~ Gen Jim, POW
Professor Ed Miller, in his God and Reason book, writes, “Bultmann believes that the essential truth and relevance of the New Testament can be preserved through the program of Entmythologisierang, i.e., “demythologization,” or “the process of liberating the N.T. message from its mythical setting and expression” (p. 209).
Bultmann did not mean to eliminate or subtract Jesus from history, but to re-interpret His message.
Gnosticism
As far as the gnosticizing of the New Testament, it needs to be said that the relationship between the New Testament and early gnostic mythology can be interpreted in more than one way. Which was really the “source”: Gnosticism, or Christianity? Miller points out that there appears to be no evidence of a gnostic redeemer-myth earlier than the 2nd century, and many conclude, contrary to Bultmann, that Gnosticism itself represents a perversion of Christian doctrine, rather than Christianity being a perversion of Gnosticism.
Bultmann actually taught that the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of the Son are historical accounts, not myths; though he denies Christ’s miracles. Again, as we noted in part one, this shows that Bultmann never disbelieved in Jesus’ existence; he simply disbelieved in certain things that Jesus did or who He really was – the “Son” of God. Yes, Jesus’ crucifixion, according to Bultmann, was a historical FACT.
Other modern theologians and scholars do not believe the “miracle” aspect of Jesus’ ministry either, BUT THEY CERTAINLY NEVER DENY THAT JESUS EXISTED.
Flavius Josephus
There are some extra-Biblical accounts we can look to concerning Jesus’ existence. Flavius Josephus was a Jewish priest/historian (c. 37 – 100 AD) who wrote in his Antiquities, XX, 2000, about a Jewish priest, Annas (see Luke 3:2; John 18:13, 24; Acts 4:6), who was involved with the trial of Jesus: “…convened the judges of the Sanhedrin [Jewish high court] and brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ.” The Bible – “But I saw none of the other Apostles except James, the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:19; see also Matthew 13:55).
Islamic Qur’an
There is plenty said about Jesus in the Qur’an. The Qur’an speaks more about Jesus than Muhammad! The Muslims believe in Jesus’ existence but do not believe He was and is God’s Son. He is highly honored as a good man, a miracle worker and a prophet. They deny He was crucified (see Qur’an 4:157, 158). But in all this, again, THEY NEVER DENY HIS EXISTENCE!
Pliny the Younger
Who was this man? He lived c. 61 – 113 AD in Rome and was a Roman author/administrator in Bithynia (now Turkey). He wrote to Trajan, the Roman Emperor, about how to control the Christians/Christianity in that province.
As we know, Christianity took its name from “Christ.” If Jesus Christ did not exist, just where did the word “Christianity” come from? He certainly was not an imagination. As shown already, there were people who did not believe in His Deity, like Josephus, who wrote about Him as a man – not about an imaginary man.
The word “Christian” is found in the Bible in a few passages:
Acts 11:26 – “…disciples were called Christians first in…”
Acts 26:28 – “…thou persuadest me to be a Christian?”
1 Peter 4:16 – “…if any man suffer as a Christian…”
The Romans tried to stomp out Christianity as well as the Jews. Pliny tried to force Christians to recant; those who refused were executed cruelly! In his Letters, Book X, XCVI, he wrote, “Those who…repeated after me in a vocation to the (pagan) gods, and offered adoration, with wine and frankincense to your [Trajan’s] image … and who finally cursed Christ … I thought it proper to discharge.” Pliny wanted people to curse the real man Jesus Christ, whom the Romans knew was a real leader of the Christians, who really lived and died (and rose again!), not an imagination. To the Romans, only Caesar was to be head of all.
Will this type of persecution come sooner or later to America? The hatred for Christianity and Christians grows daily. The government is passing laws to make Christians out to be terrorists. If this nation does not REPENT and turn from its evil ways, God could very well allow the government to become as ruthless as Rome was in the first few centuries AD.
Tacitus
Tacitus (c. 56 – 120 AD) is considered to be a great ancient Roman historian. He, like Josephus, invested serious pride and pain to record events of his day. His Annals are those of the Roman Empire dating from 14 AD thru 68 AD. (It is figured that Jesus died in 33 AD.) He wrote about that “great fire” that nearly wiped out Rome in 64 AD – the fire that crazy Emperor Nero started, but then blamed the Christians for starting.
Tacitus knew that Nero accused the Christians of starting the fire. Does the blaming sound familiar? All true Christians know about accusations coming their way in different ways.
Nero’s accusations brought great persecution and death: “Christus, the founder of [Christianity] … had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilatus” (Annals, SV, 44). Jesus Christ: real man; real sentence of death; real history.
Suetonius
This Roman historian (c. 69 – 122 AD) wrote Lives of the Caesars. He recorded events during the reign of the first eleven Roman emperors. The section on Claudius speaks of the turmoil among the Jews in Rome that was caused by disputes over Jesus the Christ; the Bible speaks of Claudius in Acts 18:2. Suetonius writes, “Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus [Christus, or Christ], he [Claudius] expelled them from Rome” (The Deified Claudius, XXV, 4). It needs to be said that accusing Jesus of disturbances (we would call them protests/riots today), just proves again that they all knew Jesus to be a real man. This respected Roman historian never debated Jesus’ existence.
FYI
The Apostle Luke wrote: “In the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was district ruler of Galilee. Philip his brother was district ruler of the country of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was district ruler of Abilene, in the days of the highpriesthood of Annas and of Caiphas, God’s declaration came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness” (Luke 3:1-2).
Luke was known to be very precise and accurate in his reporting and histories (and Greek language, for that matter). According to Luke’s detailed account we can establish that “God’s declaration came to John” in 29 AD.
Doubted
We know that some of these Bible names and facts that we’ve mentioned (e.g., Pontious Pilate), have been scrutinized over the years. Doubting critics spewed their critiques … until archaeologists uncovered ancient inscriptions and artifacts, confirming the Bible’s accuracy. Artifacts are still being discovered by archaeologists today. (E.g.: An inscription bearing the name Lysanias, a tetrarch, or district ruler, has been discovered. A plaque on a dwelling, bearing the name Pontius Pilate, was also discovered. Etc., etc.!) So, Luke’s precise account is confirmed by many discoveries.
Would you like to know Jesus the Christ? Pray like this:
Dear Jesus, I believe that You are the Christ, the Savior of the world. I believe that You were and are REAL, that You paid the penalty of my sins on the Cross, that Your Blood cleanses me from all sin as I REPENT (turn from) my sins and turn to You! Please forgive me, Lord, for all my sins; please wash me in Your Blood, fill me with Your Spirit, and make me a new person from the inside out. Please baptize me in Your Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues (Acts 2). I need You, Jesus! Thank You, Lord, for Your mercies in my life. I love You, Jesus. Please help me live for You every day, obeying Your written and spoken Word. Thank You, Jesus! Amen!
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Now, just read the Old Testament promises of the coming Messiah, Redeemer, Christ, whom we have seen was and is a REAL MAN and whom we know is the REAL GOD IN FLESH. Then read the New Testament to see the fulfillment of all God’s promises concerning Christ. Amen!
