Debunking Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev’s False Assertions About Jesus – Part 2

Why Worship Jesus?

            Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev’s possibly ignorant or deceptive rants against Jesus persist.

            Sadhguru said (and I paraphrase) that Jesus is worshipped for his virtues of grace, patience and tolerance.¹

            Christians subscribing to Historic Christianity would emphatically deny this thought.

            Jesus is not worshipped for a specific set of attributes. Jesus is worshipped because HE is God.

            Sadhguru’s New Age worldview would permit him to term Jesus as a god (not God) - one among the many gods in the divine-stable of the henotheist-panentheistic-polytheistic² Hinduism, which is one of the many sources from which the New Age movement borrows its tenets.

Call Jesus Shiva?

            Regarding Jesus’ identity, Sadhguru said, “…which we can call Jesus or Shiva or whatever you like…”³

            Sadhguru’s henotheist-panentheistic-polytheistic persuasion permits him to call Jesus as Shiva and what-not!

            To stress this notion again, being eclectic in nature, the New Age movement draws its religious views from many religious sources, even if they are fundamentally contradictory. Hinduism is one such religious source. Therefore, a New Ager, from only within his worldview, can term Jesus as Shiva.

            However, it is blasphemous for a Christian to call Jesus as Shiva. Jesus is God-incarnate. HE is the second person of the blessed Trinity. HE is the Christ, the Messiah, “Then Jesus and his disciples went to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said, “John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.” (Mark 8: 27-30, NET).

            Therefore, calling Jesus Shiva will intensely offend the religious sentiment of every Christian who subscribes to Historic Christianity.

Jesus A Good Man?

            First, here’s C.S Lewis to those who consider Jesus as a good man or as a good teacher, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the son of God: or else a madman or something worse….You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” (Emphasis Mine).⁴

            Second, here’s what Sadhguru said, “Even Jesus is not a good man. Wonderful. Not a good man. Anybody who disturbs the existing situation is not a good man, isn’t it?...Jesus is not a good man. Maybe he’s wonderful, but not a good man.”⁵

            He probably knows this Scripture passage wherein Jesus questioned why HE should be called good, “Now as Jesus was starting out on his way, someone ran up to him, fell on his knees, and said, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” (Mark 10:17-18, NET).

            Sadhguru deems Jesus as not a good man because Jesus Christ did disturb the religious sentiments of the Jews. How?

            HE claimed to be God!

            The testimony of the Jews is sufficient, “When the chief priests and their officers saw him, they shouted out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said, “You take him and crucify him! Certainly I find no reason for an accusation against him!” The Jewish leaders replied, “We have a law, and according to our law he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God!”” (John 19: 6-7, NET).

            That’s why the Jews crucified the Lord Jesus Christ!

            Because Jesus is God!

            The God-incarnate Jesus also lived a sinless life. So HE was certainly a good man from a moral perspective.

            Jesus came to seek and save the lost. HE was a good man because HE performed HIS task.

            Jesus was indeed a good man!

Debunking New Age

            Christians are succumbing to the lure of the New Age movement. Hence, they should be liberated from this worldview that stands in stark opposition to Historic Christianity.

            Pew Research Center’s survey states that approximately 60% of Christians in the USA believe in one or more of the New Age beliefs, “But many Christians also hold what are sometimes characterized as “New Age” beliefs – including belief in reincarnation, astrology, psychics and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects like mountains or trees…While eight-in-ten Christians say they believe in God as described in the Bible, six-in-ten believe in one or more of the four New Age beliefs analyzed here, ranging from 47% of evangelical Protestants to roughly seven-in-ten Catholics and Protestants in the historically black tradition.”⁶

            This article strives to defend the actuality of the second person of the blessed trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, from Sadhguru’s false portrayal. 

            Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev speaks on behalf of the New Age worldview. Hence, it is imperative to understand the basics of the New Age and follow the reasons that reveal the ideological fragility of the New Age.

