THE OLD TESTAMENT CANON: Resources for Study

 ARTICLES

*Josephus: Historical Evidence Of The Old Testament Canon. Here is an excellent short article on the clearest evidence that we have for the extent of the Old Testament during the time of Jesus and the apostles. Josephus was a Jew and was from a wealthy priestly family. This article gives two important quotes from Josephus: one tells us of the extent of the Old Testament and the other tells us how firmly it was established that no one dared add or subtract from it. Josephus is our earliest and clearest evidence for these issues.

VIDEOS

*How we got the OT Canon: Evidence for the Bible pt11 by Mike Winger (50 minutes)

*How was the Old Testament canon formed? (8 minutes)

BOOKS

*The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and Its Background in Early Judaism by Roger Beckwith. The standard book on this subject.

*The Canon of Scripture by F.F. Bruce (1988). Covers both the Old and New Testament canons. 

AN UNDESIGNED COINCIDENCE Between Acts and Archaeology

 I recently learned a new undesigned coincidence while watching a documentary. The documentary ("The Last Apostle"--included with Amazon Prime) features a modern-day William Ramsay named Dr. Mark Fairchild. Fairchild is professor of New Testament at Huntington University in Huntington, Indiana. And the documentary follows Fairchild on a two-week trip through Turkey, following the footsteps of Paul. Very interesting and worth the two hours.

Anyways, in Acts 13:4ff, Paul and Barnabas meet the proconsul Sergius Paulus on the island of Cyprus and he becomes a believer. After they leave Cyprus, they sail to Perga and from there make the 3-4 week trek by foot to Pisidian Antioch. Towards the end of the documentary, Fairchild begins to talk about this event as they head towards Pisidian Antioch. And he says (in a rather matter-of-fact way) that after the proconsul Sergio Paulus is converted, he asks Paul and Barnabas to go to Pisidian Antioch to bring the Gospel to his friends and relatives. 

I didn't remember reading that, so I turned to Acts 13 and found that Acts says nothing about such a conversation--not even a hint. So I'm a little confused at this point. (Maybe I missed something Fairchild said, as I was doing something else as I was watching.) At any rate, after Fairchild reaches Pisidian Antioch, he heads to the local museum where they are housing a recently discovered inscription bearing the name Sergius Paulus! So Fairchild concludes rather confidently that Sergius Paulus is from Pisidian Antioch and that the reason that Paul and Barnabas travel to Pisidian Antioch is because Sergius Paulus pleads with them to do so. This makes good sense in light of the recent find of this inscription of Sergius Paulus at Pisidian Antioch--yet Luke does not even hint at it in Acts.

This is an interesting way in which archaeology fills in information that Acts does not give us but which makes perfect sense in light of what Acts does tell us. This does not happen with fiction. This happens with reliable eyewitness accounts. 

Check out this excellent article from Bible Archaeology Report that not only has a photo of the Sergio Paulus inscription featured in Fairchild's documentary but also another found near Pisidian Antioch and others from Cyprus (where Paul met Sergius Paulus in Acts 13).

Also, here is the link to The Last Apostle documentary where I first learned about this.

To learn more about what an "undesigned coincidence" is, why it is such a powerful evidence of reliable eyewitness testimony and to see many more examples....see my article here.

Elymas the sorcerer is struck blind before Sergius Paulus. Painting by Raphael. Public domain.

THE RELIABILITY OF THE GOSPELS, DISCREPANCIES AND HARMONIZING ACCOUNTS

"Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from Rome." (Suetonius' The Lives of the Twelve Caesars: Claudius 25)

"As for the Jews, who had again increased so greatly that by reason of their multitude it would have been hard without raising a tumult to bar them from the city [Rome], he [Claudius] did not drive them out, but ordered them, while continuing their traditional mode of life, not to hold meetings." (Cassius Dio Roman History 60.6.6-7)

Here we have what seems like a straightforward irreconcilable contradiction: Either Claudius' expelled the Jews or he did not. Yet it is not that simple. I recently read a historian who tried to harmonize the accounts by saying that Cassius Dio was referring to an earlier point in Claudius' reign. So there is at least one possible way to reconcile these accounts. I have not even begun to look into this to see if this harmonization actually works, but my point is that this is the normal way of doing history: considering possible harmonizations.

