Christianity has the largest following in the world, but some people are still casting doubt on the existence of Jesus. Relative to this skepticism, a Christian correspondent contended that there are hard evidences provided by science and history, proving that Christ existed and the Bible's statements about Him are true.
Paul Strand tackled this argument through his article on CBN News, sharing the explanations of Alex McFarland, a Christian apologist, and Frederick "Rick" Larson, an American lawyer and professor who became a filmmaker.
Strand said that there is much more proof on the existence of Jesus Christ compared to other influential people in history, such as Julius Caesar or the ancient Greek philosophers.
McFarland revealed that historians require four kinds of testimonies for a story to be trusted.
"They want eyewitness testimony. They want multiple testimon[ies]. They want early testimony. And the fourth is hostile testimony," he said.
The apologist emphasized that the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John satisfy the requirements on "eyewitness" and "early" testimonies because the Gospels were written by people who personally knew Jesus or got their information from eyewitnesses who are close to Him like His mother, Mary. Even Paul, who wrote many of the books in the New Testament, also encountered Christ himself.
McFarland pointed out that while Homer's Iliad only had 643 ancient copies, which scholars believe are authentic, and took around 900 years before people were able to obtain copies, the Gospels were shared to the world less than 10 years after the death of Jesus, which the apologist unveiled had "roughly" 30,000 manuscripts.
He added that even the annals of Caesar took a thousand years before it was reproduced but the "credentials" on the identity of Jesus was already "in circulation regularly within eight weeks after the cross."
For hostile testimony, McFarland presented the example of Will Durant, whom he described as "an atheist most of his life" but arguably "the world's most trusted historian."
Durant reportedly testified that "The four Gospels are absolutely trustworthy from a historical standpoint."
The apologist shared that Durant's discovery even led to his conversion to Christianity, "compelled by the historicity of Jesus."
For scientific evidence, Strand said that Larson was able to find proof on the events that happened during the birth and death of Jesus - the emergence of the star that guided the wise men from the east and the earthquake that shook the world when Jesus breathed his last on the cross.
"There are two great events in Christianity: there's the incarnation, and there are the execution and resurrection. Those are the two great events. And those two things, God chose to leave hard evidence that we can find today and show that they occurred," the filmmaker stated.
In his documentary titled "The Star of Bethlehem," Larson found that the star really did appear at the time of Jesus' birth and was even shown on the coins made during that period.
In his other film titled "The Christ Quake," he discussed his discovery on the evidence of the strong earthquake that took place during the hour of Jesus' death.
"The two documentaries show that the star of Bethlehem was real - that's the heavens. And the quake at the cross was real. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. And He chose to leave enough evidence for us to see those things are true," Larson argued.
McFarland concluded that the faith the Christians hold to is something that can be trusted, given the strong evidences on Jesus' existence and what the Bible tells about Him.
"...it's a faith validated and worthy of our trust, our following, and our obedience. Jesus is real," the apologist declared.
