There are four essential criteria which, if met by any event recorded in writing, would establish it as truly historical:

A) That the matter of fact be such that people's outward senses (their eyes and ears) may be judges of it;

B) That it be done publicly (in the face of the world).

* These first two rules make it impossible for any such matter of fact to be imposed upon people at the time, because every man's eyes and ears and senses would contradict it.

(These first 2 criteria apply more to the "Conspiracy" theory of the apostles).

C) That not only public monuments (churches, crosses, etc,) be kept up in memory of it, but some outward actions and public observences (The Lord's Supper, Baptism, Sunday sabbath, etc.) be performed;

D) That such monuments, actions and observences, be instituted, and do commence from the time that the matter of fact was done.

* These last two rules make it impossible for any such matter of fact to be imposed upon people of a later time:

If public monuments, outward actions and public observences were said (lied about) to have been constantly used ever since the reported event was said to have taken place (in the past); and these public monuments, outward actions and observences hadn't existed before the lie was fabricated; people at the time that the lie was fabricated would know them to be false.

They would know that all these munuments, actions and observences were not true if, in fact, they didn't exist.

It is as if a man had written an account of the American Revolution (say, in 1876), and of the celebration of this day [July 4, 1776] from the first (100 years earlier); when, in fact, no revolution was ever heard of, and no one had ever celebrated the Fourth of July.

And since the Fourth of July celebration is well established, it would be impossible to state now that another observence within this celebration had always existed (say, the honoring of a man who claimed he could make himself invisible and did so which enabled him to steal all of the British guns, thus securing the victory for the colonies).

(These last 2 criteria apply more to the "Myth" theory of Jesus).

Keep these "criteria" in mind as you read these next points:

(1) They didn't possess the psychological traits of liars. People lie for selfish reasons, like money, fame, pleasure and/or power. But they gave up their professions and all of their worldly goods. Eventually they gave up their freedom and/or lives. People "lie" to stay alive, not to invite death.

If the resurrection was a concocted, conspired lie, it violates all known historical and psychological laws of lying.

(2) What was their motive? All they got out of it was the same thing Jesus did, suffering and death. They lived and taught as Jesus taught - the sacrifice of worldly goods and the abstinence of worldly pleasures.

(3) They couldn't have believed it would be successful. The Jews would be the last people to worship a man as God. This was total blasphemy deserving of death. The Romans also would be aggressively resistant to the coming of a "new King".

(4) If it was a lie, it would have been refuted publically. All that the enemies of Christianity (Romans and Jewish leaders) needed to do to destroy this new religion from the beginning was produce one confession from just one of Jesus' disciples that it was all a lie, a hoax. They used many forms of bribery and torture. They never succeeded.

(5) The disciples could not have gotten away with proclaiming the resurrection in Jerusalem - same time, same place, full of eyewitnesses. The religion never would have spread as it has if the resurrection was not true.

There is no evidence at all of anyone ever opposing the so-called "lie" of the miraculous Jesus in the name of an earlier merely human Jesus. There are no ancient written records disputing these accounts. There are no disputes among ancient Christian, Non-Christian or Anti-Christian documents.

Consder the following:

(5A) - They included many independent witnesses in in their so-called "web of lies": The more people you include in a lie, the harder it becomes to maintain it as truth. And with the number of people they included, it would have been impossible to "sell" these miraculous stories:

The following are just from the gospel of Matthew (not the whole NT):

Matt. 2:16 (all the boys in Bethlehem), Matt. 3:5 (people), Matt. 3:7 (many), Matt. 4:24 (all Syria), Matt. 4:25 (large crowds), Matt. 5:1 (crowds), Matt. 7:28 (crowds), Matt. 8:1 (large crowds), Matt. 8:16 (many), Matt. 8:18 (crowd), Matt. 8:34 (whole town), Matt. 9:8 (crowd), Matt. 9:10 (many), Matt. 9:23 (noisy crowd), Matt. 9:25 (crowd), Matt. 9:26 (throughout all the region), Matt. 9:31 (all over that region), Matt. 9:33 (crowd), Matt. 9:35 (throughout all the towns and villages), Matt. 9:36 (crowds), Matt. 11:1 (in the towns of Galilee), Matt. 11:7 (crowd), Matt. 12:9 (into their synagogue), Matt. 12:15 (many), Matt. 12:23 (all the people of a crowd), Matt. 12:46 (crowd), Matt. 13:2 (large crowds), Matt. 13:34 (crowd), Matt. 13:36 (crowd), Matt. 13:54 (in their synagogue), Matt. 14:13 (crowds), Matt. 14:14 (large crowd), Matt. 14:15 (crowds), Matt. 14:21 (5,000 men besides women and children ), Matt. 14:34-35 (people of the surrounding country of Genneseret), Matt. 15:30 (Great crowds), Matt. 15:38 (4,000 men besides women and children ), Matt. 15:39 (crowd), Matt. 16:13 (the people), Matt. 17:14 (crowd), Matt. 19:2 (large crowds), Matt. 20:29 (large crowd), Matt. 20:31 (crowd), Matt. 21:8 (a very large crowd), Matt. 21:9 (crowds), Matt. 21:10 (the whole city of Jerusalem), Matt. 21:11 (crowds), Matt. 21:12 (all who were in the temple), Matt. 21:15 (children in the temple), Matt. 22:33 (crowds), Matt. 23:1 (crowds), Matt. 26:47 (large crowd), Matt. 26:55 (crowd), Matt. 26:60 (many false witnesses), Matt. 27:15 (crowd), Matt. 27:17 (crowd), Matt. 27:20 (crowd), Matt. 27:24 (crowd), Matt. 27:25 (all the people), Matt. 27:27 (a whole company of soldiers), Matt. 27:47 (some people), Matt. 27:49 (the rest of the people), Matt. 27:53 (many people), Matt. 27:55 (many women), Matt. 28:4 (guards), Matt. 28:11 (guards and chief priests).

(5B) - They also included very public figures: It's one thing to have some unknowns in your story, but it is an extremely bad error in judgement to include well-known people in your lie who may look bad or not be on your side.

Public figures and individuals involved in the Gospels:

* King Herod (Herod the Great) - Herod succeeded in retaining the favor of Octavian, shared though that favor had been with the defeated rival Antony. He was confirmed in his kingdom, and for the rest of his life he never departed from the policy of supporting the emperor and in all ways promoting his honor.

Herod died in 4 B.C., but not before the murder of the innocent babies of Bethlehem (Matt 2:16-18).

* Herod Antipas (the word is an abbreviation for Antipater) - "That fox" (Luke 13:32). Son of King Herod, son of Malthace, a Samaritan woman, in a will received Galilee and Perea.

* HERODIAS - A wicked granddaughter of Herod the Great who married her uncle Philip; but his brother Antipas saw her at Rome, desired her, and married her. When John the Baptist rebuked Herod Antipas (Luke 3:19-20), John was imprisoned (Matt 14:3-12; Mark 6:14-29). This did not satisfy Herodias, so by a sordid scheme she secured his death. Later Antipas was banished to Spain. Herodias accompanied him and died there.

* Herodians - A party (Matt 22:16; Mark 3:6; 12:13) who joined with the Pharisees to oppose Jesus. It appears that they were neither a religious sect nor a political party, but Jews who supported the dynasty of Herod and therefore the rule of Rome.

* Annas - Father-in-law of Caiaphas (John 18:13), had been high priest by appointment of the Roman governor from A.D. 7 to 14 (Luke 3:2). In his 37th year (c. A.D. 6) he was appointed high priest by Quirinius, governor of Syria.

He and Caiaphas are described as the high priests when John the Baptist began his public ministry (Luke 3:2), perhaps because as family head Annas was the most influential priest and still bore the title.

When Jesus was betrayed into the hands of his enemies, the Roman soldiers and the Jewish officers took him first to the house of Annas, where by night he was given the pretense of a trial (18:12-23). Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas, before whom the "trial" continued (18:24-27).

* Caiaphas - From 66 B.C. the Romans rulers appointed not only the civil officers (e.g., Herod) but the high priests also, with the result that the office declined spiritually. Caiaphas held the office from 18 to 36, with Annas still a sort of "high priest emeritus. Caiaphas (11:49-53) declared that it would be better for Jesus to die than for the whole nation to be destroyed.