But more to the point: even if they do actually contradict each other, we don't throw out Suetonius and Cassius Dio and say we can't learn anything from them because they contradict each other. In fact, they are both considered as generally reliable historians.

At the places that they agree, in fact, we have much greater confidence that those are historical facts that we can rely on. This is how history is done. But skeptics refuse to concede these fundamental rules of doing history for the Gospels.

THE RELIABILITY OF THE BIBLE: Resources for Study

This page is for resources that demonstrate the reliability of the Bible in general terms. For more specific issues related to the Bible's reliability, see "Related Pages on My Blog" below:

RELATED PAGES ON MY BLOG
*Historical Reliability of the Old Testament
*Archaeological Confirmation of the Old Testament
*New Testament Reliability
*Archaeological Confirmation of the New Testament
*Undesigned Coincidences as Evidence for the Historicity of the Bible
*Are the Gospels Based on Eyewitness Accounts?: An Outline of the Evidence & Resources for Study....(This will be a major labor of love....hopefully coming soon)

*Contradictions in the Bible?....Interpreting Scripture

VIDEOS
"Bible on Trial: Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" is a 45-minute video by Vision Video produced in a courtroom setting. There is a 4-part Bible study available to go with it. The film features attorney Craig Parton and scholars Dr. Paul Maier of Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich.; Dr. Randall Price of Liberty University, Lynchburg, Va.; Dr. Jeff Kloha of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo. and Joel Lampe of The Bible Museum, Goodyear, Ariz. 
Watch it for FREE! here.

ARTICLES (& BOOK CHAPTERS)
*Geisler, Norm and Frank Turek. I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist. Chapter 14: "What Did Jesus Teach About the Bible?" Pages 355-376.
*"Reversals of New Testament Criticism" by Merrill C. Tenney

*"Ten Reasons Why I Believe the Bible Is the Word of God" (1891) by R.A. Torrey


BOOKS
*In Defense of the Bible: A Comprehensive Apologetic for the Authority of Scripture edited by Steven Cowan and Terry L. Wilder. A compilation of essays by expert scholars like Paul W. Barnett, Darrell L. Bock, Daniel B. Wallace, Paul Copan,  Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Charles L. Quarles, and others. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
*Evidence That Demands A Verdict (2017 edition) by Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell. PART I: "Evidence for the Bible"; PART II: "Evidence for Jesus"; PART III: "Evidence for the Old Testament"
*The Evidence of Prophecy edited by Robert C. Newman. "One of the most powerful evidences for the truth of biblical Christianity is the fulfillment of predictions made in Scripture. Here, nine authors discuss prophecies made centuries in advance about Israel, her neighbors, and her Messiah. Specific attempts to explain these away as vague, misinterpreted, or written after the event are countered." Currently only $2.99. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
*Scripture and Truth edited by Carson and Woodbridge. Essays by a host of expert scholars. "From a biblical, historical, or theological perspective each essay examines a challenge to belief in the integrity and reliability of Scripture." HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
*"Fundamentalism" and the Word of God by J.I. Packer. A classic. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
*Revelation and the Bible: Contemporary Evangelical Thought. Carl F.H. Henry, editor
Baker Book House. Grand Rapids, Michigan (1958). FREE! 24 essays by leading evangelicals. (401 pages)
*" Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible": Equipped: Vol. 1, No. 4, The Quarterly Journal of the Christian Apologetics Alliance. FREE!
*Is the Bible Reliable? by John Piper: a FREE! 13-page booklet
*Can I Really Trust The Bible? by Martin De Hann II: a FREE! 33-page booklet published by RBC Ministries
*The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth. A classic. This large collection of essays by leading evangelical scholars was originally published in a series of 12 volumes between 1910 and 1915. These volumes cover several topics but many of the essays are focused on defending the Scriptures. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Blue Letter Bible has an introduction and a nicely organized collection of all of the essays ready to read for FREE! online. You can also download the 1917 four-volume edition for FREE! as 4 pdf files: Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Volume 4. And it is only 99 cents on Kindle (click on title link).
*Can We Still Believe the Bible?: An Evangelical Engagement with Contemporary Questions by Craig L. Blomberg

