Case of the misguided atheist
There is an interesting case in Italy being brought against a priest who is being accused of unlawfully misleading the public by presenting Jesus of Nazareth in his parish newsletter as an historical figure. The accuser, a professed atheist, argues that, “Christ never existed, but is an invention of the Church.” He is claiming that the priest has violated an article under the Italian penal code, which sanctions people who mislead others. “Abuse of popular gullibility” is the actual term used in the penal code.
It is really too late in the day to come to the public, furthermore the courts, with this nonsense. R. Scott Appleby, a professor of church history at Notre Dame writes, “there is more evidence of Jesus of Nazareth than there would be for many other historical people who actually existed. Not only did Jesus actually exist, but he actually had some kind of prominence to be mentioned in two or three chronicles.” There is also considerable extra-biblical evidence for Jesus of Nazareth from non-Christian writers. Jewish historian Flavius Josephus is considered by scholars to be the most important non-Christian source on Christ’s existence. There are also the writings of Pliny the Younger, who described a policy of executing Christians who refused to curse Christ. Tacitus, a contemporary of Pliny, also wrote of Jesus being executed under the authority of Pontius Pilate.
C.S. Lewis once commented, the man who claims not to believe anything solely on the basis of the historical evidence would have to be content to know nothing all his life. Jesus of Nazareth existed, and the historical records of friend and foe alike attest to this fact. Christ, on the road to the villages around Caesarea Philippi, posed a most relevant question to this discussion: “Who do men say that I am?” The disciples responded, but Christ was silent on the conflicting reports concerning his identity. He responded only with the more probing: “But who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29, emphasis mine)
It is really too late in the day to come to the public, furthermore the courts, with this nonsense. R. Scott Appleby, a professor of church history at Notre Dame writes, “there is more evidence of Jesus of Nazareth than there would be for many other historical people who actually existed. Not only did Jesus actually exist, but he actually had some kind of prominence to be mentioned in two or three chronicles.” There is also considerable extra-biblical evidence for Jesus of Nazareth from non-Christian writers. Jewish historian Flavius Josephus is considered by scholars to be the most important non-Christian source on Christ’s existence. There are also the writings of Pliny the Younger, who described a policy of executing Christians who refused to curse Christ. Tacitus, a contemporary of Pliny, also wrote of Jesus being executed under the authority of Pontius Pilate.
C.S. Lewis once commented, the man who claims not to believe anything solely on the basis of the historical evidence would have to be content to know nothing all his life. Jesus of Nazareth existed, and the historical records of friend and foe alike attest to this fact. Christ, on the road to the villages around Caesarea Philippi, posed a most relevant question to this discussion: “Who do men say that I am?” The disciples responded, but Christ was silent on the conflicting reports concerning his identity. He responded only with the more probing: “But who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29, emphasis mine)
