![]() ![]() The early Christians were keenly aware that eyewitnesses were crucial in verifying their claims about the death and resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection was disputed, but not the crucifixion. Everyone in Jerusalem knew that Jesus had been crucified, and many had watched him die. They could have gone to Pilate the governor or Herod the king or the Jewish Council or the soldiers or other witnesses of the crucifixion and gotten proof that he had not been condemned or crucified the way Christians said he was. They spoke this way within weeks after these events, when thousands of people who opposed this faith could have proved it wrong, if Jesus had not died. The fact is that Christians openly based their faith on the fact that Jesus was publicly tried, condemned, executed, and raised from the dead. “We have a law,” the Jewish leaders said to Pilate, “and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God” ( John 19:7). As far as the Jewish leaders were concerned, this new religion was a distortion of the Jewish faith, and, in fact, was blasphemy, since Christians claimed that Jesus was himself the Son of God ( Mark 14:61-64). Even more significant, it was being preached in Jerusalem - the very city which had the greatest interest in making sure the error was stopped. ![]() If the death of Jesus was a myth, it had to be created overnight, since within weeks Christians were preaching the saving power of Christ's suffering and death. ![]()
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