            An excerpt from an article entitled The New Age Movement (Pantheism and Monism) in the website of the Christian apologetics ministry Answers in Genesis provides sound reasons to debunk the New Age movement: ⁷

… This worldview centers on monism (all is one), pantheism (all is God), and mysticism (the experience of oneness with the divine).

Along with these primary core beliefs are some secondary characteristics that are true of most New Agers. For example, most New Agers are highly eclectic. By this I mean that New Agers typically draw their religious and philosophical ideas from a variety of religious sources. They consult holy books like the Bible and the Hindu Vedas, but also feel free to consult psychics and channelers, whose “revelations” from spirit guides are considered just as authoritative as those found in holy books. They have no hesitation in consulting astrologers and others who practice the occultic arts of necromancy, palm readings, ball gazing, tarot cards, etc.

Not surprisingly, New Agers are also syncretistic. By this I mean that New Agers combine and synthesize religious and philosophical ideas from Jesus, the Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, alleged “space brothers” aboard UFOs, Ascended Masters who live on planet Venus, and many others. New Agers believe there is truth in all religions and religious traditions. This willingness to pick and choose what they believe from various sources of enlightenment is a vivid demonstration of the arbitrary and inconsistent nature of the worldview.

Most New Agers are also transformational on two levels. First, New Agers believe that personal transformation takes place when a human being recognizes his or her oneness with all things in the universe. Second, planetary transformation takes place when a critical mass of human beings come into this same awareness. We are allegedly transforming—or transitioning—into a New Age with a new consciousness…

Debunking New Age Claims

Someone said that the New Age movement is a target-rich environment when it comes to opportunities for critique. In what follows, I will provide a brief biblical response to some of the primary ideas set forth in the movement.

… All religions do not teach the same truths. One cannot rationally claim that the various world religions are teaching the same basic truths. This becomes evident by examining key doctrines in each religion. The doctrine of God is a good example. The Christian Bible reveals that there is one personal God who is triune in nature (Matthew 28:19; Mark 12:29; Romans 8:15). The Muslim Quran teaches there is only one God, but God cannot have a son, and there is no Trinity. The writings of Confucius affirm polytheism (there are many gods). Krishna taught a combination of polytheism and pantheism (all is god). Zoroaster set forth religious dualism (there is both a good god and a bad god). Buddha taught that the concept of God was essentially irrelevant. Clearly, the world’s major religions hold completely contradictory views regarding the nature of God. The same is true in their view of Jesus and their view of salvation. This means that the New Age claim that all the religions teach the same basic truths is wishful thinking.

…New Age meditation can be injurious. New Age (Eastern) meditation’s stated goal of transforming one’s state of mind into a monistic (“all is one”), if not an outright pantheistic (“all is God”), outlook lies in direct contradiction to the biblical view of the eternal distinction between God the Creator and His creatures (Isaiah 44:6–8; Hebrews 2:6–8). Moreover, Christian experts in occultism note that altered states of consciousness (which occurs in New Age meditation) can open one up to spiritual affliction and deception by the powers of darkness… Christians ought to practice biblical meditation. This involves objective contemplation and deep reflection on God’s Word (Joshua 1:8) as well as God’s person and faithfulness (Psalm 119, see also 19:14, 48:9, 77:12, 104:34, 143:5).

…Human beings are not divine. Contrary to the New Age claim that human beings are God, Scripture portrays them as creatures who are responsible to their Creator (Genesis 1–2; Psalm 100:3). Because human beings are creatures, they are intrinsically weak, helpless, and dependent upon God (you may wish to consult 2 Corinthians 3:5 and John 15:5). The recognition of creaturehood should lead human beings to humility and a worshipful attitude (Psalm 95:6–7). They have confused the fact that we are made in the image of the divine God (Genesis 1:26–27, 9:6) with falsely being equated to the divine God.

One cannot avoid asking, If human beings are God, then why do we have to buy and read New Age books to find out about it? Wouldn’t we already know it? The fact that a person comes to realize he is God proves that he is not God. For if he truly were God, he would never have passed from a state of ignorance to a state of enlightenment as to his divine nature.

