1. What evidence do we have that Jesus was in fact a Historical person?
He is the most
written about person in history, the only written evidence comes from Christian
sources, but they wrote about Him and there is no reason to think there was some
kind of conspiracy to lie about His existence. You could likewise argue that Thales, Pythagoras and
Socrates never existed because the only evidence we have was what other’s wrote about
them, and since all the sources were Greek, maybe they made it up, but why
would you? Just because written sources
from antiquity necessarily come down to us from the culture that they existed
in, is no reason to doubt them.
To claim that the most influential person in history never existed would be an extraordinary
claim which would require extraordinary evidence, and there is none.
Did Jesus claim he was God?
The same historical evidence that He existed, also states that he explicitly denied being God.
Matthew 7:21
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord,
Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
Matthew 24:36
"But of that day and hour no one knows,
not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
Mark 10:18
And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me
good? No one is good but God alone.”
Mark 13:32
"But of that day and hour no one knows,
not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
Luke 22:42
saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take
this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."
John 4:34
Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the
will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.”
John 5:30
"I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I
judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the
will of the Father who sent Me.”
John 6:38
"For I have come down from heaven, not to
do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
John 7:16
Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine
is not Mine, but His who sent Me.”
John 8:42
Jesus said to them, "If God were your
Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God; I came not
of my own accord, but he sent me.”
John 8:50
“And I do not seek My own glory; there is One
who seeks and judges.”
John 12:49
"For I have not spoken on My own
authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and
what I should speak.”
John 14:24
"He who does not love Me does not keep My
words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.”