming to be God. Some say Jesus never made this claim. The classic claims were used in Dan Brown’s novel the DaVinci Code in which he claim Jesus was never thought to be God until the Council of Nicaea in AD325. Daniel Wallace explains that archeology has proven this claim false, with the discovery of P66. P66 is a copy of Chapter 1 of the gospel of John dated more than 125 years older that the Council of Nicaea and it clearly shows what all Bibles show that Jesus was always God.
So, the Bible clearly says Jesus is God. Jesus was accused of Blasphemy and crucified because the Jewish leaders thought Jesus was claiming to be equal with God. So historically this is just fact. Yes, Jesus claimed to be God. Yes, the Bible clearly says Jesus is God.
CS Lewis said, “The reality is Jesus is either a lunatic, a liar, or he is Lord.” There is no middle ground. You can’t claim he was just a good moral teacher. He claimed to be God.
If He’s not God he is a liar or lunatic. He can never just be a good moral teacher. That is simply not one of the options. Here is James Turek talking about this point (James Turek Video 2 min)
Another objection is that Jesus did not really die by crucifixion.
The death of Jesus is not seriously challenged by scholars but other than straight denial. A common alternative is the so called Swoon theory or resuscitation theory.
The Swoon Theory apparently was first proposed by H. E. G. Paulus in1828 or so. He was a German theologian and critic of the Bible. He claimed that Jesus did not die but rather, Jesus merely fainted on the cross, from pain, shock, and loss of blood. Jesus was then mistakenly buried alive. Then reappeared after being resuscitated.
There are no historical records of anyone surviving a full Roman Crucifixion. So basis for this claim. The Romans knew how to kill people.
Jesus was beaten so badly by the Roman guards; he would have most likely died even without the crucifixion. Jesus was so weak after His torture that He couldn’t carry His cross to the crucifixion site.
Jesus had spikes driven through His wrists and feet and hung bleeding for at least six hours.
The Romans thrust a spear deep into Jesus’ side, confirming beyond doubt that Jesus was dead. Roman soldiers knew what death looked like. They were experts at killing people.
Jesus was prepared for burial according Jewish custom. His body was encased in wrapped linen and spices. This is an image of the Shroud of Turen which is whole other amazing thing to look at. But not today.
Jesus was then entombed, and very large and heavy rock was rolled across the tomb entrance. A unit of highly trained Roman soldiers guarded the entrance. They knew they would face death if anything happened.
The Swoon Theory suggests that Jesus somehow revived after three days in the tomb. Jesus supposedly managed to unwrap His dressings which would be difficult for a healthy person. Then, in the total darkness of the tomb, locate and roll away the stone blocking the tomb entrance. Oh yeah the Jesus did this unnoticed by the guards. Jesus supposedly simply walked away, on feet punctured by the cross nails to rejoin His disciples.
The most significant problem with this theory is that it greatly underestimates the severity of Jesus’ wounds. Historical sources confirm that Jesus was horribly tortured—and confirmed dead by several sources before He was removed from the cross.
Listen to Nabeel Qureshi address this. If you don’t know Nabeel’s story. I recommend his book, “Searching for Alah, Finding Jesus.” (Nabeel video first 3:30 min)
As Nabeel mentioned, Muslims believe the story of Jesus. They just don’t believe Jesus is God or that He was killed by the Romans.
This is the end of How to Defend your Faith Session 9: Historical Jesus & the Resurrection (Part 2 of 4)
