God: Fact or Fiction?: Exploring the Relationship Between Science Religion and the Origin of Life

by Brendan Roberts

  Evidence for the Death of Jesus Sacred Scripture clearly depicts that Jesus did in fact die. But the Koran claims the complete opposite:14 And for claiming that they killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of GOD. In fact, they never killed him, they never crucified him – they were made to think that they did. All factions who are disputing in this matter are full of doubt concerning this issue. They possess no knowledge, they only conjecture. For certain, they never killed him. Instead, GOD raised him to Him; GOD is Almighty, Most Wise (Surah IV:157-8).

  But the evidence from Sacred Scripture and especially science is that the lance thrust into Jesus’s side would have pierced his right lung, the sack around the heart, and into the heart itself. Scripture records that blood and water gushed out of His pierced side. Not only were the soldiers’ futures at risk, but their very lives were too because if any crucified prisoner survived they themselves would be put to death for failure of duty. Therefore it was more than in their best interests to ensure that Jesus was dead, it was crucial. There was no doubt in the minds of the executioners, the professionals, that Jesus was in fact no longer alive. Pilate also wanted the reassurance that Jesus was dead, so that the matter could be put to rest without having to worry that the Jewish authorities would cause any further riots that could put him in trouble with Caesar. Not to mention the fact that Pilate would have been in serious trouble if a condemned crucified prisoner survived. So Pilate sought the confirmation that Jesus was dead before releasing His body for burial:

  Pilate, astonished that he should have died so soon, summoned the centurion and enquired if he had been dead for some time. Having been assured of this by the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph who bought a shroud, took Jesus down from the cross, wrapped him in the shroud and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock (Mark 15:44-46).

  In an article in the Journal of the American Medical Society overwhelming medical evidence is given that such a crucifixion would have killed Jesus:

  Clearly, the weight of historical and medical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead before the wound to his side was inflicted and supports the traditional view that the spear, thrust between his right ribs, probably perforated not only the right lung, but also the pericardium and heart and thereby ensured his death. Accordingly, interpretations based on the assumptions that Jesus did not die on the cross appear to be at odds with modern medical knowledge.15

  Summary There is overwhelming evidence outside of Sacred Scripture of the existence of Jesus, confirming the experience of first century Christianity, that Jesus was a historical figure, performed wonders, and was crucified. Even the Roman authorities admitted that Christianity was a peaceful religion of law abiding people. We are obviously faced with the fact that Christ was who He and the writers of Sacred Scripture acclaimed. It also opens up the likelihood that Christianity is truly the fulfillment of the Jewish religion and that Jesus’s Blood (the cup) was the New Covenant and He is the ‘doorway’ to heaven. Either Jesus is who He claimed to be or else He was either delusional or a liar.

  The stubbornness of the tortured victims occurred as a result of their faith. Many of them would have been the first-hand witnesses to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. And yet they chose to give up their lives rather than denounce their faith in the Son of God.

  Though such a religious book as the Koran says that Jesus only appeared to be dead on the Cross, the historical and medical evidence reveals that Jesus could not have faked it! When we take the corroborative evidence of Sacred Scripture revealing that Pilate ensured that Jesus was dead and that the Roman soldiers’ lives depended on it, the evidence is overwhelming that Jesus died. Furthermore, the following chapter will reveal evidence of the resurrection of Jesus.

  This chapter does not give evidence of spiritual truths, such as whether Jesus was the Son of God, or whether he ascended into heaven. Therefore in the following chapter we explore in more detail the spiritual truths that were revealed through Sacred Scripture.

  Notes

  1. Lee Strobel. The Case for Christ (Grand Rapids; Michigan: Zondervan, 1998), p. 18.

  2. Ibid., p. 115.

  3. Josephus, Book 18, Chap 3:3 – see www.probe.org/content/view/30/77/, 10/04/08.

  4. Tacitus, Annals 15.44.

  5. Ibid., 109.

  6. Ibid., 102.

  7. www.probe.org/content/view/30/77/, Accessed 27/05/10.

