Scripture Reading:John 1:1-3,14

“1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from

Him nothing came into being that has come into being.14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of

grace and truth.” (NASB)

Life Of Christ: Did He Walk Among us?

Did he?Us as Christians we say to the answer as “yes”, and we do as well provide Biblical evidence of His existence, but the skeptic may challenge/question us to provide, not Biblical evidence, but historical evidence instead.

Us as Christians we are to be taking action on our knowledge of history, logic,and scripture.

It will take a lot of time to study on the subject of the existence of Christ.

What can be ways of us to prove the skeptic about the existence of Christ?

We can look at literature of certain figures of history (historical figures), and we can show the skeptic the evidence the literature provides of the existence of Christ and of his purpose here on earth.

Once we show the skeptic the historical evidence we are then able to go back to scripture and show both are related.

Note: Many people believe that Jesus was just a man, many say he was like a Buddha/an enlightener to the jews, many say he’s just a myth, and there a many who say he’s just a symbol.

3 Areas of Evidence and authenticityThere are 3 levels of the legitimacy of the documents of the historical figures and historical document

Highly reliable sources: Tacitus and Josephus.Moderately reliable sources: Thallus, Pliny, and Lucian.Marginally reliable or unreliable sources: Suetonius, the letter of Mara Bar-Serapion, and the Talmud.

These figures and document will provide evidence of the existence of Christ, but we will only go in depth with 3 (Tacitus,Josephus,and the Talmud)

Due to the authenticity of the records, it will come to the minds of the skeptic, for them to really think about this serious matter, whether they want to believe it or not you did your part for presenting them truth them.

Who are the historical figures?

Cornelius Tacitus Flavius Josephus Thallus,Samaritan Historian

Pliny, The Younger Lucian of Samosata

Suetonius Mar Bar-Serpaion Talmud

Cornelius TacitusPublius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (c. A.D 56 – and A.D 120) was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors (AD 69). These two works span the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus in AD 14 to the years of the First Jewish–Roman War in AD 70. There are substantial lacunae in the surviving texts, including a gap in the Annals that is four books long.

What does he think/say about Christ?

The Roman historian and senator Tacitus referred to Christ, his execution by Pontius Pilate, and the existence of early Christians in Rome in one page of his final work, Annals (written ca. AD 116), book 15, chapter 44. The context of the passage is the six-day Great Fire of Rome that burned much of the city in AD 64 during the reign of Roman Emperor Nero. The passage is one of the earliest non-Christian references to the origins of Christianity, the execution of Christ described in the canonical gospels, and the presence and persecution of Christians in 1st-century Rome. Scholars generally consider Tacitus' reference to the execution of Jesus by Pontius Pilate to be both authentic, and of historical value as an independent Roman source.

Scholars view it as establishing three separate facts about Rome around AD 60: (i) that there were a sizable number of Christians in Rome at the time, (ii) that it was possible to distinguish between Christians and Jews in Rome, and (iii) that at the time pagans made a connection between Christianity in Rome and its origin in Roman Judea.

What are the Annals?The Annals (Latin: Annales) by Roman historian and senator Tacitus, is the history of the Roman Empire from the reign of Tiberius to that of Nero, the years AD 14–68. The Annals are an important source to modern understanding of the history of the Roman Empire during the first century; it is Tacitus' final work, and modern historians generally consider it his greatest writing.

Historian Ronald Mellor calls it "Tacitus's crowning achievement" which represents the "pinnacle of Roman historical writing". Tacitus' Histories and Annals together amounted to 30 books; although some scholars disagree about which work to assign some books to, traditionally 14 are assigned to Histories and 16 to Annals. Of the 30 books referred to by Jerome about half have survived. Modern scholars believe that as a Roman senator, Tacitus had access to Acta Senatus—the Roman senate's records—which provided a solid basis for his work.

Although Tacitus refers to part of his work as "my annals", the title of the work Annals used today was not assigned by Tacitus himself, but derives from its year-by-year structure. The name of the current manuscript seems to be "Books of History from the Death of the Divine Augustus" (Ab Excessu divi Augusti Historiarum Libri).