Human beings are fallen in sin and need to be saved. Contrary to the New Age claim that human beings are God and merely need enlightenment about this reality, the biblical truth is that human beings have a grave sin problem that is altogether beyond their means to solve. Human beings are sinners (Isaiah 64:6; Luke 15:10), are lost (Luke 19:10), are capable of great wickedness (Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:20–23; Luke 11:42–52), and are in need of repentance before a holy God (Mark 1:15; Luke 15:10). Because of sin, human beings are blind (Matthew 15:14, 23:16–26), enslaved in bondage (John 8:34), and live in darkness (John 3:19–21, 8:12, 12:35–46).

Jesus came into the world to offer a salvation based on grace. The word grace literally means “unmerited favor.” Unmerited means this favor cannot be worked for. Grace refers to the undeserved, unearned favor of God. Romans 5:1–11 tells us that God gives His incredible grace to those who actually deserve the opposite—that is, condemnation. Eternal life cannot be earned. It is a free gift of grace that comes through faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ. As Jesus Himself put it, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.” (John 6:47; see also John 3:15, 5:24, 11:25, 12:46, 20:31).

Jesus is the only way. While the Jesus of the New Age is open to all religions, the Jesus of the Bible is God’s exclusive means of salvation. Speaking of Jesus, a bold Peter proclaimed, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). The Apostle Paul affirmed, “There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus also warned His followers about those who would try to set forth a different “Christ” (Matthew 24:4–5). Truly, Jesus is the only way of salvation, and the only Jesus who has revealed Himself in the pages of Scripture.

Endnotes:

¹https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVmirUq74Lk | What Sadhguru Says About Jesus | Sadhguru Ramayana | Sadhguru Latest On Lord Rama; 6:39; Published Dec 9, 2018

²Henotheism is the belief in and worship of a single god while accepting the existence or the possible existence of other deities that may also be served.

Panentheism meaning "all-in-God", also known as Monistic Monotheism, is a belief system which posits that the divine – whether as a single God, number of gods, or other form of "cosmic animating force" – interpenetrates every part of the universe and extends, timelessly (and, presumably, spacelessly) beyond it.

Polytheism refers to the worship of or belief in multiple deities usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religions and rituals.

Source: https://sites.google.com/site/sanatanhindusite/hinduism-monotheistic

³https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWfmGLtu5lE (Jesus Has to Rise Within You – Sadhguru; 0:56; Published Dec 24, 2018

⁴https://www.cru.org/us/en/how-to-know-god/who-is-jesus-god-or-just-a-good-man.html

⁵https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWfmGLtu5lE (Jesus Has to Rise Within You – Sadhguru; 1:08; Published Dec 24, 2018

⁶https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/10/01/new-age-beliefs-common-among-both-religious-and-nonreligious-americans/

⁷https://answersingenesis.org/world-religions/new-age-movement-pantheism-monism/

Websites last accessed on 21^st September 2019.

Debunking Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev’s False Assertions About Jesus – Part 1

About Sadhguru

            Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev’s website portrays him as, “…a yogi and a mystic…Named one of India's 50 most influential people, Sadhguru's work has touched the lives of millions worldwide through his transformational programs. Sadhguru has a unique ability to make the ancient yogic sciences relevant to contemporary minds, acting as a bridge to the deeper dimensions of life. His approach does not ascribe to any belief system, but offers methods for self-transformation that are both proven and powerful.”¹

            Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev is one of the leading voices of Hinduism.

False Assertions

            Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev makes many false assertions about Jesus and Christianity per se. Find below, a few:

            1. Jesus’ Existence?

            Sadhguru alludes to Jesus’ nonexistence. He said, “Krishna did not exist. Jesus did not exist. What does it matter to you?”² By asserting that Jesus’ existence does not matter, he merely stops short of saying that Jesus did not exist. So he could be categorized as a Jesus Myther, though not in its strict sense.

            Jesus’ existence is a matter of great concern. If the historical Jesus³ did not exist, then Christianity cannot exist.

