Book review: Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth

★★★★

Not too long ago, I was asked in a religious forum whether I believe Jesus really existed. I said yes, I’m 99% sure. I meant precisely that: I’m a numbers guy, and I estimate the odds that Jesus never existed to be somewhere around one chance in a hundred. After presenting a parallel (a Bible historian who is forced to make sense of his research in light of a nonexistent Jesus would be a bit like a research biologist who shows up to work one day and is told that evolution is a lie) I gave an example of the type of argument that I find most convincing. If Jesus were a made-up figure, wouldn’t the made-up stories be a bit more self-serving? Instead, for example, the Gospels tell about Jesus submitting to baptism for his sins by a competitor, a man we know from historical reports DID exist: John the Baptist. How did this whole embarrassing episode get written into the story, if it weren’t literally true?

The truth is, I didn’t know what to say in the forum. I would have to write a book to detail all the reasons Bible scholars believe Jesus existed.

Thankfully, the book has been written, and by precisely the right person: Bart Ehrman, the controversial Bible-belt professor who has no qualms about speaking his mind regarding the myths which DO exist in the Bible.

I do feel Ehrman overstates his case a bit. Well, he under appreciates the opposing case, I should say, and cops a bit of an attitude as he does. When the mythicists point out that something smells fishy with all the midrash in the New Testament, I found Ehrman’s that-don’t-prove-nuthin stance a little lame. But when he gets around to presenting the arguments for Jesus’ existence, the book is superb. 

Four stars for an important counter-balance in a debate that has become more heated than I would have thought. And I’m still right where I was before: 99% sure.