* Pilate - The fifth procurator, or governmental representative, of imperial Rome in Palestine (A.D. 26 to 36). The Romans had many such governors throughout the provinces, which was part of their success in local government.

He was generally in charge of tax and financial matters, but governing Palestine was so difficult that the procurator there was directly responsible to the emperor and also had supreme judicial authority such as Pilate used regarding Christ. His territory included Judea, Samaria, and old Idumea.

* Nicodemus - A leading Pharisee, "a ruler of the Jews," and a member of the Sanhedrin. He came to Jesus by night (John 3:1-14). at the Feast of Tabernacles (7:25-44), when the Jewish leaders were planning to kill Jesus, Nicodemus spoke up, though timidly, in the Sanhedrin, suggesting their injustice in condemning a man without a fair trial.
Malchus - High priest's servant, John 18:10

* Chief Priests (Teachers of the Law / Sadducees) - Sadducees who were in charge of worship at the temple in Jerusalem. teachers of the law. The Jewish scholars of the day, professionally trained in the development, teaching and application of OT law. Their authority was strictly human and traditional.

* Tetrarch - A ruler over a fourth part of a kingdom or province in the Roman Empire. Locally, his authority was similar to that of a king, and the title of king was often given to him (Matt 14:1; Luke 3:1; Acts 13:1).

* Tax Collectors - Collectors of Roman revenue-either (1) the "chief tax collector" (Luke 19:2), or (2) the ordinary publican (Matt 9:11). Tax collectors were noted for imposing more taxes than were required so that they might grow rich more quickly. The publicans of the NT were regarded as traitors and apostates, defiled by their frequent contacts with pagans, and willing tools of the oppressor (Matt 9:11; 21:31; Mark 2:16; Luke 5:27-30).

* JAIRUS - A synagogue ruler whose child Jesus raised from death (Mark 5:22; Luke 8:41)., Matt. 9:18

* Synagogue Rulers - A ruler of the synagogue was a layman whose responsibilities were administrative and included such things as looking after the building and supervising the worship.

* High Priest - The Day of Atonement was the most important and solemn day of the Jewish religious calendar. On this day the high priest sacrificed a goat for the sin of the nation, entered the Holy of Holies, and sprinkled the animal's blood on the mercy seat, thereby making atonement for Israel's sins.

Usually the high priest was chosen from among the Sadducees.

* Sadducees - In Palestine, Greek culture influenced the Sadducees, a group of wealthy priests who were loyal to the Roman government. Although few in number, the Sadducees were the most powerful Jewish political party in Palestine.

* Counselor - In the NT the name probably refers to a member of the Sanhedrin (Mark 15:43; Luke 23:50).

* Servants of High Priests - John 18:10, John 18:26

* Lawyers - Those who are knowledgeable about the law. There were court lawyers and synagogue lawyers (Matt 22:35; Luke 7:30; 10:25; 11:45-46, 52; 14:3; Titus 3:13).

* Scribes - Persons employed to handle correspondence and to keep accounts, given a high place alongside the high priest. The scribe became known as a student and an interpreter of the law.

In the time of Christ, the scribes had attained great influence and power as a class and were regarded with much respect (Matt 23:5; Luke 14:7).

* Elders - In ancient times the older men of a community were known as the elders. They governed the community and made all major decisions. After the return from exile the elders made up the Sanhedrin, the Jewish governing council.

They formed one of the three classes represented in the Sanhedrin. The scribes and priests made up the two other classes (Acts 5:21). The elders were considered chief men or magistrates.

* Sanhedrin - The highest Jewish tribunal during the Greek and Roman periods. Under the Romans, the highest Jewish court was the Sanhedrin, which was located in Jerusalem and was composed of elders (tribal heads), priests (the family of the chief priest) scribes (mainly Pharisees).

* Guards - The translation of a number of Hebrew and Greek words. (1) Spekoulator ("guard, a spy, executioner") is used only to identify the one who beheaded John the Baptist (Mark 6:27). (2) Koustodia ("watch") is used only of those assigned to guard Jesus' grave (Matt 27:65-66; 28:11).