            As to the existence of historical Jesus, there is no doubt whatsoever, not even an iota of doubt exists. Historians are convinced about the existence of the historical Jesus.

            Here are a few testimonies of hostile witnesses about the existence of the historical Jesus:⁴

The testimony of a hostile witness is very powerful (cf. Criterion of Unsympathetic Sources). Dr. Bart Ehrman is one such hostile witness. He is a much acclaimed and widely respected scholar.

Bart Ehrman is a hostile witness since he does not believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. A hostile witness (in this context) has no bias or no need, whatsoever, to affirm in the existence of the Historical Jesus.

Bart Ehrman believes in the existence of the Historical Jesus. Significantly, Ehrman emphasizes that scholars who have genuinely studied the evidence pertaining to the existence of Historical Jesus believe that HE existed, “Mythicists have often gotten upset with me for pointing out that almost no one with any qualifications in the requisite fields of scholarship agrees with them.  I can see why that would be upsetting.  My sense is that some of them think that I’ve been rubbing their noses in it.  But that isn’t really my intent.  My intent is to point out to anyone who is interested – for example, someone who just doesn’t know what to think – that those who are qualified to speak knowledgeably on such subjects are virtually unified on one view (there was a historical Jesus of Nazareth) and opposed to the other (he is a complete myth).”4

This should do it!

If every serious scholar believes in the existence of the Historical Jesus, every claim that attempts to disregard the Historical Jesus are insincere and hypocritical. Therefore, these hypocritical claims ought to be disregarded.

Bart Ehrman is not the only secular scholar who believes in the existence of Historical Jesus. Here’s more from the website of Answers In Genesis:5

Here is what some scholars have written about the Jesus Myth (these statements are not just from conservative Christians—the first four are critical scholars who have rejected the miraculous elements of Christ’s life).

Of course the doubt as to whether Jesus really existed is unfounded and not worth refutation. No sane person can doubt that Jesus stands as founder behind the historical movement whose first distinct stage is represented by the oldest Palestinian community. (Rudolf Bultmann)1

To doubt the historical existence of Jesus at all … was reserved for an unrestrained, tendentious criticism of modern times into which it is not worthwhile to enter here. (Günther Bornkamm)2

I am of the opinion (and it is an opinion shared by every serious historian) that the theory [“that Jesus never lived, that he was a purely mythical figure”] is historically untenable. (Willi Marxsen)3

To sum up, modern critical methods fail to support the Christ-myth theory. It has “again and again been answered and annihilated by first-rank scholars.” In recent years “no serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non-historicity of Jesus”—or at any rate very few, and they have not succeeded in disposing of the much stronger, indeed very abundant, evidence to the contrary. (Michael Grant)4

Contemporary New Testament scholars have typically viewed their [i.e., Jesus mythers] arguments as so weak or bizarre that they relegate them to footnotes, or often ignore them completely. (Robert Van Voorst)5

The total evidence is so overpowering, so absolute that only the shallowest of intellects would dare to deny Jesus’ existence. (Paul L. Maier)6

On a side note, do remember that every claim of Jesus Mythers can be rejected by proving them to be incorrect. There’s an abundance of resources [on the internet] to help us achieve this.

Here’s an example: Jesus Mythers contend that Nazareth did not exist, hence Christ did not exist. But Bart Ehrman debunks this contention by ascertaining that [Palestinian] archaeologists believe that Nazareth existed because they have discovered evidence for its existence. He goes on to add that the existence of Nazareth is not even a point of debate among Palestinian archaeologists.6

            2. Jesus a Success?

            Sadhguru alleges that Jesus did not live a successful life! He said, “At the age of 32 you got nailed. Had a terrible death. You call that a successful life? No!” ⁵

            Sadhguru, evidently, has not understood the Christian perspective of success.

