They
did however use "many convincing proofs", Acts
1:3; "he appeared", Acts 13:31, cf. 1:9;
"He appeared to Cephas", "to the 12",
"to 500+", "to James" & "to
all the apostles", 1 Cor 15:5-7; I Jn 1:1.
By
the examples above we see that they wrote their letters
after much consideration and research. Luke writes in
1:1-3, Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile
an account of the things accomplished among us, just as
those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants
of the word have handed them down to us, it seemed fitting
for me as well, having investigated everything carefully
from the beginning, to write {it} out for you in consecutive
order, most excellent Theophilus; (NAS)
2. What is Christianity? It is the belief that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God with power to raise the dead
and judge the world. Where does one gain this belief?
There is only one place a person can find this information
and that is the historical record of his life - The Bible.
"It is therefore necessary to view the NT as a reliable
record of facts providing a credible ground of evidence
for belief." (1.)
3.
He Lived, So What? To agree that Jesus lived is sometimes
not enough to prove that He is the Son of God. What then
is the practical value of knowing He existed? Atheists
will agree to the existence of Jesus and this is the point
- that an admission of His existence (greatness) is an
endorsement of the documents (NT) that prove His existence.
Great
men/women of history do not receive recognition simply
because they existed. They must have done or said something
that takes them out of the realm of the ordinary man/woman.
Therefore
to agree that Jesus lived and that He did great things
forces one to rely upon the only record of this person
and of these events and that is the New Testament record.
1.
Ed Wharton, A Case for Historical Christian Evidences,
Pg. 3.