ONLINE COURSES (FREE)

*"Why I Trust My Bible" (3 hours) by Bill Mounce

*"Why We Trust Our Bible" (20 hours) by John Piper, Craig Blomberg and Bill Mounce


BOOKS RELATED TO THE HISTORY OF THE BIBLE'S CRITICS
*The Word of God and the Mind of Man by Ronald Nash. A Nash classic. "The last two centuries of Christian theology are the record of an evolving attack on the role of knowledge in the Christian faith. The purpose of this book is to challenge the major forms of Christian agnosticism and offer an alternative theory that makes human knowledge about God possible. In other words, is there a relationship between the human mind and the divine mind that is sufficient to ground the communication of truth from God to humans?" HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
*Historical Criticism of the Bible by Eta Linnemann. "In Historical Criticism of the Bible Eta Linnemann tells how modern Bible scholarship has drifted far from the truth, and why its assumptions are nonetheless so influential and thereby inherently dangerous. In part 1 she analyzes the ideas that have shaped Western thought through four centuries, explaining how secular humanism, the Enlightenment, and German idealism have influenced Western universities in general and biblical scholarship in particular. In part 2 she argues that historical criticism constitutes an ideological system rather than the objective scientific method scholars say they observe—exposing the presuppositions and dangers of the historical-critical system." 
*Biblical Errancy by Norman Geisler
*The Bible in Modern Culture: Theology and Historical-Critical Method from Spinoza to Kasemann by Roy A. Harrisville and Walter Sundberg. Not a light read but very helpful.
*Theology in Turmoil by Alan P.F. Sell
*The Rise of Biblical Criticism in America, 1800-1870: The New England Scholars by Jerry Wayne Brown
*Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters edited by Donald K. McKim. An indispensable reference volume for researching the history of the Bible's critics and its defenders and faithful exegetes.

STILL LOOKING?.....
*Check out the great resources on the Bible's reliability at bethinking

HISTORICAL RELIABILITY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: Resources for Study

Atheist historian Will Durant on the Old Tes:tament

"The discoveries here summarized have restored considerable credit to those chapters of Genesis that record the early traditions of the Jews. In its outlines, and barring supernatural incidents, the story of the Jews as unfolded in the Old Testament has stood the test of criticism and archaeology; every year adds corroboration from documents, monuments, or excavations.... We must accept the Biblical account provisionally until it is disproved."

Durant, Will. Our Oriental Heritage, 1963, MJF Books; p. 300

~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~

Below are resources on the historical reliability of the Old Testament. I have tried to divide them into the various historical periods covered by the Old Testament:

GENERAL (Resources Covering the Whole Old Testament)

