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CHRISTIANITY AND HISTORY |
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by
Doug Ward |
On March 18, 2012, those attending the services of Oxford Bible Fellowship in Oxford, Ohio, were
privileged to hear a stirring sermon by Dr.
Paul L. Maier, Professor of History Emeritus at Western Michigan
University. The title of his sermon was "No Myths, Fantasies, or
Fables".
Dr.
Maier began his message by relating that he had taught history at Western
Michigan for fifty years, and that he had also served as university chaplain
for forty of those years. The opportunity to hold both positions was a main
reason that he passed up other job prospects to stay at Western Michigan for
his entire academic career. He retired in 2011, he said, when people began to
refer to him as an "ancient professor of history" rather than a
"professor of ancient history."
His
dual role as history professor and chaplain has led Maier to consider the
religious traditions of the world from a historian's perspective. From that
perspective, he asserted, the Judeo-Christian tradition stands apart from all
others by being historical rather than mythological. As the
apostle Peter stated,
"We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we
told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were
eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the
Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, `This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.' We ourselves heard this voice
that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain" (2
Peter 1:16-18, NIV).
Here
Peter refers to the Transfiguration of Jesus, described in the New Testament in
Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9. Peter states that the Transfiguration wasn't a
story concocted by disciples of Jesus. Rather, it was a historical event that
he personally witnessed along with fellow apostles James and John.
While
many religions are based on divine revelation said to have come to a single
individual, Maier noted, the Judeo-Christian tradition is backed by a
"cloud of witnesses" (Heb 12:1). Writing less than twenty five years
after the crucifixion of Jesus, the apostle Paul claimed that over five hundred
people had seen Jesus after his resurrection (I Cor 15:6). Moreover, in making
the case that Jesus was the promised Messiah of Israel, the apostles drew upon
the prophecies of multiple biblical writers, including Moses (Acts 3:22), David
(Acts 2:25-28, 34), Isaiah (I Peter 2:8, 22-25), Joel (Acts 2:17-21), Micah
(Matt 2:5-6), Hosea (Matt 2:15), and Jeremiah (Matt 2:18), among others. Peter
stresses the value of inspired prophecies in 2 Peter 1:19-21.
Dr.
Maier described ancient Israel as a "monotheistic island in a sea of
polytheism." Although the contributions of the ancient Greece to modern
culture have been enormous, Greek religious thought was of little lasting
value. In creating their pantheon, the Greeks essentially projected themselves,
with all their faults, onto a giant canvas. And the Romans, with all their
practical expertise in engineering, warfare, and politics, simply let the Greek
gods through Italian customs.
Maier
observed that in today's religious marketplace, most of the products are no
more impressive than the myths of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Meanwhile, the
Judeo-Christian tradition stands up well to the tests of time. Simple geography
provides one such test. The Bible is full of authentic place names, 93% of
which are known and located. One can travel to modern-day Turkey, for example,
and see Tarsus, where Paul was born, or Antioch (modern Antakya) and Ephesus,
places where he spent significant time teaching.
The
biblical record is corroborated by a number of historical sources. Most notable
is the testimony of Flavius Josephus (37 AD-c. 100 AD), the first-century
Jewish historian. Josephus mentions Jesus, John the Baptist, James the brother
of Jesus, Pontius Pilate, and Herod the Great and his family, giving details
consistent with biblical accounts.
Some
Roman historians from the end of the first and beginning of the second century
A.D. mention Jesus and the first Christians, including Cornelius Tacitus, Gaius
Suetonius Tranquillus, and Pliny the Younger. In particular, Tacitus (56 AD-117
AD), reports in his Annals that after the great fire of Rome in 64 A.D.,
the Roman Emperor Nero blamed the fire on "the Christians". He then
explains, in accord with the Gospels, that "Christus, the founder of the
name, had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of
the procurator Pontius Pilate."
Several
centuries after Jesus, the Babylonian Talmud made several derogatory references
to Jesus and his followers, including the charge that Jesus "practiced
sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy" (Sanhedrin 43a). Maier pointed out
that this charge is an admission that Jesus performed miracles, since acts of
sorcery are just miracles attributed to a demonic source. Apparently the oral
tradition recorded in the Talmud could not deny the authenticity of Jesus'
miracles, so it resorted to questioning their origin, as sometimes happened
during Jesus' ministry (Matt 12:24).
Maier
added that more and more evidence in favor of the Bible is becoming available all
the time. Modern scientific archaeology has only been around since 1870, but
already it has unearthed much data that illuminates and confirms biblical
accounts. It seems that some significant discovery is announced in nearly every
issue of the Biblical Archaeology Review. Notable discoveries related to
the New Testament include the Pool of Siloam, the Pilate inscription, the
Caiaphas ossuary, the Capernaum synagogue and house of Peter in Capernaum, and
the Erastus inscription.1
Dr.
Maier concluded that historically speaking, there is no contest between the
Judeo-Christian tradition and other world religions. The Judeo-Christian
tradition is well grounded in history, not in myths, fantasies or fables.
1For
more on significant archaeological discoveries relating to the Bible, see the
article "Archaeology
and the Bible: Kaiser Surveys the Top Finds" in Issue 25 of Grace
& Knowledge.
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On 30 Mar 2012, 15:09.