  8. Ibid.

  9. Ibid.

  10. Julius Africanus. Chronography, 18:1 www.probe.org/content/view/30/77/

  11. Ibid.

  12. Paul L. Maier. Pontius Pilate (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1968), 366, citing a fragment from Phlegon, Olympiades he Chronika 13, ed. Otto Keller, Rerum Naturalium Scriptores Graeci Minores, 1 (Leipzig: Teurber, 1877), 101. Translation by Maier.

  13. Ignatius, Trallians 9.

  14. Website translates Allah as God. See www.submission.org/suras/sura4.htm

  15. William D. Edwards (M.D.), et al. “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ, Journal of the American Medical Association, 255:11, March 21, 1986, p. 1463.

  For further articles by Edwin Yamauchi see:

  www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/yama.html (Easter: Myth, Hallucination, or History); www.irr.org/yamauchi.html (The Life, Death and Teaching of Jesus Compared with Other Great Religious Figures).

  CHAPTER 15

  SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE In the previous chapter we encountered evidence that Jesus actually existed and performed ‘wonders’. Now we will explore the evidence of Jesus from scriptural sources, including the witnesses and likely dates for the composition of their evidence.

  Authors of the Gospels We return to the acclaimed author, Lee Strobel to reveal the evidence he uncovered. Dr Craig Blomberg, renowned scholar and author of The Historical Reliability of the Gospels was one of the experts he interviewed. Blomberg confesses that though strictly speaking the Gospels (the biographies of Jesus in the New Testament) are anonymous, there is evidence from the Early Church and scholars that the authors are believed to be:

  ♦ Matthew, the tax collector, disciple and author of the first gospel. ♦ Luke, Paul’s ‘beloved physician’, the author of both the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles.

  ♦ John, the beloved disciple, author of the Gospel of John and the

  book of Revelation.

  Actually there is scholarly debate over whether John is the same person as the beloved disciple mentioned in John’s Gospel. Considering that Mark and Luke were not even disciples, it is astounding they were named as such, since anyone staging a hoax would have used such names for the Gospels as either the inner circle of Jesus’s group, the disciples, and even his favourite disciple whom he called Peter, translated as rock (‘And I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it…’ Matthew 16:18-19) or even His dear mother, Mary. In fact, when fanciful apocryphal gospels were written, Acts of Philip (fourth century), Peter (mid second century), and Thomas (second century) were the well-known names to be chosen as their authors. However these writings were not accepted by the Catholic Church to be part of Sacred Scripture (canon). For example, the Gospel of Thomas has Gnostic tendencies and conflicts with Christianity since it denies the resurrection of the body. It only supports the resurrection of the soul and sees all matter as evil. Furthermore it does not reveal Christ as divine. Its genre is inconsistent with that of the other writings of the New Testament as it is just a list of sayings attributed to Jesus, rather than a record of the words and deeds of Jesus.

  In circa AD 180 St Irenaeus wrote the following, revealing who the individual Gospel writers relied on as their eyewitnesses: Matthew published his own gospel among the Hebrews in their own tongue, when Peter and Paul were preaching the gospel in Rome and founding the church there. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, himself handed down to us in writing the substance of Peter’s preaching. Luke,
the follower of Paul, set down in a book the Gospel preached by his teacher. Then John, the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned on his breast, himself produced his Gospel while he was living at Ephesus in Asia.1

  Strobel explains that if the Gospels were written by the authors using a journalistic-type discourse, including Luke the historian, then we can be assured that they have recorded history based on either direct or indirect eyewitness testimony. Therefore either the writers witnessed the actual events they have recorded, or they interviewed those that were direct witnesses.

