Is it all made up?

Q: How do you know what is true or not? We have no proven facts of Jesus’ being on earth, so how do you know it really happened? Maybe it is a made-up story.

A: A number of submitted questions, like this one, fell under the “existence/proof” category. This question, at its root, is about history and how it can be trusted. A couple things need to be said about this: First, when it comes to ancient history, we should apply the same standards to the Bible that we do to other ancient literature. There is far more manuscript evidence for the Bible than many of the other accepted pieced of ancient literature. When it comes to historical figures, there is far more proof for the existence of Jesus Christ than Julius Caesar! In the end, it comes down to eyewitness accounts. If a newspaper or TV news crew is trying to get the scoop on a story, what do they do? They try to find eyewitnesses. This works in collecting news, in gathering evidence for the courtroom and in research by historians. The New Testament is filled with the testimonies of eyewitnesses. The Holy Spirit saw to it that we have not one, but four gospels, which are eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ life. There is far less proof that Socrates actually lived, which few historians question. When the same standards are used for the Bible as all ancient literature, the Bible has much greater reliability if for no other reason that the sheer volume of eyewitness accounts.

Could it be “made-up?” At first glance one might think that is a reasonable alternative. But, as they say in the NFL, “upon further review…” it doesn’t add up. First, other eyewitnesses of the same era (folks who had a vested interest in the failure of this new movement) could have produced their own witnesses who contradicted the Christians’ view of events. The Jewish leaders vehemently disagreed with Jesus’ claims. The Romans were none too happy about the early Christians’ Christ-centered living since they refused to worship Caesar as god. Yet, they never claimed Jesus didn’t exist. They simply took issue with the meaning and nature of his existence.

Two, the stories ring true; they don’t sound or read like typical made up stories. Little details are passed along that are totally unnecessary, yet would only be mentioned if an eyewitness was telling the story. The writers are ok with seemingly contradictory accounts; people who are holding together a made up story are extremely careful to corroborate every detail. Made up stories are “slick” and seamless; not so the gospels. Finally, writers making up history tend to put themselves in the best possible light. The apostles are sometimes bumbling, other times faithless and oftentimes clueless. Take Peter for instance. He supplied Mark with the material for his gospel. Why would Peter let the whole world in on his great failure in denying Jesus? The only explanation is that it really happened.

Three, it is hard to hold conspiracies together. If Christianity was made-up, that is what it would be – one big conspiracy. The apostles, the eyewitnesses of Jesus’ resurrection, were threatened to not preach in Christ’s name. They preached anyway. They were beaten. They kept preaching. They were tortured. They preached even more. All but one was martyred for their allegiance to Jesus. People may die for an unworthy cause. They don’t die for lies. Surely one of Christ’s original disciples would have recanted the whole made-up story when subjected to unbearable pain, torture and death (and believe me, the Romans were masters at this). Yet, none of them did. If it was all made up, it’s the most committed, unified group of masochistic liars in human history.