Jesus

In the many centuries since the disciples of Jesus reportedly observed the risen Christ, critics of Christianity have challenged the supernatural claim of the Resurrection. Some skeptics believe the disciples, as a result of their intense grief and sorrow, only imagined seeing Jesus alive after His death on the cross. …

I’ve written at length about the late non-canonical gospels, and in this article, I’d like to investigate two documents attributed to Bartholomew. All of these texts were rejected by the Christian community even though they often contain nuggets of truth related to Jesus. They are elaborate stories, legends and fabrications, …

Did Jesus really rise from the grave on Easter Sunday? Is the Resurrection of Jesus a fabrication created by the disciples in an effort to start a world religion or accomplish some other nefarious goal? Some skeptics claim the disciples stole the body of Jesus from the grave and later …

Some skeptics have offered the possibility that the disciples were mistaken about Jesus’s death on the cross. They propose that Jesus survived the beating (and the crucifixion) and simply appeared to the disciples after He recovered. After all, the Biblical record in John’s gospel indicates the two thieves crucified alongside …

How do we know the resurrection of Jesus really occurred? Were the gospel authors and disciples telling the truth about this central claim of Christianity, or did they conspire to fabricate the most compelling story of all time? Is the Resurrection simply a lie? In my experience as a detective, …

Many Christians (especially young believers) are unaware of the ancient non-Canonical stories and legends related to Jesus. Maybe that’s why so many are easily shaken by critics who claim these late religious fabrications are true. Some skeptics, like Bart Ehrman, maintain these non-canonical texts describe versions of Christianity lost to …

Much has been written about the way Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament prophets. In fact, the New Testament authors often paused to highlight the many aspects of Jesus’ life and ministry that were a direct fulfillment of ancient prophecies related to the Messiah. But while most …

I’ve been writing extensively this season about the virgin conception of Jesus. Why does it matter in the first place? Is it reasonable? Was it borrowed from pagan mythologies? Was it a late addition to the “mythology” of Jesus? Many have noted that only Luke and Matthew recorded the “virgin …

Many critics, in an attempt to discredit the “virgin conception”, have argued that the birth narratives in Matthew and Luke are simply late additions that were not present in the first versions of the gospels. These claims are typically based on (1) Efforts to find stylistic differences between the birth …

I’ve been examining the New Testament accounts of Jesus’ birth and responding to a number of skeptical objections related to the virgin conception. If the virgin conception was an historical event that was well known to the earliest Christians, why wasn’t it mentioned by Mark? Mark’s gospel is widely accepted …