  The Gospel writers used a particular genre, as the people of ‘ancient’ cultures did not record all the details of someone’s life but focused on aspects which they particularly wanted to preserve, so that the followers of Jesus could learn from the historical experiences. The main emphasis in the Gospels are Jesus’s conception, birth, presentation in the temple, public ministry (words and deeds), institution of the Eucharist, and His death and resurrection. Therefore these are the main aspects that the Church emphasises.

  The four Gospels have parts that overlap each other, with almost every major theme paralleled in each. Though this has been severely critiqued by skeptics it is important to note that if all the Gospels were identical they would be called copies. As mentioned previously it is worthwhile to note that Matthew relied on Peter as a fellow eye-witness. Strobel says: ‘Although Matthew had his own recollections as a disciple, his quest for accuracy prompted him to rely on some material directly from Peter in Jesus’s inner circle.’2

  Dating of the Gospels Scholars date the Gospel of Mark to be from somewhere around the destruction of the second Temple, 65 to 70 AD. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke are believed to have been written after Mark as there are many portions of Mark that they utilise. The Gospel of Matthew dates from around 80 to 85 AD; and the Gospel of Luke from around 85 to 90 AD. The last Gospel written is believed to be that of John, written circa AD 90 to as late as AD 110. John’s Gospel strongly uses the language of an eye-witness testimony; it is believed that the other Gospels are secondhand accounts of the life and deeds of Jesus.

  Therefore in relation to the authenticity concerning a historically written account these should be recognised as authentic. The accepted biographies of Alexander the Great astonishingly enough were written more than 400 years after Alexander’s death and are accepted as authentic. Jesus left this earth (ascended into heaven) circa AD 30. So a written record 40, 50 or 60 years after a historic figure’s death, should be held in more regard than a record written 400 years afterwards.

  Authenticity of the Gospels Not only does the age of the manuscripts lend towards their authenticity, but the number recovered is bedazzling. In Greek alone they have uncovered over 5,600 copies. Over 8,000 copies of the Latin Vulgate have also been discovered. Add to that number the 8,000 Ethiopian, Slavic and Armenian copies and you get over 21,000 manuscripts which date back to the early part of the 2nd century. Professor Bruce Metzger, scholar, author and editor of over 50 books, mainly on the New Testament, believes that compared to other well known works of antiquity they stack up extremely well.

  Yamauchi explains the historical uniqueness of the biographies of Jesus Christ: ‘When people begin religious movements, it’s often not until many generations later that people record things about them...But the fact is that we have better historical documentation for Jesus than for the founder of any other ancient religion.’3

  That is of great interest to the inquiring mind. The New Testament, especially St Paul’s writings and the Gospels are better historically, than for example, the scriptures of Buddha, who lived in the sixth century B.C. These Buddhist scriptures were not put into writing until after the Christian era; the first biography of Buddha was not written until the first century AD. In comparison regarding the Islamic religion and its founder, Muhammad lived from 570 to 632 AD. His biography was not written until 120-130 years after his death.

  Son of man In three of the Gospels Jesus refers to Himself as the ‘Son of man’. While some claim that this only refers to Jesus’s humanity, the Old Testament confirms the title and refers to something much more powerful than just Jesus’s humanity; in fact it is quite astounding – a claim to Jesus’s divinity – to being God’s Son. The book of Daniel covers this fact about the Son of man:

  In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like the son of man, [sic] coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days [God] and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations, and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed (Daniel 7:13-14). (New American Bible)

  Therefore we see from the book of Daniel, written centuries before Jesus arrived on the scene, that the Son of man would have a special authority, glory and sovereign power, and was to be worshipped universally. This is obviously referring to the divine nature of Jesus as only God could be worshipped. The remarkable point to note here is that the Jewish people would have known that Jesus was claiming to be God’s Son as they knew the book of Daniel off-by-heart.

  This messianic title of Christ, Son of man occurs over 82 times in the New Testament. In Matthew 26:64 the author clearly shows the Son of man sitting at the right hand of God which shows His authority as judge (in the Old Testament God is the judge). So we see it relating to the divinity of Christ.

