Why We Believe Jesus Christ Really Existed

Approximate Reading Time: 9 minutes

(This article also includes a podcast discussion. Click the play button below, or subscribe and listen on your Apple or Google podcast app.)

Like Zeus and Thor, there are many that insist Christ is merely a mythological figure. If Christ had existed, and especially if He was as important then as He is now, there should be some proof that He was real. Yet even if there were proof, would people accept it?

Proof from the Bible

The Bible seems pretty clear that Christ existed. Yet what proves His existence within the Bible isn’t what it says about Christ, but about what we see in the people around Him. Unlike mythology, the people around Christ are very human, with changes that only make sense of Christ was, indeed, God.

Human failure

Let’s pretend Christ really was fabricated. Those writing about Him would likely commit the crime that so many authors of fiction (and even non-fiction!) are guilty of: creating impossibly perfect characters. If someone wanted to sell the idea of following Christ, then those around Him should be totally sold out for Him.

Those reading about this fictional character should look up to Christ’s disciples. These made-up people should serve as inspiration for us to buy in to what Christianity is selling. This would be especially true when the writers are discussing themselves, who would want to cast themselves in the best light possible. Yet what do we actually see of those who Christ directly called to follow Him?

• Peter constantly makes a fool of himself, all the way up to flat-out denying Christ
• Christ is betrayed by Judas for money
• They would often quarrel about which of them was the best disciple, much to the frustration of Jesus
• After Christ was arrested, the disciples abandoned Him and ran away (Mark 14:50)
• One disciple, likely Mark, tried to follow at a distance, only to be embarrassed by having to run away naked (Mark 14:51)
• After His resurrection, Christ has to rebuke them for not believing those who said He’d risen (Mark 16:14)
• In general, the disciples just never “got it.” They never understood what their master was saying to them before Christ’s death on the cross.

On the surface, there’s nothing that makes Christ seem particularly persuasive or worth following. There are certainly some moments where the disciples get a glimpse of who Christ is, but before His death they simply have no clue what’s happening.

This is critical because these things only make sense to write if they actually happened. Why include that the writer has to run away naked if it’s not contributing to the narrative? Why mention anything that doesn’t continually point the reader to believe the illusion of Christ’s existence or the value of being part of his religion?

Women were treated with respect

For all the accusations of the Bible hating women, Christ sure valued them far more than anyone in the culture would have. When the Bible was written, featuring women as important figures would have undermined its power to persuade the men of the day. Yet throughout Christ’s life, He sees women as image-bearers of God, not second-class citizens. After all, there’s a reason almost every interaction He had with women sent the Pharisees into a tizzy.

• Christ spoke lovingly to the woman with a bleeding disorder when others would have cast her aside for being unclean, or at least never referred to her as “daughter” (Mark 5:34)
• The woman at the well had been divorced 5 times, was living with her boyfriend, and she was a Samaritan. Yet Christ used her as the one to go proclaim to the town that the Messiah had arrived
• He praised the poor widow’s faith over that of the rich (Luke 21:1-4)
• He called the woman with a spine disorder a “daughter of Abraham,” putting her on equal status to males (Luke 13:16)
• As He sat on the cross, taking the punishment for our sins, He made sure that His mother was taken care of (John 19:27)
• As a tie-in to the previous point, the women were the ones who were bold and faithful enough to visit Christ’s tomb while the disciples stayed hidden, and from there being the first people to proclaim the good news of our risen savior (Matthew 28:8)

This wasn’t a way to get people to respect Christ. For a religious figure to give such attention to women was to diminish the likelihood of people following Him. Again, including situations like this in that time period makes the most sense if the Gospels were merely retelling history, not something that was made up or exaggerated. 

Lives were changed… and ended

The disciples claimed to have seen Christ. Judging by their lives before the crucifixion, one could hardly tell they were spending their days around God-made-flesh. Yet after the resurrection, and especially after they were given the promised Holy Spirit, we see a radical transformation.

But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7)

Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting. … All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:2,4)

It’s at this point that the Apostles finally understood. They saw the reality of Christ and the promised salvation He brought to the world. These same, clueless men who thought Christ literally wanted them to collect swords (Luke 22:38) now understood what Christ did for Jews and Gentiles alike.

Yet these weren’t lives that were marked by moral improvement, as though Christ had been killed by His own creation to make them nicer people. They understood that our evil deeds put us under the rightful wrath of God, that very wrath that was poured out on Christ at the cross. It was their understanding, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, that led them to spread the gospel across the world.

Not stopping there, these men who had physically walked and talked with Jesus, who had seen Him butchered… were likewise hunted down and killed because of who Christ was. No one lived a full life and died in their sleep at an old age.

