“The writings of the Greek historian Herodotus enable us to test the rate at which a legend accumulates; the tests show that even the span of two generations is too short to allow legendary tendencies to wipe out the hard core of historical fact”
-William Lane Craig, The Son Rises, 101

Objection:

You can’t trust old memories.

Quick answer to the objection:

All events do not leave the same impression on witnesses, some are more memorable than others, thus important memories can be preserved in many ways:

• Memories can be preserved in both oral tradition and writing (including the arts)
• Oral tradition is strong in ancient communities (multiple verses singular witnesses attesting to the facts, thus self-correcting) and were often saved through poetry and music
• Primary witness categories are strong through first, second and often into third generations from the actual event as seen in the New Testament accounts

“The interval between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established”

-Sir Frederick Kenyon, “Bible and Archaeology”

We can reconstruct the Gospel Authors claims from three groups of people:

1. Christians who liked Jesus

• Hundreds of early Church leaders (fathers) quotations, letters and lectionaries confirm the original life, ministry and claims of Jesus
• Thousands of letters and quotations in the first 300 years after Jesus reveal:
  • 87.3% from the Gospel of Matthew
  • 66.9% from the Gospel of Mark
  • 86.0% from the Gospel of Luke
  • 97.8% from the Gospel of John
  • Additional high percentages can be calculated from the rest of the New Testament – totaling over one-million references from Jesus’ early followers

2. Non-Christians who liked Jesus

• These writings came into view years, and centuries, after the completion of the four canonical gospels.
• Many of these are Gnostic writings (Gnostics generally held a low view of the material universe and the human body, and were connected to Greek esoteric philosophy).
• The authors of these text recognized Jesus’ influence and power, and desired to co-opt this power leading to contradictory and false supplementary narratives.
• These writings were done after all eyewitnesses and original authors were dead, and were written in far-away regions where they could not be fact-checked.

3. Non-Christians who did not liked Jesus

• Even though there are many ancient voices of non-Christians who disliked Jesus, these ancient Roman and Jewish writers inadvertently provided us with additional information about the man they sought to obliterate from history.
• Even though these historical figures typically slandered Jesus, they based their attacks on a set of common claims that are foundational details related to Jesus and his followers.

Just like we have in legal proceedings, hostile witnesses can be called to the stand to testify in favor of the opposing council.

Jesus Dominates the Bookshelves!

The number of authors who wrote about Jesus grew exponentially – the fallout is cluttered with classic literature written by authors who were forever changed by the person and teaching of Jesus:

• History of the Church, by Eusebius – c. 330AD
  The City of God, by Augustine of Hippo – 405AD
  The Rule of St. Benedict, by Benedict of Nursia – 516AD
  The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis – c. 1481AD
  On the Freedom of a Christian, by Martin Luther – 1520AD
  The Dark Night of the Soul, by St. John of the Cross – c. 1578AD
  The Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan – 1678AD
  Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, by Jonathan Edwards – 1741AD
  Humility, by Andrew Murray – 1895AD
  Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton – 1908AD
  The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer – 1937AD
  Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis – 1952AD
  Through the Gates of Splendor, by Elisabeth Elliot – 1963AD
  The God Who Is There, by Francis Schaeffer – 1968AD

Jesus inspired more writers, and has been the topic of more literature, than any other person in history. The following is the number of books from Peter Dickson’s 1999 Library of Congress study:

1. Jesus – 17,239
2. William Shakespeare – 9,801
3. Vladimir Lenin – 4,492
4. Abraham Lincoln – 4,378
5. Napoleon Bonaparte – 4,007
6. Karl Marx – 3,817
7. The Virgin Mary – 3,595 (number one when Dickson limited his search to only females)
8. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – 3,431
9. Plato – 2,894
10. Dante Alighieri – 2,878
11. George Washington – 2,742
12. Buddha – 2,446

When Wallace updated Dickson’s research to be sure that the “Western World” was not unfairly favoring Jesus, and his internet search engine that included Google Books, the world’s most comprehensive index of full – text books. This global database reveals that Jesus is still the subject of more books than anyone else:

1. Jesus – 109,000,000
2. George Washington – 58,400,000
3. Plato – 27,800,000
4. Aristotle – 21,000,000
5. John Milton – 20,800,000
6. William Shakespeare – 18,700,000
7. Charles Dickens – 16,200,000
8. Buddha – 13,300,000
9. Martin Luther – 13,300,000
10. Gandhi – 12,600,000

Jesus – A Movie Star

Earliest attempts to create motion pictures featured the life and activity of Jesus:
1897 – La Passion du Christ, by Albert Kirchner; and The Horitz Passion Play, by Mark Klaw and Abraham Erlanger

• Hundreds have followed, and no other religious figure has inspired as many screenplays as Jesus – hundreds more include movies that describe the lives and experiences of his followers, and even more reflect a Christian Worldview.
• Movies tracing only the life of Jesus have been produced in a variety of countries, and the 1979 movie “The Jesus Film” based on the Gospel of Luke, has been translated into over 1800 languages and has been view by over 8.1 billion people, making it the most watched and most translated motion picture of all time.

Jesus has inspired actors and directors, some intrigued and some infuriated. But whether their movies were complimentary or blasphemous, the core truths of Jesus’ life, as described in the Gospels, served as the launching point – and some are even word-for-word reenactments of the Gospel accounts:

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: King of Kings and Ben-Hur
• Columbia Pictures: Godspell, Risen, and The Star
• Warner Brothers: Life of Brian
• Universal Studios: Jesus Christ Superstar
• 20th Century Fox: Color of the Cross and Son of God
• Mel Gibson: The Passion of the Christ

Jesus in Disguise – Fictional Literature

Almost every genre of fictional literature has been influenced the way authors have crafted their heroes and protagonists. This is what has come to be known as “Christ Figures” and there are hundreds of examples:

• Harry in the harry Potter series
• Finny in A Separate Peace
• Gandalf in The. Lord of the Rings
• Santiago in The Old Mand and the Sea
• Simon in the Lord of the Flies
• Neo in the Matrix
• Katness in the Hunger Games

Attributes shared by these fictional characters that reflect Jesus:

• Has a virtuous mother and a divine father
• Is born mysteriously and appears to be poor
• Possesses some form of dual identity (both common and special)
• Has an oddly unknown childhood and is later misunderstood or considered crazy
• Provides hope to others and has miraculous, supernatural powers
• Behaves in an extremely moral manner and/or is celibate
• Cares for people who are poor, distressed, or hungry
• Sees truth that is hidden to others and is associated with light
• Interacts with and is tempted by the devil or an evil force
• Is punished and/or dies unjustly for his claims – usually connected to love or truth
• Is betrayed by a close friend and is denied by those who knew him
• Is depicted at some point with his arms spread – like a cross
• Is reborn in some way physically or emotionally

The Literary Fallout – Conclusion

• • Impossible to erase Jesus’ impact from history
  • The literary presentation of His characteristics and narrative has been preservedthroughout the Common Era…
    • –  in every language
    • –  In every culture
    • –  In every genre
  • No one else in all of history had this kind of impact on literature But, that’s not the only impact Jesus had on humanity in the fallout…