*Audio: "Reliability of the Old Testament Documents" (61 minutes) by Peter Gentry
*Essay/Book Chapter: "Reversals of Old Testament Criticism" by N.H. Ridderbos. FREE!
*Article: "Modern Old Testament Study" by Peter J. Williams
*Article: "Is the History of the Old Testament Accurate?" by Meredith G. Kline
*Article: "Bibliographic Test for the Old Testament" by James M. Rochford
*Book: On the Reliability of the Old Testament by K.A. Kitchen
*Book: Evidence That Demands A Verdict (2017 edition), Part III: "Evidence for the Old Testament" by Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell.
*Book: In Defense of the Bible by Terry L. Wilder and Steven B. Cowan, editors. I highly recommend this book. Top experts cover the spectrum of issues for both the Old and the New Testaments.
*Book: The Old Testament Documents: Are They Reliable and Relevant? by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.
*Book: A Survey of Old Testament Introduction by Gleason Archer
*Book: Old Testament Introduction: General and Special, by John Howard Raven (New York: Revell, 1906). "Consists mostly of conservative response to liberal criticism of the Old Testament books." FREE!
*Book: Historical Evidences of the Truth of the Scripture Records (1860?) by George Rawlinson. Download it for FREE! here.
*Books: Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament by Keil and Delitszch (KD). Available for FREE many places but this link will take you to the STEP Bible (which is FREE online and also to be downloaded). This is an old work but still one of the best. And they soundly answered many of the questions skeptics continue to ask today.
*Study Bible: Apologetics Study Bible published by Holman
*Book: A Scientific Investigation Of The Old Testament (1926) by Robert Dick Wilson. FREE! From a review of the book: "First, some words about the author. Robert Dick Wilson (February 4, 1856 – October 11, 1930) was an American linguist and Presbyterian scholar who made major contributions in verifying the reliability of the Hebrew Bible. In his quest to determine the accuracy of the original manuscripts, Wilson eventually learned 45 languages, including Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, as well as all the languages into which the Scriptures had been translated up to 600 AD. About the book: Whoever wants to know what a true scientific approach to the Old Testament study reveals, should read this book. It examines the arguments of the "Higher Criticism" about the authorship and the dating of these documents (especially the Pentateuch) in the light of the text itself, the Hebrew grammar, the vocabulary, the analogy in the documents of the nations that surrounded the Hebrews and other factors. The book contains some irrefutable arguments,which establish the trustworthiness and the historicity of the Old Testament documents,beyond any doubt.I believe it is a must read for everybody who is looking to find the truth about the book that describes itself as "The Word of God". (Bear in mind that it is a difficult book to read, since it is not a popularized scientific work)"

*Web Page: "Historicity of the Old Testament" at Theopedia
*Archaeological Confirmation of the Old Testament: Resources for Study: Much more here! :)

GENESIS (Creation to the Patriarchs)
*Essays: "Who Wrote the First Five Books of the Bible?": "A collection of extracts from writings of Edward Young, Merrill Unger, William Green, Gleason Archer, and Oswald Allis. FREE!
*Blunt's Undesigned Coincidences and Paley's Horae Paulinae (1874). FREE!. The two most important books on undesigned coincidences currently available. See "Part I: The Veracity of the Books of Moses" (pages 1-109).
*Book: Essays on the Patriarchal Narratives. Alan R. Millard and Donald J. Wiseman, editors. 223 pages available to read for FREE online.
*Article: "The Tablet Theory of Genesis Authorship" by Curt Sewell
*Article: "Getting Over a Hump: Does the Lack of Camel Bones Disprove the Historicity of the Biblical Patriarchs?" by Ted Wright
*Article: "Is the Story of Joseph in the Bible a True Story?" by  Charles F. Aling
*Articles: "Joseph in Egypt" (a 6-part series at Associates for Biblical Research). Part II. Part III. Part IV. Part V. Part VI.
*Books: Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament by Keil and Delitszch (KD). Available for FREE many places but this link will take you to the STEP Bible (which is FREE online and also to be downloaded). This is an old work but still one of the best. And they soundly answered many of the questions skeptics continue to ask today. If you are looking for answers related to a specific passage of Scripture, you are likely to find a solid answer here.
*Articles: Dozens of articles on the period of the Genesis Flood available at Associates for Biblical Research
*Archaeological Confirmation of the Old Testament: Resources for Study: Much more here! :)

EXODUS TO DEUTERONOMY (The Exodus & Wilderness Wandering)
*Video: "Patterns of Evidence: Exodus." (119 minutes) An excellent documentary on the evidence for the book of Exodus. Also available on Netflix streaming video.
*Blunt's Undesigned Coincidences and Paley's Horae Paulinae (1874). FREE!. The two most important books on undesigned coincidences currently available. See "Part I: The Veracity of the Books of Moses" (pages 1-109).
*Book: Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition by James K. Hoffmeier
*Book: Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition by James K. Hoffmeier
*Essays: "Who Wrote the First Five Books of the Bible?": "A collection of extracts from writings of Edward Young, Merrill Unger, William Green, Gleason Archer, and Oswald Allis. FREE!
*Articles: Dozens of articles on the Patriarchal Period available at Associates for Biblical Research
*Books: Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament by Keil and Delitszch (KD). Available for FREE many places but this link will take you to the STEP Bible (which is FREE online and also to be downloaded). This is an old work but still one of the best. And they soundly answered many of the questions skeptics continue to ask today. If you are looking for answers related to a specific passage of Scripture, you are likely to find a solid answer here.
*Articles: Dozens of articles on the Exodus from Egypt available at Associates for Biblical Research
*Archaeological Confirmation of the Old Testament: Resources for Study: Much more here! :)

JOSHUA (The Conquest of Canaan)
*Blunt's Undesigned Coincidences and Paley's Horae Paulinae (1874). FREE!. The two most important books on undesigned coincidences currently available. See "Part II: The Veracity of the Historical Scriptures": Sections I-IV (pages 110-123).
*Books: Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament by Keil and Delitszch (KD). Available for FREE many places but this link will take you to the STEP Bible (which is FREE online and also to be downloaded). This is an old work but still one of the best. And they soundly answered many of the questions skeptics continue to ask today. If you are looking for answers related to a specific passage of Scripture, you are likely to find a solid answer here.
*Articles: Dozens of articles on the Conquest of Canaan available at Associates for Biblical Research
*Archaeological Confirmation of the Old Testament: Resources for Study: Much more here! :)

JUDGES & RUTH (The Period of the Judges)
*Videos: "Judges: Forgotten History" (7-part video series) by Bryant Wood of Associates for Biblical Research (6 to 11 minutes each)
*Blunt's Undesigned Coincidences and Paley's Horae Paulinae (1874). FREE!. The two most important books on undesigned coincidences currently available. See "Part II: The Veracity of the Historical Scriptures": Sections I-IV (pages 109-123).
*Books: Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament by Keil and Delitszch (KD). Available for FREE many places but this link will take you to the STEP Bible (which is FREE online and also to be downloaded). This is an old work but still one of the best. And they soundly answered many of the questions skeptics continue to ask today. If you are looking for answers related to a specific passage of Scripture, you are likely to find a solid answer here.
*Articles: Dozens of articles on the period of Israel's judges available at Associates for Biblical Research
*Archaeological Confirmation of the Old Testament: Resources for Study: Much more here! :)

1 SAMUEL TO 2 CHRONICLES, THE PROPHETS & PSALMS (The Period of the Kings)
*Article: "Evidence for Inerrancy from an Unexpected Source: OT Chronology" by Rodger C. Young
*Books: The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings by Edwin R. Thiele. A summarized version of this book: A Chronology of the Hebrew Kings.
*Blunt's Undesigned Coincidences and Paley's Horae Paulinae (1874). FREE!. The two most important books on undesigned coincidences currently available. See "Part II: The Veracity of the Historical Scriptures": Sections V-XXVIII (pages 123-219) and "Part III: The Veracity of the Prophetical Scriptures" (pages 220-253).
*Books: Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament by Keil and Delitszch (KD). Available for FREE many places but this link will take you to the STEP Bible (which is FREE online and also to be downloaded). This is an old work but still one of the best. And they soundly answered many of the questions skeptics continue to ask today. If you are looking for answers related to a specific passage of Scripture, you are likely to find a solid answer here.
*Article: "Does Archaeology Prove Chronicles Sources?" by Robert North
*Articles: Dozens of articles on the United Monarchy available at Associates for Biblical Research
*Archaeological Confirmation of the Old Testament: Resources for Study: Much more here! :)

NEHEMIAH, ESTHER & THE PROPHETS (The Period of Exile)
*Article: "2,500 Year Old Evidence of Jewish Life in Babylonian Exile Found" at Rose Publishing blog
*Article: "Judah in Exile"
*Books: Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament by Keil and Delitszch (KD). Available for FREE many places but this link will take you to the STEP Bible (which is FREE online and also to be downloaded). This is an old work but still one of the best. And they soundly answered many of the questions skeptics continue to ask today. If you are looking for answers related to a specific passage of Scripture, you are likely to find a solid answer here.
*Archaeological Confirmation of the Old Testament: Resources for Study: Much more here! :)