What does Tacitus say in the annals?Tacitus was a Roman historian writing early in the second century AD (112 AD). His Annals provide us with a single reference to Jesus of considerable value. The following is a full quote of the relevant cite, from Annals 15.44. Jesus and the Christians are mentioned in an account of how the Emperor Nero went after Christians in order to draw attention away from himself after Rome's fire of 64 AD:

“But not all the relief that could come from man, not all the bounties that the prince could bestow, nor all the atonements which could be presented to the gods, availed to relieve Nero from the infamy of being believed to have ordered the conflagration, the fire of Rome. Hence to suppress the rumor, he falsely charged with the guilt, and punished Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius: but the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.”

Is this Tacitus a reliable source? Is there good reason to trust what he says? The answer here is: Absolutely! The Tacitean literature is full of praise for the accuracy, care, critical capability, and trustworthiness of the work of Tacitus.

His writings on the subjects of the history of the Roman Empire, by many scholars are said to be authentic. If his writing are considered to be authentic, then his writings about Christ, must prove his existence?

“...punished Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate...”

Where can we find this in scripture?

● Matt 27

● Mark 15

● Luke 23

● John 18:28-40

● John 19

Flavius JosephusTitus Flavius Josephus (c. A.D 37 – A.D 100), born Joseph ben Matityahu, was a first-century Romano-Jewish scholar, historian and hagiographer, who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry.

He initially fought against the Romans during the First Jewish–Roman War as head of Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in 67 CE to Roman forces led by Vespasian after the six-week siege of Jotapata. Josephus claimed the Jewish Messianic prophecies that initiated the First Roman-Jewish War made reference to Vespasian becoming Emperor of Rome. In response Vespasian decided to keep Josephus as a slave and interpreter. After Vespasian became Emperor in 69 CE, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the emperor's family name of Flavius.

Flavius Josephus fully defected to the Roman side and was granted Roman citizenship. He became an advisor and friend of Vespasian's son Titus, serving as his translator when Titus led the Siege of Jerusalem, which resulted—when the Jewish revolt did not surrender—in the city's destruction and the looting and destruction of Herod's Temple (Second Temple).

Josephus recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the first century CE and the First Jewish–Roman War, including the Siege of Masada. His most important works were The Jewish War (c. 75) and Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94). The Jewish War recounts the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation (66–70). Antiquities of the Jews recounts the history of the world from a Jewish perspective for an ostensibly Roman audience. These works provide valuable insight into first century Judaism and the background of Early Christianity.

What does Josephus think/say of Jesus?The extant manuscripts of the writings of the 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus include references to Jesus and the origins of Christianity. Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, written around 93–94 AD (nearly 25 years after the first known Gospel, Mark, dated around 70 AD),

includes two references to the biblical Jesus Christ in Books 18 and 20 and a reference to John the Baptist in Book 18.

Scholarly opinion varies on the total or partial authenticity of the reference in Book 18, Chapter 3, 3 of the Antiquities, a passage that states that Jesus the Messiah was a wise teacher who was crucified by Pilate, usually called the Testimonium Flavianum. The general scholarly view is that while the Testimonium Flavianum is most likely not authentic in its entirety, it is broadly agreed upon that it originally consisted of an authentic nucleus, which was then subject to Christian expansion/alteration. Although the exact nature and extent of the Christian redaction remains unclear,

there is broad consensus as to what the original text of the Testimonium by Josephus would have looked like.

Modern scholarship has largely acknowledged the authenticity of the reference in Book 20, Chapter 9, 1 of the Antiquities to "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James" and considers it as having the highest level of authenticity among the references of Josephus to Christianity.

Almost all modern scholars consider the reference in Book 18, Chapter 5, 2 of the Antiquities to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist also to be authentic and not a Christian interpolation.

The references found in Antiquities have no parallel texts in the other work by Josephus such as the Jewish War, written 20 years earlier, but some scholars have provided explanations for their absence. A number of variations exist between the statements by Josephus regarding the deaths of James and John the Baptist and the New Testament accounts. Scholars generally view these variations as indications that the Josephus passages are not interpolations, for a Christian interpolator would have made them correspond to the New Testament accounts, not differ from them.

