Below is a response I felt to post to someone who had claimed emphatically ‘Jesus is a myth’: a claim determined atheists are very bold in making, despite the evidence.
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If you are reading through this thread and just read [Original Posters Name] comment & thought ‘yes, see, Jesus is a myth and the Bible is untrue’ – I want to challenge you: Why do you think you suddenly decided to accept what they claimed, without any actual evidence and no proof of the authors’ credibility?
The truth is the author has ZERO credibility. A bold claim – here’s another one: the *reason* they make these claims is similar to the reason you wanted to believe them…
We look for information or positions that verify our own – more specifically, we want to *feel* vindicated & good despite what our own conscience / soul tells us. For instance, we know that morally we don’t live up to our own standard of good, let alone others.
But that doesn’t matter if God doesn’t exist. If we are just the result of random mutations of matter (a scientific impossibility), then it doesn’t matter if we have stolen off them, abused them, used them for personal gratification – it doesn’t matter. It’s called moral relativism, it doesn’t work as a foundation for a culture nor does it give dignity or value to all human life.
This poster wants to influence others (like you), but for the same reason: they want to gain validation for their own misguided beliefs.
If you want to see if I am correct, pick *any* discipline and pursue it. Become learned in it – not just trusting the conclusions of others. You will eventually come to see if the claims of Jesus are verified in that discipline or not. (Spoiler: they are!).
Cultural history? Backs up the claim that Jesus of Nazareth had a *profound* impact on people across the economic divide, evident 2000 years later.
Archaeology? Overwhelmingly backs up the history and claims of the Bible. Not one dig discredits the (at times seemingly absurd) claims of the Bible, yet they verify them.
Textual Criticism? Thousands of manuscripts, which you can view in museums around the world (or even purchase), verify repeatedly the validity of the text and the eyewitness reports. These eye witnesses risked (and experienced) brutal deaths to stand by their word for *no* possible benefit to themselves and no actual reason to lie.
There are many more disciplines that *should* easily discredit the Bible, however so clearly validate the Bible that many scholarly atheists have become believers after years of trying to discredit.
And that is before you even start to look at the claims of tens of thousands of people like myself, who 2000 years after the fact have encountered the risen Jesus and been dramatically transformed into a different person. From fear, depression, selfish, hate filled, addicted to genuinely caring about others and suddenly being able to see the absurdity of a universe that came into existence from nothing (literally) with no cause or Creator.
I pray that Jesus opens your eyes – it is the most incredible experience – but a deeper reality looms: He will stand up for you on the day of judgment. We were designed & created to know our Creator & be with Him forever. Without Jesus we will never experience that, but will be doomed to our choice: to wilfully reject God, despite evidence tempting us into His Kingdom.
Have a read of the Bible for yourself here:
https://www.biblestudytools.com/nlt/john/1.html (Bible Study Tools – NLT version). You can read or even listen for free.
The Bible is God’s love letter to you – read it as if He is speaking directly to you – because He is!! The goal is to meet the Author as this will change *everything*.
I would recommend reading and re-reading the Gospel of John. Let it soak in, the changes will be profound!
God Bless