The Real Christ: Myth or Savior

Jesus had no riches or houses. He never wrote a book, commanded an army or political party. So how did his life’s story found in the Bible become the runaway best seller of all times and his name the most well-known in history? (He’s even revered by most other religions.) Jesus claimed that God sent him to earth to warn people about sins’ devastating consequences, i.e., how it destroys people and relationships—especially one’s relationship with God. (The news today confirms the consequences of mans’ sinful rebellion!). God’s holiness cannot tolerate the presence of our sinfulness. So Jesus, who never sinned, lovingly offered himself on the cross to take the punishment our sin deserves to reconcile us to God. This message of forgiveness, hope and healing is why millions read the Bible. Here are two proofs for Christ’s truth claims. 

(1) Fulfilled Prophecy No man without divine inspiration can infallibly predict the future. The coming of Christ Jesus, the Son of God, was miraculously predicted by the prophets of the Old Testament. Christ’s arrival in the first century didn’t happen in some unknown town in India. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection happened in Jerusalem, Israel, a major Roman trading hub and the epicenter of the religion called Judaism. Judaism started in 1500 B.C. when God used Moses to lead Israel out of Egyptian bondage and into the promised land of Israel. God gave the Jews the law of Moses that led to the first temple being built by Solomon in 950 B.C. Moses and the Old Testament prophets, predicted hundreds of years before Christ’s birth that Jesus would come and fulfill these Old Testament, Messianic prophecies: 

• Be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14 fulfilled Matthew. 4:12-16).
• Be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2 fulfilled Luke 2:4-7). 
• Enter into Jerusalem riding upon a donkey (Zech. 9:9 fulfilled John. 12:13). 
• Unjustly crucified alongside sinners (Psalm 22:16 & Isaiah 53:12 fulfilled John 19:23 & Matthew 27:38). 
• Buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:9 fulfilled Matthew 27:57-60). 
• Begin a New Covenant with Israel that would replace the old covenant of Judaism (Deuteronomy 18:15; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Daniel 9:24-27).
• Be raised from the dead (Isaiah 53:9 & Psalm 16:10 fulfilled Acts 2:25-32). 

(2) Historical proof for the resurrection.

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day and that he appeared to [Peter]…and then to the twelve”(1 Corinthians 15:3-6 A.D. 55) 

Here Paul passed on the foundational creed that the early Christians had memorized and passed unto him. Secular scholars date this creed back to within 1-5 years of Jesus crucifixion in A.D. 30. This concession rules out the Jesus-is-a-legend hypothesis presented as fact in sensational TV documentaries and lectures by radical, misinformed professors “debunking” Christianity. Before studying history, I wrongly assumed that non-Christian, historical critics and scholars would simply deny the resurrection appearances of Christ because they didn’t believe in God or the inspiration of the Bible. So imagine my utter delight when I discovered that the vast majority of skeptical, non-Christian, New Testament scholars accept the historicity of the four-core, foundational facts of the resurrection recorded in the New Testament gospels. These four facts are: 

1.) Jesus was buried in the Jerusalem tomb of a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea. (Mark 15:46). 

2.) On the Sunday after the crucifixion, Jesus’ tomb was found empty by a group of His women followers (John 19:25, 20:1; Mark 15:40,16:1-7). 

3.) On different occasions and under various circumstances different individuals and groups of people experienced appearances of Jesus alive from the dead. (I Corinthians 15:3-6). 

4.) The original disciples suddenly and sincerely believed in Jesus resurrection.

The renown atheist scholar Gerd Lüdemann concluded: “It may be taken as historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus’ death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ.”(What Really Happened to Jesus? A Historical Approach to the Resurrection, [Westminster John Knox], pg. 80.) 

Paula Fredriksen of Boston University comments, “I know in their own terms what they saw was the raised Jesus. That’s what they say and then all the historic evidence we have afterwards attest to their conviction that that’s what they saw. I’m not saying that they really did see the raised Jesus. I wasn’t there. I don’t know what they saw. But I know that as a historian that they must have seen something.” (As quoted by Habermas and Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, [Kregel Publications], pg. 60.) 

In fact, no scholar, including atheist Bart Erhman, takes the disciples’ belief in the resurrection to be a deliberate fabrication. Secular scholars think the disciples hallucinated. This admission refutes the falsehoods taught in popular culture that the disciples were liars who stole the body or the resurrection was a “phone tag” legend that evolved a hundred years after Jesus’ death. And since most psychologists reject group hallucinations or visions because these are typically individual, dissimilar events, the best explanation for the empty tomb is that God raised Jesus from the dead as prophesied. 