• Andrew was crucified in Greece for preaching about Christ, sin, and salvation.
• Peter and Philip were crucified upside down for preaching about Christ, sin, and salvation.
• Thomas was stabbed to death by soldiers for preaching about Christ, sin, and salvation.
• James was stoned and beaten to death for preaching about Christ, sin, and salvation.
• Matthias, Judas’s replacement, was burned to death for preaching about Christ, sin, and salvation.
• Paul was finally beheaded, after multiple attempts on his life, for preaching about Christ, sin, and salvation.
• John is the only one whose end is unknown, but we know he nearly died from being boiled in oil for preaching about Christ, sin, and salvation.

Many religions have martyrs. Yet these men weren’t some dopes from the 3rd century believing something they never experienced for themselves. They faced punishments and execution because of the truth they had experienced first hand, with their own eyes. Not because of some promise of a madman, but because they could do nothing else but tell the world about the Christ they knew to be real. They were willing to die not just because they believed the truth of Christ, but they had experienced it for themselves.

Proof outside the Bible

If someone doesn’t want to believe in Christ, there are certainly ways to argue with the biblical evidence. It may require us to get to the level of wearing tin-foil hats, but an argument could certainly be made. However, everything the Bible writers say is confirmed by mentions of an actual Jesus of Nazareth by historians. These people weren’t Christians and didn’t think Jesus was anything more than a man, yet they all agree that Jesus was a man who actually existed.

There are several historical documents and Jewish writings that mention Jesus, but let’s look at the two major pieces of evidence for His existence:

Tacitus

This was a famous Roman historian who, at one point, was writing a biography on Nero. Nero burned down a part of Rome then blamed it on Christians when citizens decided they didn’t like that. Here’s a snippet of what this historian wrote (translated by Robert Van Voorst):

Nero substituted as culprits and punished in the most unusual ways those hated for their shameful acts … whom the crowd called “Chrestians.” The founder of this name, Christ, had been executed in the reign of Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate … Suppressed for a time, the deadly superstition erupted again not only in Judea, the origin of this evil, but also in the city [Rome], where all things horrible and shameful from everywhere come together and become popular.

Notice that he makes no mention of Christ allegedly being executed. He states it as any historian would when discussing historical fact. His historical account lines up perfectly with what we see in the Bible.

Josephus

This Jewish priest was well known for being a historian of the Jews. We have 2 excerpts from his many writings that mention Christ. One is a bit suspect, with many atheists accusing ancient Christians of doctoring his words to make his mention of Christ sound more flattering.

His second excerpt, however, is widely agreed to be directly from Josephus himself. In it, the admission of Christ’s existence isn’t even his purpose. He’s merely retelling how some Christians were summoned and sentenced to death:

Being therefore this kind of person [i.e., a heartless Sadducee], Ananus, thinking that he had a favorable opportunity because Festus had died and Albinus was still on his way, called a meeting [literally, “sanhedrin”] of judges and brought into it the brother of Jesus-who-is-called-Messiah … James by name, and some others. He made the accusation that they had transgressed the law, and he handed them over to be stoned.

Stick with me, because this is really interesting. Notice how very specific Josephus has to be when he mentions James.

• He couldn’t just say James, because that was a very common name
• He also couldn’t use the standard “James, the son of Joseph” because, again, that was too vague
• What can he do but narrow James down even further by, perhaps begrudgingly, noting that James was the brother of Jesus-who-is-called-Messiah?

Imagine being a Jew at a time when you believe a false prophet has arisen, claiming to be God, and leading Jews away to worship with those filthy Gentiles. How likely are you to refer to Him like He’s real if you have any doubt?

This Jewish priest certainly cast some suspicion on Christ, but his doubts were about Christ’s deity and not His existence. He’s not “Jesus-who-supposedly-lived” but “Jesus-who-is-called-Messiah”!

Christ lived and lives!

As we continue in a world that denies the gospel, we can find great joy in the clarity of Christ’s existence. Our faith can be supplemented by historical fact, strengthening our belief that He is who He claimed to be. Knowledge of Christ’s life gives us faith in His resurrection and the salvation He gives.

History supports the Bible’s claims that Christ lived and died. From that, we are even more confident that the Bible can be trusted with the supernatural claim that He also rose from the dead, forever changing the world. Christ conquered sin and death, allowing forgiveness and salvation for all who repent of their sin and follow Him.

As Christians, we don’t talk about Christ’s death and resurrection because of the happy life He gives us now. We celebrate who Christ is, and what He did, because He brought us out of our spiritual death and gave us eternal life.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins. Furthermore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone.But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:17-22)

This article is part of the series “65 Theology Questions People Will Ask You.” Click the link to read more articles like this one!