STILL LOOKING?....
*Much more at Archaeological Confirmation of the Old Testament: Resources for Study....
OR Archaeological Confirmation of the New Testament: Resources for Study....
OR New Testament Reliability: Resources for Study
OR Contradictions in the Bible?....Interpreting Scripture: Resources for Study

"Moses Smashing the Tablets of the Law" (1659) by Rembrandt

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

SCHOLARS DISMISS THE NONSENSE THAT JESUS WAS JUST A MYTH

There are people who say that Jesus never existed.  A couple of them even have Ph.D.'s (though they do not hold any kind of scholarly position). If that were true, then he certainly never died for our sins and he certainly never rose from the dead. If that were the case, Christianity would be meaningless. 

As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14-20: "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead...."

But the reality is that Jesus most certainly did exist. More than that, he most certainly taught truths that have transformed the world, lived as an unsurpassed example of love and compassion, healed large numbers of people and performed all kinds of extraordinary miracles, cast out demons, lived a sinless life, fulfilled dozens of ancient prophecies, was crucified and rose from the dead three days later. And he chose apostles to speak for him and to be bear witness to all of this.

Since the beginning of the year, I have been working on an extensive blog page to present this evidence, which is currently a 34-point outline--a small book. I hope to be able to post an initial publication of it it in the next few weeks. The amount of evidence is staggering. Nothing could be more certain than the Jesus who is revealed in the New Testament.

And that is the reason that scholars who know and understand the evidence of history readily dismiss the wild notion that Jesus never existed. Thanks to Nick Peters of Deeper Waters Ministries for this list of quotes from scholars from 1922 to 2015 (plus a couple from my friend Jacob Franklin):

"There is, lastly, a group of writers who endeavour to prove that Jesus never lived—that the story of his life is made up by mingling myths of heathen gods, Babylonian, Egyptian, Persian, Greek, etc. No real scholar regards the work of these men seriously. They lack the most elementary knowledge of historical research. Some of them are eminent scholars in other subjects, such as Assyriology and mathematics, but their writings about the life of Jesus have no more claim to be regarded as historical than Alice in Wonderland or the Adventures of Baron Munchausen." - George Aaron Barton, Jesus of Nazareth: A Biography, Macmillan, (1922)

"An extreme view along these lines is one which denies even the historical existence of Jesus Christ—a view which, one must admit, has not managed to establish itself among the educated, outside a little circle of amateurs and cranks, or to rise above the dignity of the Baconian theory of Shakespeare." - Edwyn Robert Bevan, Hellenism And Christianity, 2nd ed., G. Allen and Unwin, (1930), p. 256

"Of course the doubt as to whether Jesus really existed is unfounded and not worth refutation. No sane person can doubt that Jesus stands as founder behind the historical movement whose first distinct stage is represented by the oldest Palestinian community." - Rudolf Bultmann, Jesus and the Word, Collins, (1958), p. 13

"A hundred and fifty years ago a fairly well respected scholar named Bruno Bauer maintained that the historical person Jesus never existed. Anyone who says that today—in the academic world at least—gets grouped with the skinheads who say there was no Holocaust and the scientific holdouts who want to believe the world is flat." - Mark Allan Powell, Jesus as a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee, Westminster John Knox, (1998), p. 168

"The data we have are certainly adequate to confute the view that Jesus never lived, a view that no one holds in any case." - Charles E. Charleston, Prologue from Bruce Chilton & Craig A. Evans, eds., Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research, Brill, (1998), p. 3

"Most scholars regard the arguments for Jesus' non-existence as unworthy of any response—on a par with claims that the Jewish Holocaust never occurred or that the Apollo moon landing took place in a Hollywood studio." - Michael James McClymond, Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazareth, Eerdmans, (2004), p. 8, 23–24

