Jesus: A Man of History
Josh McDowell, a well-known Christian apologist (a person who defends the truth of the Christian faith), titled chapter five in his best-selling Evidence That Demands a Verdict “Jesus — a man of history.” Christians, of course, believe Jesus is the Man who made history, while non-believers hold to a wide variety of beliefs about Him, ranging from “great teacher” to saying Jesus never even existed. Yet even those who deny His existence cannot deny that belief in Him has profoundly influenced the last 20 centuries of history.
It is untenable to believe that Jesus, considered by millions of individuals worldwide as the Second Person of the Trinity, is fictitious. If the historical evidence documenting His existence were to be dismissed, then weaker evidence supporting the existence of historical figures such as Alexander the Great would have to be dismissed as well. Yet no one claims Alexander the Great never existed.
Even Rudolf Bultmann, a noted liberal theologian, had no patience with the view that Jesus did not even exist, writing, “The doubt as to whether Jesus really existed is unfounded and not worth refutation. No sane person can doubt that Jesus stands as the founder behind the historical movement” that evolved into the world’s largest religion.
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