Historical Landmark: Temple Destroyed The prophet Daniel had predicted in 600 B.C. how the temple, a construction wonder of the world, would be destroyed after the “Messiah” was killed, i.e., “cut off,” to make atonement for the sins of mankind (Daniel 9:24-27). Jesus had warned His Jewish brethren that within their lifetime the sacrifices of the first temple would be replaced with His own sacrifice. The Romans destroyed the temple in A.D.70, confirming God’s displeasure with Jesus’ unjust crucifixion. The cross was God’s demonstration of His intense love for us, but hatred for our sin. On the cross Jesus took God’s punishment for what we deserved:“And the Lord laid on Him the [sins] of us all” (Isaiah 53:6 written 600 B.C.).  

Unfortunately, many reject Christ out-of-hand because of “hypocrites” in the church. This is tragic because Jesus Himself “hates” professing Christian hypocrites more than you do (Matthew 7:21-24). In John 13:35, Jesus said that only loving, selfless people should be considered his true disciples. This rules out those false “Christians” over the centuries who used religion to gain political power to kill and persecute people who didn’t agree with their money hungry agenda. Thousands of true, peace loving Christians died resisting them. 

The One-on-One Challenge

Would you consider bypassing the hypocrites and connecting one-on-one with the God of creation? Are you willing to do a spiritual experiment? God said: “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13 NIV). Ask God to reveal Himself to you and be open to how He will do it! But remember this: Jesus is coming back, but this time not as a baby, but as the conquering Messiah in hell-fire judgment towards those who have not repented of their sins, e.g., sex outside of marriage, pornography, hatred, theft, lying, etc. These sins destroys families and ruins lives (Revelation 21:8). Do you want to be forgiven of your sins? Then “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” Are you ready to “…repent and be baptized…”? (Acts 16:31; 2:38). Sick and tired of living for the here and now?

Let’s Get Together! All Races Welcome! 

Consider connecting with loving, real-deal Christians who are at least trying to follow the selfless example of Christ who inspired millions to make the lives of those suffering around them better. 

Want to learn more? Call or text for questions, Bible study or spiritual counseling. 484-400-4816 Todd Weiner

Objection: Science has disproven God’s existence. This alone disproves Jesus’ so-called resurrection. 

Answer: If you study the issue, you’ll discover that there are certain arguments based upon scientific data that point towards a supernatural Creator being the best explanation for the beginning of the universe e.g., theistic fine-tuning, etc. This evidence simultaneously points away from the atheist view that “literally nothing” is ultimately responsible for the creation of everything. Visit ChristianProofs.org for friendly, in-depth atheist vs. theists debates or our Youtube channel: Mission: Millennial/Z/Alpha’s. 

                                           The End

I want to thank you all for listening. As a reminder, here is our mission statement for Mission: Millennial/Z/Alpha’s 

Mission Statement: Lovingly deliver the compelling evidence for God & Christ to the Millennial/Z/Alpha generations brainwashed  by academia into believing science disproves God’s existence and Christ is a legend. 

Friends, I know brainwashed is a strong word but unfortunately it’s apropos in context of today’s cancel culture atmosphere where a meaningful discussion of intelligent design is, as a rule, forbidden on college campuses. So bear in mind, that I only disrespect closed-minded atheists who misrepresent and/or suppress theism. I have atheist & agnostic friends who are far better people to be around than some hypocritical, so-called “Christians” that I regret ever meeting. We welcome vigorous, open and cordial discussion with atheists who agree with us that, in the spirit of true scientific inquiry, the very best arguments for both sides should be made available to the public. In fact, here is the proposition I affirm in public debate on the origins issues: “Certain  arguments  premised  upon current scientific data point toward a supernatural Creator being the best explanation for the beginning of the universe and intelligent life.”

If you wish to  partner with our mission, here are two ways:

• Share the links to these audio tracts to Christian and secular school-aged kids to immunize them from atheistic, cancel-culture indoctrination. 70 percent of our Christian youth reject Christ by the time they leave secular college. Don’t assume that because they go to church they will be okay. Also, secular kids overwhelmingly reject their natural predisposition towards theism during their college years.

• Subscribe to our YouTube channel and pass on our link to others. https://youtube.com/@missionmillennialzalphas4624

• If you want hard copies of my tracts for mass distribution: “The ‘Real’ Christ: Myth or Savior” and “The Scientific and Historical Case for God and Christ is Awesome”, email me at Christianproofs@Yahoo.com.