* Did Jesus really exist? Some of the new Atheists claim that Jesus' very existence is still a matter of 'speculation'. Why is John so confident about it?
John replies. Thanks for the question. Basically, no reputable university historian has any doubt there was a Jesus of Nazareth, who was a famous teacher and reputed healer, who was eventually crucified by order of the Prefect Pontius Pilate, and whose disciples thought he had been raised to life. This is not to say we simply trust the experts, but it should give sceptics pause: why would I hang onto a view no university professional would subscribe to? The evidence is clear. Tacitus, the greatest of Rome’s chroniclers, mentions Jesus’ execution under Pilate. The Jewish historian, Josephus, refers to Jesus twice. You occasionally hear people try to say that these references are Christian forgeries. There is little doubt that one of the paragraphs has been ‘improved’ by Christians but there is also near-universal agreement that once these lines are removed, we are left with an authentic, neutral description of Jesus as a teacher, wonder-worker, martyr and proclaimed ‘Christ’. Several other non-Christian texts mention Jesus but the most important evidence is actually the Christian evidence. This needs to be said over and over again today. The New Testament evidence is early and, at its core, reliable. It is unthinkable that the early Christians would invent a Jesus and then cause huge problems for themselves by having him betrayed by one of his own disciples, rejected by his Jewish compatriots and executed by the most shameful method in antiquity. The existence of Jesus is certain.