Did Jesus Really Exist?

 HE WAS neither rich or powerful. He did not even have a home that he could call his own.  Yet his teachings have influenced millions. Did Jesus Christ reall exist? What do  both modern and ancient authorities say?

Michael Grant, A historian and an expert on ancient classical civilization, noted:  "If we apply to the New Testament, as we should, the same sort of criteria as we should apply to other ancient writings containing historical material, we can no more reject Jesus' existence than we can reject the existence of a mass of pagan personages whose reality as historical figures is never   questioned." 

Rudolf Bultmann, a professor  of New Testament studies, stated: "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  [of Christians]."

Will Durant, a historian, writer, and  philosopher wrote: "That a few simple men [the Gospel writers]  should in one generation have invented so powerful and appealing a personality, so lofty was an ethic and so inspiring a vision of human brotherhood, would be a miracle far more incredible than any recorded in the Gospels."

Albert Einstein, a German-born Jewish physicist, asserted:  "I am  a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene."  When he asked if he viewed Jesus as a historical person,  he responded:  "Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus.  His personality pulsates in every word.  No myth is filled with such life." 

Next time:  Does Jesus Really Exist? - WHAT DOES HISTORY REVEAL?

From the jw.org publications