* Centurion - A commander of 100 soldiers in the Roman army. The centurion of Capernaum had built a synagogue for the Jews; Jesus healed his servant (Matt 8:5-13; Luke 7:2-10). Other centurions are mentioned elsewhere (Matt 27:54; Acts 22:25; 23:17).

* Simon from Cyrene - A man from Cyrene, father of Alexander and Rufus, who was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus (Matt 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26).

* Joseph of Arimathea - A Jew of Arimathea, a rich man, a member of the Sanhedrin (Matt 27:57; Mark 15:43), and a righteous man looking for the kingdom of God (Mark 15:43; Luke 23:50). A secret disciple of Jesus because of his fear of the Jews (John 19:38), he did not take part in the resolution of the Sanhedrin to put Jesus to death. After the Crucifixion he secured permission from Pilate to remove the body of Jesus from the cross, and he laid it in his own new tomb (Matt 27:57-60; Luke 23:50-53; John 19:38)

(5C) - And many of their events occured in public places and during public events :

* GABBATHA (Aram gabbetha, height, ridge). - The place called "the Stone Pavement" (John 19:13). Here Pilate sat on the Bema, or judgment seat, and sentenced Jesus before the people. An early pavement has been excavated near here, perhaps the pavement where Jesus was brought from the judgment hall for sentencing.

* Crucifixion - Was very public, usually along side roads, as a warning to those who might defy the Roman Empire.

* GOLGOTHA - The place of Jesus's crucifixion. Both Matthew (27:33) and Mark (15:22) locate it outside the city, but close to it (John 19:20) on the public highway, the type of location usually chosen by the Romans for executions.

* SYNAGOGUES - A Jewish institution for the reading and exposition of the Holy Scriptures. In the first Christian century synagogues could be found everywhere in the Hellenistic world where there were sufficient Jews to maintain one. In large Jewish centers there might be numbers of them.

The chief purpose of the synagogue was not public worship, but instruction in the Holy Scriptures.

The Ruler of the Synagogue was responsible for:
(1) the building and property,
(2) the general oversight of the public worship, including the maintenance of order (cf. Luke 13:14),
(3) the appointing of persons to read the Scriptures and to pray, and
(4) the inviting of strangers to address the congregation (Acts 13:15).

The congregation was separated, the men on one side and the women on the other. The more prominent members took the front seats.

* Wedding (John 2:1-9) - With the passage of time the wedding ceremony became more elaborate, with the entire village participating. In later biblical times there appear to have been separate processions for bride and groom, where each was accompanied by musicians, dancers, torchbearers, well-wishers, and friends.

* Palace (Matt 14:6-11, Herod's birthday with dinner guests) - Probably the most famous palace in the NT period was the one belonging to Herod the Great.

Mark 6:21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.

* Road entering Jerusalem

* Temple Area - The court of the Gentiles, the only part of the temple in which Gentiles could worship God and gather for prayer (see v. 17). buying and selling. Pilgrims coming to the Passover Feast needed animals that met the ritual requirements for sacrifice, and the vendors set up their animal pens and money tables in the court of the Gentiles.

* Solomon's Colonade - A magnificent porch built by Solomon on the east side of the temple area. Christ and the apostles walked in it (John 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12).

* Courtyard of the High Priest

* The Passover (Matt. 27:15) - was the first of all the annual feasts, and historically and religiously it was the most important of all. It was celebrated on the first month of the religious year, on the 14th of Nisan (our March April), and commemorated the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt and the establishment of Israel as a nation by God's redemptive act.

* Praetorium - In the Gospels (Matt 27:27; Mark 15:16; John 18:28, 33) it refers to the temporary palace or headquarters ("judgment hall") of the Roman governor or procurator while he was in Jerusalem, which was actually Herod's palace adjacent to the temple (cf. Acts 23:35). It was the scene of the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate.

Places Jesus visited listed in the Gospels:

* Jericho - In the time of Christ, Jericho was an important place yielding a large revenue to the royal family. Thus Jesus passed through it on a number of occasions. Nearby are the supposed sites of his baptism (in the Jordan) and his temptation (the hill Quarantania, west of the city). Near the city Jesus healed Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52) and one or two other blind men (Matt 20:29-34).