            Success, according to the Historic Christian worldview, is defined in the spiritual context and not the material or the hedonistic:⁶

For Christians, success can never be measured by money. When people say to me, "That man's worth ten million dollars," that tells me he's wealthy, but it doesn't prove he's successful. In some cases, it could mean the opposite. For instance, if Mother Teresa, whom I consider a tremendous success, confessed she was hoarding a million dollars, I'd think she was a hypocrite. Money would prove her a fraud, not a success.

The measurement of success is simply the ratio of talents used to talents received. What you are doing with what you've got, plus who you are becoming. Are you a growing, maturing Christian? Whether you work in business, or in Christian work, or as a day laborer, professional, or academic, if you are a maturing Christian, using a large percentage of your talents, you are successful. Be glad.

The person doing the most with what he's got is truly successful. Not the one who becomes the richest or most famous, but the one who has the closest ratio of talents received to talents used.

An unsuccessful person, on the other hand, is one who didn't use the chances he or she had. He could have developed himself, he could have made a contribution to life, he could have become a mature Christian, but he didn't.

            In stark contrast to the Historic Christian Biblical theology, Sadhguru’s definition of spirituality attempts to dethrone God from the domain of spirituality, for he claims, “Unfortunately, today, spirituality is the most misunderstood and misrepresented aspect of life. The way it is being presented worldwide, some of it is utterly ridiculous, a lot of it is crooked, much more of it is well-meaning but stupid…Spirituality is not about right and wrong or about God and heaven. Spirituality is about exploring the ultimate limits of who you are.”⁷

            Spirituality, in the Christian worldview, is all about God. It’s about man’s response to his Creator and Sustainer – the alpha and omega.

            Christ did not offer to make bad people good, but to make dead people alive; this is Ravi Zacharias’ precise reflection of Christ’s mission.⁸

            Sadhguru does not comprehend this aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is imprisoned in his eclectic new-age worldview.

            The success or failure of God incarnate - the Lord Jesus Christ’s life can neither be measured in terms of his age at the time of his death nor the nature of his atoning death.

            Christ came to save mankind, and save them, HE did (cf. Luke 19: 5,10). If you and I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be saved. Romans 10:9 says, “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (NET).

            Christ’s life was thus a grand success.

            Sadhguru has made a few more false assertions about Jesus Christ. More to follow...

Endnotes:

¹https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/sadhguru

²https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVmirUq74Lk , 8:24, entitled What Sadhguru Says About Jesus | Sadhguru Ramayana | Sadhguru Latest On Lord Rama; Published Dec 9, 2018.

³The historical Jesus is the Jesus historians can prove with reasonable certainty and apart from faith, says Michael Licona.

⁴https://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2018/08/how-to-communicate-our-belief-in-jesus.html

⁵https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVmirUq74Lk , 7:14, entitled What Sadhguru Says About Jesus | Sadhguru Ramayana | Sadhguru Latest On Lord Rama; Published Dec 9, 2018.

⁶https://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/bible-answers/spirituallife/christianview.html?start=1

⁷https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/blog/article/hello-interviews-sadhguru-the-material-and-the-spiritual

⁸https://www.rzim.org/read/just-thinking-magazine/threads-of-a-redeemed-heart

Websites last accessed on 10^th September 2019.

How To Communicate Our Belief In Jesus Christ’s Existence?

            Was Jesus Christ a mythical figure? Did HE not exist in flesh and blood in the form of a human being?

            We could be certain of Christ’s existence for many reasons. One such reason could be our belief in the teachings of our parents and our church. Alternatively, we may have explored and studied the evidence for Christ’s life that credible scholars have examined and affirmed to be trustworthy.

            But how could we be reasonably certain of Christ’s existence?

            Historians affirm the existence of the “Historical Jesus.” New Testament scholar and historian, Mike Licona, defines the historical Jesus as, “When the data has been sifted, sorted, and assessed, the historical Jesus is the Jesus historians can prove with reasonable certainty and apart from faith.”¹

            However, many people are of the firm belief that Jesus Christ never existed. “Jesus Mythers” are a group of people who believe that the church fabricated the life of Jesus Christ, that HE never existed.

