It is quite an interesting question and one that has always intrigued me. God has worked in dreams, miracles, and visions where people had no access to a Bible, but I'm speaking of natural revelation. Is there enough natural revelation to make a case for Jesus?
In J Warner Wallace's new book Person Of Interest, as a former atheist and cold-case detective, he, before coming to faith, used his detective skills to examine the evidence surrounding the account of Jesus.
I am a few chapters into the book and wanted to share some of the info.
He begins by making the case in history. It is a known fact that such a change of world events occurred for history be divided as BC to AD. But what did the world experience leading up to AD? Why did Jesus enter the world when He did?
“The Roman Empire had unified much of the known world, adopted a popular language, provided a shared alphabet, established peace, constructed roads, developed the world’s best postal service, and embraced just enough religious tolerance to detonate an explosion.” Person of Interest
In each of these points, Wallace breaks down the historical importance of each topic. Concluding that Jesus came about in perfect timing for His message to be heard and shared.
The same idea to the concept of pagan mythology and the pantheon of gods and goddesses. Human history, no matter what region or belief system, the idea of worship, sacrifice, judgment, sin, atonement, miracles, etc., have all been seen in different attributes of the pagan gods throughout history. Here is the list given,
“Predicted by prophecy
Recognized the need for a sacrifice Born by unnatural means
Established a divine meal
Protected as an infant
Faced a trial
Faced temptation
Had the power to defeat death
Was associated with shepherds
Offered eternal life
Possessed supernatural power
Judge the living and the dead
Engaged and taught humans directly” —Person of Interest
Leading up to the time of Christ, humans had the internal expectation of God. The inner need to worship. The internal knowledge of sin. The desire to sacrifice and atone and the expectation for the God(s) to have these same types of attributes.
Fast forward, and you find that not only does Jesus have the exact attributes, but He also meets the 100s of prophetic guidelines for the Messiah in the monotheistic religion of Judaism.
Some skeptics point to this as to say Jesus is a copycat of ancient mythology. But this doesn't hold weight when examined. The pagan mythologies may have at a foundational level a shared sense of what to expect of a God or higher intelligence. Still, beyond that, the pantheon of gods varies in extreme differences.
We also have Jesus, who, if created by former Jews in Judaism, had to try and sell a Messiah of pagan attributes while also meeting all the 100s of prophetic predictions. This is beyond the scope of false Messiahs but in the probability realm of impossible to take root in the culture of Judaism.
Mythology best explains humanity's response to the inward programmed knowledge of the divine without having the complete revelation to know the one true God.
This changed historically when Jesus entered the scene of history. Eventually, changed the world as people began to understand the one true God.
In J Warner Wallace's new book Person Of Interest, as a former atheist and cold-case detective, he, before coming to faith, used his detective skills to examine the evidence surrounding the account of Jesus.
I am a few chapters into the book and wanted to share some of the info.
He begins by making the case in history. It is a known fact that such a change of world events occurred for history be divided as BC to AD. But what did the world experience leading up to AD? Why did Jesus enter the world when He did?
“The Roman Empire had unified much of the known world, adopted a popular language, provided a shared alphabet, established peace, constructed roads, developed the world’s best postal service, and embraced just enough religious tolerance to detonate an explosion.” Person of Interest
In each of these points, Wallace breaks down the historical importance of each topic. Concluding that Jesus came about in perfect timing for His message to be heard and shared.
The same idea to the concept of pagan mythology and the pantheon of gods and goddesses. Human history, no matter what region or belief system, the idea of worship, sacrifice, judgment, sin, atonement, miracles, etc., have all been seen in different attributes of the pagan gods throughout history. Here is the list given,
“Predicted by prophecy
Recognized the need for a sacrifice Born by unnatural means
Established a divine meal
Protected as an infant
Faced a trial
Faced temptation
Had the power to defeat death
Was associated with shepherds
Offered eternal life
Possessed supernatural power
Judge the living and the dead
Engaged and taught humans directly” —Person of Interest
Leading up to the time of Christ, humans had the internal expectation of God. The inner need to worship. The internal knowledge of sin. The desire to sacrifice and atone and the expectation for the God(s) to have these same types of attributes.
Fast forward, and you find that not only does Jesus have the exact attributes, but He also meets the 100s of prophetic guidelines for the Messiah in the monotheistic religion of Judaism.
Some skeptics point to this as to say Jesus is a copycat of ancient mythology. But this doesn't hold weight when examined. The pagan mythologies may have at a foundational level a shared sense of what to expect of a God or higher intelligence. Still, beyond that, the pantheon of gods varies in extreme differences.
We also have Jesus, who, if created by former Jews in Judaism, had to try and sell a Messiah of pagan attributes while also meeting all the 100s of prophetic predictions. This is beyond the scope of false Messiahs but in the probability realm of impossible to take root in the culture of Judaism.
Mythology best explains humanity's response to the inward programmed knowledge of the divine without having the complete revelation to know the one true God.
This changed historically when Jesus entered the scene of history. Eventually, changed the world as people began to understand the one true God.
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