Who is Jesus? Randall Niles goes to the core question regarding Jesus Christ. (This is a 2007 low res classic - For higher quality, please visit "Jesus Christ" on this same YouTube channel.)
Jesus Christ has been called many things by many people, including a great man, a great teacher, and a great prophet. Theres really no legitimate scholar today that denies that Jesus of Nazareth is a historic figure that walked on this earth about 2,000 years ago, performed remarkable acts of charity, and died a horrible death on a Roman cross just outside Jerusalem.
However, theres a growing non-academic movement that totally rejects Jesus as an historic figure. They staunchly defend various myth and conspiracy theories, and get airtime in the popular media because of their controversial ideas. As credible as they may appear under the television lights, their arguments are tremendously weak.
Nobody can deny that every leader of every major world religion has confronted the historic person of Jesus. Muslims recognize Jesus as a prophet, while Jews either see him as a blaspheming rebel or an exceptional rabbi elevated to deity by idolatrous Gentiles. Many Buddhists regard Jesus as a bodhisattva (a perfectly enlightened being who vows to help others), while theres a Hindu tradition that Jesus was actually a guru who learned yogic meditation in India.
All major accounts of world history, including all reputable encyclopedias and text books, deal with Jesus of Nazareth. In fact, the entire English-speaking world divides history into two principle periods: BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini -- Latin for Year of Our Lord). Whether one subscribes to the BC/AD labels or the new politically correct BCE/CE (Common Era) labels, the birth of Jesus Christ is considered the dividing line in history.
When it comes to the Jesus of history, its interesting how many progressive scholars immediately discount the Bible as a reliable source. Without the biblical texts, Jesus just becomes another profound religious leader in history, similar to Buddha, Confucius, Zoroaster or Muhammad.
However, if we look at the Bible simply as a historic document, it should be among the most reliable on record compared with others. For instance, historians routinely cite Herodotus as a key source of information. He wrote from 488 BC to 428 BC and the earliest copy of his work comes from 900 AD (1,300 years after he wrote the original). In addition, there are only eight known copies of his work.
By contrast, the New Testament of the Bible (with all its information about Jesus) was written between 40 AD and 95 AD. The earliest known copy is from 130 AD and there are over 5,600 known copies in Greek, 10,000 in Latin, and 9,300 in other languages. Therefore, as a credible historical document, the biblical texts far surpass the others.
Still, to put to rest the notion that there is no historic proof for Jesus outside the Bible, we can look to a number of mainstream historians. For instance, the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus and the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus are both well known and accepted.
So the person known as Jesus of Nazareth was an historic figure. Again, no real scholars dispute this reality. The questions and disputes surround his life and death as recorded in the biblical accounts. Further, what about all those Old Testament prophecies of a coming Messiah (Christ in Greek)?
Was Jesus merely a man of religious significance or was Jesus the long-awaited Christ?
Visit http://www.allaboutthejourney.org/who-is-jesus-video.htm to further explore the unique claims of Christ in connection with the question, "Who is Jesus?
Also, go to http://www.RandallNiles.com/videos.htm to watch more videos asking the question, "Who is Jesus?"
In addition to the article linked in the narrative above right, try Got Questions DOT org and search, Did Jesus ever claim to be God?
reflect7 3 years ago
Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I AM!" In response, the Jews take up stones in an attempt to stone Jesus (John 8:59). Why would the Jews want to stone Jesus if He hadn't said something they believed to be blasphemous, namely, a claim to be God? In Jewish context, the "I AM" (YHWH) was the definitive claim to being God.
reflect7 3 years ago 3
"I and the Father are one." At first glance, this might not seem to be a claim to be God. However, look at the Jews' reaction to His statement, "We are not stoning you for any of these, replied the Jews, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God" (John 10:30-33).
reflect7 3 years ago