* Nazareth - A town in lower Galilee, the hometown of Mary and Joseph, the human parents of Jesus (Luke 1:26; 2:4; cf. Matt 2:23). In the synagogue of Nazareth it seems as if there were two rejections of Christ (cf. Luke 4:16-30 with Mark 6:1-6 and Matt 13:54-58.)

* Cana of Galilee - is mentioned four times in Scripture (John 2:1, 11; 4:46; 21:2). It was in the highlands of Galilee, where Jesus performed his first miracle, graciously relieving the embarrassment caused by the shortage of wine at a marriage feast.

* Capernaum - It was a town of considerable size: a tax collector had his office there (Mark 2:14); a high officer of the king (Herod Antipas) had his residence there and built a synagogue for the people there (Matt 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10). Jesus performed many striking miracles there.

In spite of Jesus' remarkable works and teachings, the people did not repent, and Jesus predicted the complete ruin of the place (Matt 11:23-24; Luke 10:15). His prophecy was so completely fulfilled that the town has disappeared and its very site is a matter of debate.

* Galilee - Mark 1:39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

* Gerasa - A city east of Jordan midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. The name does not occur in the Bible, but the adjective Gerasenes does (Mark 5:1 and in some versions of Matt 8:28 and Luke 8:26, 37).

* Bethsaida - NE of the Sea of Galilee and the scene of the feeding of the 5,000 (Luke 9:10). Jesus restored sight to a blind man in Bethsaida (Mark 8:22).

* Gennesaret - A plain stretching about 3 miles (5 km.) along the NW shore of the Sea of Galilee, the only easily tillable land bordering the Sea of Galilee (Matt 14:34; Mark 6:53)

* Tyre - (Matt. 15:21), (Mark 7:24,31)

* Sidon - A Phoenician city midway between Berytus (Beirut) and Tyre. The neighborhood of Sidon, not more than 50 miles (83 km.) from Nazareth, was visited by Christ (Matt 15:21; Mark 7:24-31), and Sidonians came to him (Mark 3:8; Luke 6:17).

* Dalmanutha - A village on the west coast of the Sea of Galilee, adjoining Magdala (Matt 15:39), and the landing place of Jesus after feeding the multitude (Mark 8:10).

* Caesarea Philippi - It was at a secluded spot near here that the Lord began to prepare his disciples for his approaching suffering, death and resurrection, and that Peter made his famous confession (Matt 16:13-17).

* Bethphage - A village on the Mt. of Olives, on the road going east from Jerusalem to Jericho. The traditional site is NW of Bethany, and it is where the colt was obtained for Jesus' entry into Jerusalem (Matt 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-40).

* Bethany - It was here that Jesus raised Lazarus (John 11) and attended the feast at Simon's house (Matt 26; Mark 14; Luke 7). The ascension took place in the region of this city (Luke 24:50-51).

[ Imagine trying to sell a lie such as this concerning all these multitudes of people, public figures and many diverse and public places! And if these aren't enough for your satisfaction, just read the books of Acts and Romans for even more extreme detail in their accounts. ]

(6) If they made up the story: they were the most clever, creative, intelligent fantasists in history: [a 1st-century tax collector (Matthew), a "young man" (Mark), a doctor (Luke), and a fisherman (John)], far surpassing Shakespear, or Dante or Tolkien. Fishermen's "fish stories" are never that elaborate, that convincing, that life-changing, and that enduring.

(7) Common people in the 1st century Palestine didn't write fiction! (that was for the elite Greeks and Romans outside of Palestine)

(8) Where was the proof? The most logical way the Jews could have nipped this "lie" in the bud was to produce the body of Jesus! All they had to do was go to the tomb and get it. They never did.

The Jewish leaders could not disprove the message of the empty tomb, even though they had both the power and motivation to do so.

Maybe Jesus' followers stole the body?

The tomb was closed with a two- to three-ton rock. Guarded by a cohort (16-200) of Roman soldiers, it was stamped with a Roman seal.

Neither the Jews nor the Romans would move it, for it was in both their interests to keep the tomb sealed;

(A) the Jews had the stone put there in the first place, and

(B) the Roman guards would have been CRUCIFIED if they let the body "escape."