            These Jesus Mythers are quite dogmatic and vocal about their belief, so much so that they will go to any extent of twisting data, providing false claims and appealing to sources who are not scholars, in order to claim that Christ did not exist.²

            How do "Jesus Mythers" fool people? Christian apologist, J. Warner Wallace, explains how Jesus mythers employ the similarities between Jesus and the mythological gods before Jesus to deem Christ as a mythological figure, “Movies like Zeitgeist: The Movie and The God Who Wasn’t There attempted to convince a generation of skeptics Jesus was simply a mythological creation of the past, shaped and modeled after the mythological gods who preceded Him…In an effort to make the case that Jesus is simply a re-creation of prior deities, many “Jesus Mythers” have referenced similarities between the real Christ and His imaginary predecessors. While these similarities are always dramatically overstated (more on that in tomorrow’s post), I think it is fair to first address why there might be any similarities at all between Jesus and the ancient mythologies to which He is often compared.”³

            Another ploy used by Jesus Mythers is to discredit the writings of the early historians, Josephus and Tacitus (these historians mentioned Jesus in their writings). Furthermore, they claim paucity or a total lack of credible sources outside the Bible (New Testament) that corroborates Christ’s existence. They also claim much of geography during Christ’s time was mythical e.g. they believe that the towns of Bethany, Bethphage, Capernaum, and Nazareth did not exist in the 1^st century AD.

            There is no end to their deception.

            So if we believe in the existence of Jesus Christ, how could we communicate our belief to honest seekers? 

            Referencing the testimonies of hostile witnesses would be very valuable. The testimony of a hostile witness is very powerful (cf. Criterion of Unsympathetic Sources). Dr. Bart Ehrman is one such hostile witness. He is a much acclaimed and widely respected scholar.

            Bart Ehrman is a hostile witness since he does not believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. A hostile witness (in this context) has no bias or no need, whatsoever, to affirm in the existence of the Historical Jesus.

            Bart Ehrman believes in the existence of the Historical Jesus. Significantly, Ehrman emphasizes that scholars who have genuinely studied the evidence pertaining to the existence of Historical Jesus believe that HE existed, “Mythicists have often gotten upset with me for pointing out that almost no one with any qualifications in the requisite fields of scholarship agrees with them.  I can see why that would be upsetting.  My sense is that some of them think that I’ve been rubbing their noses in it.  But that isn’t really my intent.  My intent is to point out to anyone who is interested – for example, someone who just doesn’t know what to think – that those who are qualified to speak knowledgeably on such subjects are virtually unified on one view (there was a historical Jesus of Nazareth) and opposed to the other (he is a complete myth).”⁴

            This should do it!

            If every serious scholar believes in the existence of the Historical Jesus, every claim that attempts to disregard the Historical Jesus are insincere and hypocritical. Therefore, these hypocritical claims ought to be disregarded.

            Bart Ehrman is not the only secular scholar who believes in the existence of Historical Jesus. Here’s more from the website of Answers In Genesis:⁵

Here is what some scholars have written about the Jesus Myth (these statements are not just from conservative Christians—the first four are critical scholars who have rejected the miraculous elements of Christ’s life).

Of course the doubt as to whether Jesus really existed is unfounded and not worth refutation. No sane person can doubt that Jesus stands as founder behind the historical movement whose first distinct stage is represented by the oldest Palestinian community. (Rudolf Bultmann)1

To doubt the historical existence of Jesus at all … was reserved for an unrestrained, tendentious criticism of modern times into which it is not worthwhile to enter here. (Günther Bornkamm)2

I am of the opinion (and it is an opinion shared by every serious historian) that the theory [“that Jesus never lived, that he was a purely mythical figure”] is historically untenable. (Willi Marxsen)3

To sum up, modern critical methods fail to support the Christ-myth theory. It has “again and again been answered and annihilated by first-rank scholars.” In recent years “no serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non-historicity of Jesus”—or at any rate very few, and they have not succeeded in disposing of the much stronger, indeed very abundant, evidence to the contrary. (Michael Grant)4

Contemporary New Testament scholars have typically viewed their [i.e., Jesus mythers] arguments as so weak or bizarre that they relegate them to footnotes, or often ignore them completely. (Robert Van Voorst)5

The total evidence is so overpowering, so absolute that only the shallowest of intellects would dare to deny Jesus’ existence. (Paul L. Maier)6

    

            On a side note, do remember that every claim of Jesus Mythers can be rejected by proving them to be incorrect. There’s an abundance of resources [on the internet] to help us achieve this.