"A phone call from the BBC’s flagship Today programme: would I go on air on Good Friday morning to debate with the authors of a new book, The Jesus Mysteries? The book claims (or so they told me) that everything in the Gospels reflects, because it was in fact borrowed from, much older pagan myths; that Jesus never existed; that the early church knew it was propagating a new version of an old myth, and that the developed church covered this up in the interests of its own power and control. The producer was friendly, and took my point when I said that this was like asking a professional astronomer to debate with the authors of a book claiming the moon was made of green cheese." - N. T. Wright, Jesus' Self Understanding, from Stephen T. Davis, Daniel Kendall, Gerald O’Collins, eds., The Incarnation, Oxford University Press, (2004), p. 48

"...only the shallowest of intellects would dare to deny Jesus' existence. And yet this pathetic denial is still parroted by 'the village atheist,' bloggers on the Internet, or such organisations as the Freedom from Religion Foundation." - Paul L. Maier (distinguished professor of ancient history), Did Jesus Really Exist?, 4truth.net, 2007,

http://www.4truth.net/fourtruthpbjesus.aspx... (Accessed February 4th 2016)

"In the academic mind, there can be no more doubt whatsoever that Jesus existed than did Augustus and Tiberius, the emperors of his lifetime." - Carsten Peter Thiede, Jesus, Man or Myth?, Lion, (2005), p. 23

"I think the evidence is just so overwhelming that Jesus existed, that it's silly to talk about him not existing. I don't know anyone who is a responsible historian, who is actually trained in the historical method, or anybody who is a biblical scholar who does this for a living, who gives any credence at all to any of this." - Bart Ehrman, interview with David V. Barrett, The Gospel According to Bart, Fortean Times, (2007)

"The very logic that tells us there was no Jesus is the same logic that pleads that there was no Holocaust. On such logic, history is no longer possible. It is no surprise then that there is no New Testament scholar drawing pay from a post who doubts the existence of Jesus. I know not one. His birth, life, and death in first-century Palestine have never been subject to serious question and, in all likelihood, never will be among those who are experts in the field. The existence of Jesus is a given." - Nicholas Perrin, Lost in Transmission?: What We Can Know About the Words of Jesus, Thomas Nelson, (2007), p. 32

"Frankly, I know of no ancient historian or biblical historian who would have a twinge of doubt about the existence of a Jesus Christ - the documentary evidence is simply overwhelming." - Graeme Clarke, quoted by John Dickson in Facts and friction of Easter, The Sydney Morning Herald, (2008)

"To describe Jesus' non-existence as 'not widely supported' is an understatement. It would be akin to me saying, "It is possible to mount a serious, though not widely supported, scientific case that the 1969 lunar landing never happened." There are fringe conspiracy theorists who believe such things - but no expert does. Likewise with the Jesus question: his non-existence is not regarded even as a possibility in historical scholarship. Dismissing him from the ancient record would amount to a wholesale abandonment of the historical method." - John Dickson, Jesus: A Short Life, Lion, (2008), p. 22-23

“I should say at the outset that none of this [mythicist] literature is written by scholars trained in New Testament or early Christian studies teaching at the major, or even the minor, accredited theological seminaries, divinity schools, universities, or colleges of North America or Europe (or anywhere else in the world). Of the thousands of scholars of early Christianity who teach at such schools, none of them, to my knowledge, has any doubt that Jesus existed.” - Bart D. Ehrman, Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument For Jesus of Nazareth, Harper Collins, (2012), p. 2

“…the whole idea that Jesus of Nazareth did not exist as a historical figure is verifiably false. Moreover, it has not been produced by anyone or anything with any reasonable relationship to critical scholarship. It belongs in the fantasy lives of people who used to be fundamentalist Christians. They did not believe in critical scholarship then, and they do not do so now. I cannot find any evidence that any of them have adequate professional qualifications.” - Maurice Casey (atheist), Jesus: Evidence and Argument or Mythicist Myths?, T&T Clark, (2014), p. 243

"No serious historian, of any religious or nonreligious stripe, doubts that Jesus of Nazareth really lived in the first century and was executed under the authority of Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea and Samaria. -- Jesus and the Remains of His Day, Craig Evans (2015), p. 147



Recommended Reading
*Jesus Is No Myth by David Marshall
Still looking?....
*Check out my blog article: "Jesus' Historicity: Resources for Study."