The story the Jewish authorities spread, that the guards fell asleep and the disciples stole the body (Mt 28:11-15), is unbelievable.

If the seal were broken by anyone in any way, Roman law required that the entire cohort of soldiers be CRUCIFIED.

And even if they did fall asleep, the crowd and the effort and the noise it would have taken to move an enormous boulder would have wakened them.

The accounts we have tell us that women got to the tomb first then unarmed peasants, hardly a match for trained military guards.

The Gospels tell of the guards being bribed to say that this happened. Obviously if this scenario had been believable, Christianity would have been stopped dead in its tracks then. (Note - this response presupposes an EMPTY tomb!)

And no other competing burial stories exist.

(9) There are 4 Gospels not, just 1. They were written by 4 different authors, at 4 different times, probably for 4 different audiences and for 4 somewhat different purposes and emphases. So a lot of cross-checking is possible.

It would have been impossible for forgers to put together so consistent a narrative as that which we find in the Gospels. The Gospels do not try to suppress apparent discrepancies, which indicates their originality (written by eyewitnesses). There is no attempt at harmonization between the Gospels, such as we might expect from forgers.

The only inconsistencies are in chronology (only Luke's Gospel claims to be in order) and accidentals like numbers (e.g., did the women see 1 angel or 2 at the empty tomb?).

(10) The Stories of Jesus' human weaknesses and of the disciples' faults also bespeak of the Gospels' transparent truthfulness. In fictional lies, the main players are portrayed as galliant to the end. In the case of a god-man especially he would have most-likely been a warrior who faught bravely. Jesus invited crucifixion.

The disciples were total cowards during all this and ran away. Later, they didn't even want to believe that He had risen from the dead and wanted proof. After being convinced of Jesus' resurrection, their attitudes and personalities totally changed.

These are signs of honest accounts of the people involved.

Paul was no doubt the most radically converted man in history. He had once approvingly watched as Stephen was brutally murdered; noe he was willing to be murdered for the same Christian testimony.

Paul gave up his position as an esteemed Jewish leader, a rabbi, and a Pharisee who had studied under the famed teacher Gamaliel.

He gave up the mission to stamp out every vestige of what he considered to be the insidious heresy of Christianity.

In the end, he paid the ultimate price for his testimony - martyrdom.

James was embarrased by Jesus before the resurrected appearance. Afterward, James was willing to die for Jesus.

As the Jewish historian Josephus reports, "James was stoned to death illegally by the Sanhedrin sometime after A.D. 60 for his faith in Christ." Antiquities of the Jews, 20:200

What would it take for a person to die willingly for the belief that one of his family members was God?

Peter, who was once afraid of being exposed as a follower of Christ by a young woman, after the resurrection was transformed into a lion of the faith and suffered a martyr's death.

10,000 Jews - Within weeks of the resurrection, not just once, but an entire community of at least ten thousand Jews were willing to give up the very sociological and theological traditions that had given them their national identity.

(11) What lie ever sent multitudes of people to die for their beliefs? These people, numbering many, in different places and under their own free will (unlike cults of today), suffered torture and death (from the hands of others) for their testimony.

(12) These liars would have put into Jesus' mouth statements about matters of burning concern to themselves. - On the contrary we find that these issues (such as the Lordship of Jesus, the Holy Spirit and His gifts, the controversy over the importance of circumcision, and whether Christians could eat food that had been offered to idols) are conspicuous by their absence. It shows that the gospel writers were recording things that were true and not making things up that were convenient.

(13) The claim of Jesus to be God makes sense of his trial and crucifixion. The Jewish sensitivity to blasphemy was unique; no one else would so fanatically insist on death as punishment for claiming divinity. Throughout the Roman world, the prevailing attitude toward the gods was "the more the merrier."

The main reason why most Jews rejected his claim to be the Messiah was that he did not liberate them from Roman political oppression.

Jesus had no political ambitions. His politics can't explain his crucifixion. It was not easy for him to be apolitical. In his day, religion and politics were closely interwoven.

But he was not afraid to touch on political issues. Jesus went so far as to forbid his disciples to speak publicly of his miracles because the people wanted to make him king.