            Here’s an example: Jesus Mythers contend that Nazareth did not exist, hence Christ did not exist. But Bart Ehrman debunks this contention by ascertaining that [Palestinian] archaeologists believe that Nazareth existed because they have discovered evidence for its existence. He goes on to add that the existence of Nazareth is not even a point of debate among Palestinian archaeologists.⁶

            Finally, while communicating our belief to our unbelieving friends, please remember Mike Licona’s words of wisdom:⁷

With the advent of the Internet in the nineties, an explosion of information became available to the public. Christians are far more likely to hear arguments from their skeptical family members, colleagues at work, and neighbors that are more sophisticated than what they may have heard before the Internet. Moreover, our culture has changed. People are easily offended and many regard truth as relative. Everyone has their own truth and thinks it is morally wrong to offend others by telling them you think they are mistaken.

The apostle Paul adjusted his approach to relate better to his particular audience.??3 We should do no less. We must be more careful than ever to be winsome in our interactions with nonbelievers. We can be respectful of those we disagree with and make an effort to listen to them while they present their views in the same manner we would like for them to listen to us while we present ours. We should not overstate our case but temper it. Instead of saying “The historical evidence proves that Jesus rose from the dead,” say “The historical evidence strongly suggests Jesus rose from the dead.” Instead of saying, “I know that I know Christianity is true,” say “In view of the evidence I’ve examined as well as the answers to prayer I have personally witnessed, I’m convinced Christianity is true.”

…It is important to recognize that presenting good arguments to a skeptic will not ensure he or she will be convinced by them. Their objections to following Christ may be intellectual (e.g., they are not persuaded by the evidence), emotional (e.g., their Muslim or Jewish family would disown them or they had a poor experience with one or more Christians or their father), or volitional (e.g., they do not want to believe because of pride or it may require them to alter their behavior).

It is their responsibility to make a proper decision. It is our responsibility to share the message of hope through Christ “with gentleness and respect” and “with grace,” as Peter and Paul taught. The gospel message is already offensive to some. We need not make it more offensive by presenting it in a manner that lacks gentleness, respect, and grace. When we combine more knowledge with a heart that deeply cares for our nonbelieving friends, we will be pleasantly surprised to find ourselves engaged in dialogues that are far more enjoyable and effective than we may ever have imagined (Emphasis Mine).

Endnotes:

¹https://www.risenjesus.com/assessment-present-state-historical-jesus-studies

(It is important to observe that the historical Jesus is not the real Jesus who walked and taught in Judea and Galilee, but is the Jesus known through the results of historical investigation. The real Jesus was much more than the historical Jesus, just as a corpse in a grave was once much more than the minimal information described on the tombstone. And then there is the Jesus in the Gospels. This third Jesus is also a partial representative of the real Jesus who had many more elements to his personality and many more things that he said and did than could ever be reported in a Gospel with a length of less than twenty-five thousand words.)

²https://twitter.com/MichaelLicona/status/854420554127990784

³http://coldcasechristianity.com/2016/why-we-shouldnt-be-surprised-some-pre-christian-deities-are-similar-to-jesus/

⁴https://ehrmanblog.org/did-jesus-exist-my-debate-with-robert-price/

⁵https://answersingenesis.org/jesus-christ/incarnation/jesus-did-not-exist/

⁶https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSY0f9-ZBxI (watch at the 7.04 mark)

⁷https://www.risenjesus.com/assessment-present-state-historical-jesus-studies

Websites last accessed on August 17, 2018.