  Jesus said to him in reply, ‘You have said so. But I tell you: From now on you will see “the Son of man [sic]

  seated at the right hand of the Power”

  and coming on the clouds of heaven’. (New American Bible)

  Ironically, though some claim that Jesus never said He was the Son of God, He never stopped his followers from addressing Him as such. But before we look at that let us explore another example where Jesus claimed to be the Son of man:

  Jesus heard they had ejected him, and when he found him he said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of man?’ ‘Sir’, the man replied, ‘tell me who he is so that I may believe in him’. Jesus said, ‘You have seen him; he is speaking to you.’The man said, ‘Lord I believe’, and worshipped him (John 9:35-38).

  It is clear from this scripture that the Son of man is a divine being who was worshipped.

  Son of God We shall now explore instances where Jesus’s followers claimed He was the Son of God. Though the term was used for angelic beings in the Old Testament, the actions of those using the term must be taken into account. The first example is when the disciples see Jesus walking on the water. Peter wants to share in that miracle and have authority over the sea as well. He asks Jesus to call him. At Jesus’s call Peter walks on the water towards Jesus. His faith upholds him and so through the presence and action of God He is able to share in the authority of Jesus. But when he takes his focus off Jesus and instead focuses on the wind he begins to sink:

  ‘Lord,’ he cried, ‘save me!’ Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. ‘You have so little faith,’he said, ‘why did you doubt?’ And as they got into the boat the wind dropped. The men in the boat bowed down before him and said, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God (Matthew 14:30-33).’

  Though Peter sinks because of lack of faith and is subsequently scolded by Jesus for this lack, he also shows faith by crying out to the Lord. Jewish tradition holds that God alone can rescue from the sea (Exodus 14:10-15:21; Psalm 107:23-32; Jonah 1:1-16; and Wisdom 14:2-14). Matthew was also likely to have been drawing the listener to Psalm 18:15-16 whereby Yahweh calms the sea, and reaches out and saves the psalmist from many waters. The disciples pronounce Jesus as the Son of God and bow down before Him, an act of worship. But what causes them to worship Him? Jesus walking on the sea shows that He does what God does. In comparison Job states: ‘He and no other has stretched out the heavens and trampled on the back of the sea (Job 9:8).’

  In the Gospel of Luke the disciples also clearly worship Jesus, this time after He has ju
st ascended into Heaven: Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven. They worshipped him and then went back to Jerusalem full of joy; and they were continually in the Temple praising God (Luke 24:51-53).

  An example whereby one of Jesus’s followers claimed Jesus was God’s Son was when He questioned them on what others believed about the Son of man. Then He asked them who the disciples believed He was. Peter spoke up for the disciples and proclaimed, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God Matthew 16:16.’ In each example where someone claims that Jesus is the Son of God or God’s Son, He does not rebuke or correct them. When Jesus is on trial and is questioned whether He is the Son of God, He does not deny the claim to save His own skin:

  But Jesus was silent. And the High Priest said to him, ‘I put you on oath by the Living God to tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God’. Jesus answered him, ‘It is you who say it. But, I tell you that from this time onward you will see the Son of man [sic] seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:63-64).’ [See Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13.]

  Jesus was put on oath and He answered in the way which clearly shows He believed He was the Son of God, the Son of man, the Christ, and the one to redeem Israel as He quotes Daniel.

  In Matthew’s Gospel while Jesus is being crucified He is taunted to admit that He is God’s Son, ‘He has put his trust in God; now let God rescue him if he wants him. For he did say, “I am God’s son (Matthew 27:43).”’4

  What is as astounding is that upon Jesus’s death and the rising of many dead, a Gentile (non Jew) defends Jesus’s claim to be the Son of God: ‘The centurion, together with the others guarding Jesus, had seen the earthquake and all that was taking place, and they were terrified and said, “In truth this man was son of God (Matthew 27:54).”’