Can We Still Believe in Jesus?

Around the middle of the 19th century Bruno Bauer, a German theologian and historian, concocted the notion that Jesus never lived. According to Bauer, Jesus was entirely mythical. He argued that Christ was simply a mental invention of a few second century Christians who drew their concepts of their “Messiah” from Greco-Roman philosophy.

Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), a more recent German theologian and medical missionary, acknowledged the existence of a “Jesus,” but asserted in his book The Quest of the Historical Jesus (1906) that the real Jesus of history was so different from the Christ revered by Christians that the Lord Jesus of New Testament fame could not really be based upon historical fact.

Rudolf Augstein, publisher of the German Der Spiegel (Germany’s equivalent to our Time magazine), wrote a book titled Jesus, Son of Man in which he claimed that it is impossible to believe that Jesus was God the Son.

Believers in Jesus are often saddled with the reputation of being very gullible.

Christianity reminds some people of the scene in Alice in Wonderland when Alice asks the queen, “How old are you?” The queen responds, “I am a hundred and one, five months, and a day.” Alice shakes her head, “Oh, I can’t believe that.” The queen assures her, “Can’t you? Shut your eyes, hold your breath and try again.”

Faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God is not some blind leap into the dark.

The identity of Jesus is based on an historically reliable document (Luke 1:1-4). We can know with certainty who He was, what He did, and what He expects of us. Our faith is not based on hearsay testimony, but on eyewitness accounts of His life, death, and resurrection (2 Peter 2:16; 1 John 1:1-3).  The events and characters in question were not removed from the mainstream of life and society, but were open to the closest public examination. As Paul said to King Agrippa, “These things were not done in a corner” (Acts 26:26).

Those who investi­gate Jesus are stuck by His amazing appeal. He speaks to the issues that concern us.  The words of Jesus offer comfort and challenge to us:

• In the hospital
• At the graveside
• In the comfort of our own family room

The alternative, disbelief, offers nothing.

There is not the slightest reason for us to question the biblical record concerning Jesus.

We can be confident that the record is true. Our faith is not mis­placed.

— Roger