The following quote is attributed to a first-century Jewish historian named Josephus, from the 18th book of his "Antiquities",

"Now there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works - a teacher of such men as take pleasure in receiving the truth. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. 'The Christ' was this man; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of 'Christians' so named after him, are not extinct at this day."

No credible historian doubts that Jesus was an historical figure.

The table below lists some historical events and the amount of evidence that exists today (from the Christianity Explored Leader's guide),

Date of original document

Approx. time between original and oldest surviving copy

Number of ancient copies in existence today

c. 431 - 400 BC

1,300 years

73

c. 58 - 50 BC

875 years

10

c. AD 98 - 108

750 years

2

AD 40 - 100

310 years

14,000 !!!

No one disputes the validity of the first three historical events shown above - so why dispute the historical events in the Bible?

If we take Jesus seriously, then we must take Jesus’ claims about himself seriously. We cannot say that Jesus was a great teacher whom we admire and look up to, but that the most fundamental element of his teachings was a monumental error. Jesus was not a great, but merely human, teacher; he was either much less than this, or much more.

Have a look at the Consider the Evidence section within this website or go to the I think God exists section.

Further articles on Science and Christianity are at the following site: BeThinking

Or consider a general book about the evidence and Christianity: Evidence that Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell