CNN Questions Jesus' Existence ... Again

Ah, springtime. Flowers blooming, birds singing, and articles questioning the historicity of Jesus hitting the newsstands.

Insurance company Geico has done a lot of funny commercials, but our editor at BreakPoint has a favorite. A group of teenagers are running through a dark forest being chased by a killer. After debating whether to hide in the basement, the attic or make a quick getaway in the nearby running car, they decide to hide behind dozens of chainsaws dangling from a barn door.

"When you're in a horror movie, you make poor decisions," says the narrator. "It's what you do."

And this week I found myself paraphrasing: "When you're CNN, you publish annual articles suggesting Jesus never existed. It's what you do."

Every year around March and December, this and other news outlets exhume the long-dead thesis that the New Testament is based on a mythological figure, not a Man who really lived, died, and rose from the grave two-thousand years ago. This year, CNN even republished an article from 2012 at CNN.com. In the piece, entitled, "Decoding Jesus: Separating Man from Myth," John Blake suggests that Christ's historical existence is an open question. CNN featured it at the top of their homepage as part of the push for their new series, "Finding Jesus: Faith, Fact, Forgery."

Blake quotes the likes of Timothy Freke, author of "Jesus Mysteries" and former Baptist pastor Robert Price, author of "Deconstructing Jesus," who both claim that the Gospels are forgeries or misunderstood allegories, and that the story of Jesus was copied from legends about pagan deities.

"In the age of the Internet and self-publishing," writes Blake, "these arguments have gained enough traction that some of the world's leading New Testament scholars feel compelled to publicly take them on."

Now let me be clear: This is the very definition of fake news: No credible historian believes Jesus is a myth. Even among skeptics of religion, that theory has been abandoned. None other than Bart Ehrman, the agnostic biblical scholar and fierce critic of the New Testament, calls Jesus-deniers Internet conspiracy theorists trying to sell books, and compares them to Holocaust-deniers.

Dominic Crossan, another scholar who would never pass for an evangelical apologist, says he's "certain" that Christ existed, and chalks up alternative theories to disdain for the Prince of Peace. Keep in mind, neither Ehrman or Crosson would affirm anything historically Christian, such as that Jesus was not just a man but God — that He performed miracles, died for the sins of the world, and rose from the dead for our justification. But if anything, this fact makes their agreement on His existence even more powerful, not less.

On this issue, they represent the broad consensus among scholars that Christianity began with the life and death of a real and extraordinary Man. Of course, we Christians don't believe that's all there was to it. But when our neighbors tell us over the backyard fence that they've watched a documentary or read an article claiming Jesus is a myth, we have to be able to respond gently but confidently.

Even ancient writers hostile to Christianity like Josephus, Tacitus, and Pliny the Younger, confirm the existence of a Man from Nazareth who preached throughout Galilee and Judea, ran afoul of the authorities, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and sparked what would eventually become the world's largest religion.

And let's not forget the New Testament itself, manuscript fragments of which date to the early second century. Ravi Zacharias, who's speaking at our Wilberforce Weekend in May, points out that the evidence for the life and words of Jesus is stronger than the evidence for Plato. Classicist Michael Grant sums it up best when he writes that "we can no more reject Jesus' existence than we can reject the existence of a mass of pagan personages whose reality as historical figures is never questioned."

Look, though many scholars who affirm Jesus' existence still reject the supernatural claims that make Him worthy of our worship, one thing is certain: Headlines do not equal history. And serious media should stop giving air-time and credibility to Jesus-deniers.

CNN's coverage of political affairs appears to prefer the so-called "Progressive" ideology--an ideology whose "believers" approach a number of subjects, such as a purported desire to reduce poverty, from their own unique perspective, focusing on exercise of government power.

On the subject of "alleviating poverty," we, as Americans, might look back at the nation's beginnings in order to discover how the philosophy of the Founders influenced the beginnings of an idea that brought about more freedom, opportunity, creativity, and goods and services for more people than had occurred in all of prior history.

As to the role of Christianity in that founding, we might remember that the same Jefferson who believed that each individual should use reason to question even the existence of God, also penned our Declaration of Independence which, he wrote, reflected "the American mind" of the time and included references to God in four distinct manifestations.

In others of Jefferson's writings, he asserted that Jesus "preached philanthropy and universal charity and benevolence," that "a system of morals is presented to us [by Jesus], which, if filled up in the style and spirit of the rich fragments he left us, would be the most perfect and sublime that has ever been taught by man."

He wrote, "His (Jesus's) moral doctrines...were more pure and perfect than those of the most correct of the philosophers...and they went far beyond both in inculcating universal philanthropy, not only to kindred and friends, to neighbors and countrymen, but to all mankind, gathering all into one family, under the bonds of love, charity, peace, common wants, and common aids," which, Jefferson said, "will evince the peculiar superiority of the system of Jesus over all others."

Comparing the Hebrew code which, according to Jefferson, "laid hold of actions only," "He [Jesus] pushed his scrutinies into the heart of man; erected his tribunal in the region of his thoughts, and purified the waters at the fountain head."

That Jefferson cut out the statements which he believed to be directly attributable to Jesus, pasted them into a little book which he kept by his bed and, by his family's words, read from them daily, might lead one to conclude that his political philosphy probably was influenced by what he considered to be the superiority of the "philosophy" of Jesus.

Jefferson's talents and abilities were legend. His devotion to individual liberty and to the ideas essential to liberty were based on simple principles, some of which, undoubtedly, came from his understanding of the basic law underlying all valid human law: do unto others as you would have them do unto you," which is an individual response to the challenge of Jesus.

Perhaps Jefferson understood that the philosophy capsulated in that idea has the power to make people in a society more individually benevolent, more loving, more caring, and more willing to take care of each other.

There is a sharp contrast between a philosophy of love and the politics of hate which motivate today's terrorists, as well as well as the politics of the radical Left which now spouts its personal hatred in our partisan politics.

Likewise, there is a sharp contrast between a philosophy which calls for individually motivated charity and benevolence and one which requires that some individuals claim some superior right to coercively take the hard earned wages of other individuals in order to "redistribute" to others of their choosing, in the name of the Gospel of Jesus.

One idea allows individual liberty: the other idea demands coercive enforcers who use the idea of "benevolence" to buy power over others.

What Burke, in his Speech on Conciliation..." 1775, called the colonists' "fierce spirit of liberty" is still alive in the hearts of many citizens and some still "augur misgovernment at a distance and sniff the approach of tyranny in every tainted breeze." And, just as he observed then, their religion, "under a variety of denominations agreeing in nothing but in the communion of the spirit of liberty" underlies their devotion to freedom.

Politicians promising goodies and buying votes in exchange for power over other people's lives is popular political sport. Such sport should not be associated with the philosophy of Jesus, however.

I believe Jesus existed of course.

But I wish we could have an open discussion board where concerns about our religion can be addressed and not screamed down as a non believer.

I’ve read a lot of the bible is from older Indian verses. Which wouldn’t be a disaster if Jesus did travel to India, like some think.

I’ve read the Resurrection story is told much earlier than Jesus’ history. Including the virgin birth, the follower, even the three kings.

I AM NOT SHOUTING DOWN MY OWN RELIGION.

But I DO KNOW that MANY MANY here can answer these questions, probably easier, and putting my concerns to rest.

I am not nearly as knowledgeable about the bible and history and even Christ as many here are.

So i suspect these will easily be explained away on a board like this.

But one shouldn’t have to be afraid to ask questions here.

That’s just my opinion :)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.