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What do early sources say about how others viewed Jesus?
Hey, would you let me know how you’re liking this multi-part show (hello@forthehope.com)? We’ve never done a 12-part anything, and there is more is more to go in this Habermas book so I’ve A) included a running summary in the show notes and B) tried to recap the previous day each day to provide continuity…but that doesn’t mean it’s working.
Bible segment: Reading along with The Bible Project
Translation: ESV (English Standard Version)
Today’s reading: Isaiah 45-48
Apologetics segment: Gary Habermas and Jesus’ uniqueness
My running summary and comments of the key ideas so far:
In modernity, a common objection is “science is real” and “religion is opinion.” While we should test everything, including miracles, there are six places to test to see if Jesus’ claims were unmatched by founders of other major religions (it’s a beautiful thing about Christianity – it’s testable).
#1: Jesus claimed to be deity.
Buddha didn’t, and whatever spiritism or divinity is part of some Buddhist practices in China didn’t really develop until 700 years later.
Like Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism began more reservedly, and they later evolved into “more phenomenal, mystical, and occultic versions.” (p16) Some historians speculate that this happened, in part, due to competition for followers – they got more sensationalistic to attract attention.
Conclusion – in terms of self-claim to deity, these “naturalistic ethical, social, and political thinkers” (p16) are not rivals to Jesus.
What about other “prophets?”
Zoroaster, chief prophet of the Persian religion never claimed to be deity.
Muhammad, is certainly not elevated to deity – in fact, a core tenet of Islam is that a human elevating themselves to equality with God is unforgivable blasphemy (you can see why they then have to purport a historically-distorted Jesus!).
And the Old Testament – the Hebrew scriptures of Judaism? Their prophets certainly are not deified either.
What about Krishna? Reports conflict, including as to whether or not Krishna actually existed or is just a poetic device. Too, the Hindu idea of deity isn’t exactly what we think of compared to the “one god-ism” of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism – you yourself might ultimately attain to such a status as have millions of others. Worse, the time-distance between Krishna and the earliest writings is thousands of years.
Evaluating Jesus’ claims from five early sources.
“Son of God” – Jesus both claimed this and, relatedly, spoke of his Father in familiar-but-uncommon ways.
“Son of Man” – Jesus isn’t called “Son of Man” in a single NT epistle; it was entirely his own self-designation.
He was worshipped, including being sung and prayed to, by otherwise monotheistic, Law-abiding Jews.
He was given the name of God, included in the concept of “one God,” from the very earliest of days (not something that developed later)
Early creedal texts indicate – a lot – that declarations about who Jesus was occurred exceptionally early.
Conclusion of “Jesus claimed to be deity”
Jesus actually did make many crucial claims that are unlike those taught by any chief founder of the other major world religions
What cannot be substantiated from any reliable historical data:
Assumptions that these other founders made similar comments
That non-Christian teachings were just differing aspects of essentially similar messages -- nor even minor variances to be accounted for by different cultures, either
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Your personal prayer reading for today: Psalm 119:33-64
And that’s a wrap! Love you!
-R
Sources and Resources
Gary Habermas, “The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ Among the Major World Religions” (Lynchburg, VA: GaryHabermas.com, 2016). http://www.garyhabermas.com/Evidence2/Habermas-Uniqueness-of-Jesus-Christ-2016.pdf. Accessed April 17, 2019.
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