The biggest difference between a debate and an argument is that a debate is based on facts while an argument becomes a proper title when opinions and/or name calling gets involved. Some of the biggest arguments and debates that occur are about religion.
Many people try to void Biblical evidence saying that Jesus existed simply by saying, “He doesn’t exist.” It always irritates me when someone says this, because of how much evidence supports God’s existence.
The first point of evidence that points to Jesus’ existence is how many manuscripts of the new testament alone there are. The Bible is often referred to as a historical document in a class of its own due to the sheer number of manuscripts that have been found. These numbers include 5,800 fragmented or complete Greek documents, 10,000 Latin documents, and 9,300 documents from other ancient languages.
The second piece of evidence is medically related. Before dying on the cross, Jesus was whipped and had to carry his own cross to his death location. Whips of the time were not one long piece of rope but rather a handle, controlling several tentacles of rope with pieces of bone, pebbles, and even sometimes small pieces of hardened clay tied into the rope. This would have cut Jesus’ back to shreds alone. After this, Jesus carried his own cross to his death spot tearing his back even more due to the rough wood. Nails went into his hands and feet and if we use physics and human anatomy, we find out that he would have had to raise himself up to breathe in, and then lower himself down to exhale; all with the usage or support of only the nails. This would have destroyed his back with modern doctors saying he would have died before any spear would have entered his side.
Finally, there are dozens of eye-witness accounts of people seeing Jesus after his resurrection. This information paired with evidence of his death in the first place shows that his death and resurrection did actually happen.
Many people when confronted with this evidence try to push back with not well known scholars who have done little research. They may also try to diminish his death with comparison to Prometheus, a greek god who stole fire to give to humans.
Remember that anything pales with any comparison and stay strong in your faith. You have God by your side and he will never leave you.
“But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:16-17) — Provide the evidence and if others refuse to listen, bring back with you more that know his truth and with more evidence. If they yet still refuse, leave them to their devices and turn to those eager to hear his word.
Sharing Hope for the Next Generation
Bryce Bengtson