The political excuse for his crucifixion was that he was Caesar's rival, which was a lie trumped up to justify his execution, since Roman law did not recognize blasphemy as grounds for execution and the Jews had no legal power to enforce their own religious laws of capital punishment under Roman rule.

(14) The parables provide more insight into the reliability of the gospel writers - Some people wonder whether these parables go back to Jesus Himself or whether the apostles made them up. But why should they have pretended that Jesus taught in this remarkable way if He did not?

Most likely they (as the geniuses who made up these parables) would have been smart enough to make this new faith center around themselves (for selfish gain) instead of someone born in an obscure village, the fatherless child of a peasant woman, raised in a carpenter's shop, who never wrote a book, never held an office, never had a family, never owned a house, never went to college, and never visited a big city.

Nobody in Judaism before Jesus taught in parables like His. And nobody after Him has been able to do so either. The members of the early church did not preach in parables; but knew, and faithfully recorded, that Jesus had done so.

(15) Joseph's being responsible for burying Jesus is very probable. A Christian fictional creation of a Jewish Sanhedrist doing what is right for Jesus is almost inexplicable, given the hostility toward the Jewish leaders responsible for Jesus' death in early Christian writings.

Joseph would have not have been invented in view of Mark's statements that the whole Sanhedrin voted for Jesus' condemnation.

Imagine 12 poor, fearful, stupid (read the Gospels!) peasants changing the hard-nosed Roman world with a lie. But they preached a resurrected Christ and they lived a resurrected Christ. They willingly died for their "conspiracy." Nothing proves sincerity like martyrdom!

Ultimately, this "lie" is extremely hard to digest because in this faith, the pleasures of the flesh are curbed and it is taught that the things of the world should be spurned.

'Conspiracy' theories about Jesus and the early church are much, much harder to prove than normal theories, because:
 
(A) You have to give evidence that the conspirators KNEW better (where would you get data like this about Jesus and the apostles and the others?!)
 

(B) You have to give evidence that they had motives for this, as well as continuing motives for spending something like 70 years working on this (in spite of NO ostensible "gains" other than persecution, deaths as criminals, fleeing from the authorities, lions, virtually penniless existence and poverty-level lifestyles, etc...)
 

(C) You have to give evidence that they were fraud-level 'bad characters' and successful fraud-level geniuses!
 

(D) You have to explain how a conspiracy wide enough to cover all the books of the NT (multiple authors) and all the decades represented there could have been conceived, orchestrated, and controlled within first-century Jerusalem(!)--without even a formal church authority at the time
 

(E) You have to explain how a 'new testament' that was only collected into a unity as such a century after the main apostles had died, COULD have somehow have perpetuated this conspiracy;
 

(F) You have to explain how--in a church where divergent voices were always heard (either in the church or around the 'edges' of the church)--NO ONE knew about this and NO ONE blew the whistle

In short, the data and evidence requirements for fraud-theories are typically so far beyond our ability to do even more than imagine some fuzzy scenario, that they are generally not worth the time nor considered by the scholars.

[Not to mention that the skeptics and critics find the NT "teeming" with errors, and wouldn't come close to believing it was either 'well-designed' or successful as a fraud!]

Would you like to choose another alternative?

I. Jesus claimed divinity
11A. He meant it literally
11111. It is True------------------------------------------He is Lord
11112. It is False
111111a. He knew it was false-------------------------He was a Liar
111111b. He didn't know it was false------------------He was a Lunatic
11B. He meant it non-literally, mystically-------------He was a Guru

II. Jesus never claimed divinity--------------------------He is a Myth

III. Jesus died
11A. Jesus rose-------------------------------------------He is Lord
11B. Jesus didn't rise
11111. The apostles were deceived--------------------He was an Hallucination
11112. The gospel writers were myth-makers-------He is a Myth
11113. The apostles were deceivers-------------------He is a Conspiracy

IV. Jesus didn't die----------------------------------------It was a case of Swoon

Here is a list of the gazillions of OT prophecies that Jesus fulfilled.

Do you still need more evidence?

Here is a quick note on "miracles".

Are you still not sure?

Review the evidences page.

Review the claims of divinity page.

A broad overview of the world's major religions.

My favorite sites .

Here's my version of the crucifixion .

Contact me via e-mail.