Who is Jesus?

There is evidence outside the New Testament that Jesus exists, including Tacitus and Suetonius (Roman historians) and Josephus (a Jewish historian).

The major point of evidence lies with the New Testament. But how do we know that what was written down in the New Testament has not been changed over the years? Scholars use a process called 'textual criticism'. Essentially, the more manuscripts we have, and the earlier they are to the original, the less doubt there is about the original. The New Testament compares better in this process than just about any other ancient book. One of the greatest textual critics ever, F. J. A. Hort, said this: `In the variety and fullness of the evidence on which it rests, the text of the New Testament stands absolutely and unapproachably alone amongst ancient prose writings’ — and no secular historian would disagree with that conclusion. Sir Frederick Kenyon, who’s an expert in this field, sums it up like this: `The interval, then, between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established.’

Work	Date Written	Earliest Copy	Time Lapse	No. of Copies
Herodotus	488 - 428 BC	AD 900	1,300 Years	8
Thucydides	460 - 100 BC	AD 900	1,300 Years	8
Tacitus	AD 100	AD 1100	1000 Years	20
Caesar’s Gallic Wars	58 – 50 BC	AD 900	950 Years	9-10
Livy’s Roman History	59 BC – AD17	AD 900	900 Years	20
New Testament	AD 40 - 100	AD 130 (full manuscripts AD 350)	30-310 Years	5000 + Greek 10,000 Latin 9,300 others

Jesus was fully human. We know he had a human body, for example, he got tired and hungry. He had human emotions. we know he got angry, he loved, he felt sadness. We know he had human experiences, such as temptation, learning, work and obedience.

He also had a lot to say about himself! He made lots of 'I am...' claims, especially in the book of John. He forgave people of their sins and he said he would judge the world. They are dramatic claims! Even more dramatic were his claims to be the messiah, the Son of God, and God the Son.

CS Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, said this: 'A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be insane, or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Let us not come up with any patronising nonsense about his being a great moral teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. We are forced then with a frightening alternative. However strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that he was and is God.

There is a lot of evidence to support the view that Jesus was the Son of God: his teaching, his works, his character, his fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy, his rising from the dead!

Further reading: 'Mere Christianity' by C. S. Lewis, 'The Case for Christ' by Lee Strobel, 'Orthodoxy' by G. K. Chesterton, 'Jesus is' by Judah Smith