What are the Antiquities of the Jews?Antiquities of the Jews, also Judean Antiquities (see Ioudaios), is a 20-volume historiographical work

composed by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the 13th year of the reign of Roman emperor Flavius Domitian which was around AD 93 or 94. Antiquities of the Jews contains an account of history of the Jewish people, written in Greek for Josephus' gentile patrons. In the first ten volumes, Josephus follows the events of the historical books of the Hebrew Bible beginning with the creation of Adam and Eve. The second ten volumes continue the history of the Jewish people beyond the biblical text and up to the Jewish War.

This work, along with Josephus's other major work, The Jewish War (De Bello Iudaico), provides valuable background material to historians wishing to understand 1st-century AD Judaism and the early Christian period.

There are two quotes that mention Jesus. Here is the first and smaller quote:

Antiquities 20.9.1 “But the younger Ananus who, as we said, received the high priesthood, was of a bold disposition and exceptionally daring; he followed the party of the Sadducees, who are severe in judgment above all the Jews, as we have already shown. As therefore Ananus was of such a disposition, he thought he had now a good opportunity, as Festus was now dead, and Albinus was still on the road; so he assembled a council of judges, and brought before it the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ, whose name was James, together with some others, and having accused them as law-breakers, he delivered them over to be stoned.”

Evidence favors highly the genuineness of this passage.

Here is the second Josephus reference, the Testimonium Flavianum, as it is popularly called. The authenticity of the passage was first questioned in the 16th century; one of its most significant detractors was the French sceptic Voltaire. The passage reads:

Antiquities 18.3.3 “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 receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the 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 from him are not extinct at this day.”

The fact that there are interpolations (additions) here is seldom questioned; very few scholars hold that the entirety of the passage is genuine. It is doubtful, however, that the entire passage was 'made up', but rather that interpolations were added at a later stage.

“and brought before it the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ, whose name was James”

Matthew 13:55-56 (KJV)

“55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?”

“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man...doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men…drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles...He was the Christ, and when Pilate...condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day...as the divine prophets had foretold.”Miracles

John 2:1-11 - Turns water into wine.

Matthew 9:27-31 - Heals 2 blind men

Mark 5:21-43 - Raising Jairus’ Daughter

Feeding of the 5,000 - Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15

Teachings (could be parables)

Sermon on the mount - Matthew 5, 6

Good Samaritan - Luke 10:25–37

Rich Man and Lazarus - Luke 16:19-31

Pearl of Great Price - Matthew 13:45-46

Called to the gentiles and Jews (All Gospels)● Everyone that Jesus was around were

Jewish, they followed him to see his miracles, but after his ascension on the day of pentecost (Acts 2) the apostles called to the Jews and Gentiles to repent of their sins.

● Also refer to Mark 2:15● Matthew 9:11

Ordered to be Crucified by Pilate● Matt 27

● Mark 15

● Luke 23

● John 18:28-40

● John 19

Resurrection and appearing

● Matthew 20:17-19

● Psalm 16:10● Psalm 49:15● Matthew 28:2-7● Acts 2:22-32● Mark 8:31● Matthew 12:40● John 2:19● Mark 14:58● Mark 16:9-14● John 21:1-14

The Talmud

The Talmud (/ˈtɑːlmʊd, -məd, ˈtæl-/; Hebrew: לְמוּדWּת talmūd "instruction, learning", from a root LMD "teach, study") is a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. It is also traditionally referred to as Shas (ש״ס), a Hebrew abbreviation of shisha sedarim, the "six orders", a reference to the six orders of the Mishnah. The term "Talmud" normally refers to the collection of writings named specifically the Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli), although there is also an earlier collection known as the Jerusalem Talmud, or Palestinian Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi). When referring to post-biblical periods, namely those of the creation of the Talmud, the Talmudic academies and the Babylonian exilarchate, Jewish sources use the term "Babylonia" long after it had become obsolete in geopolitical terms.

The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (Hebrew: משנה, c. 200 CE), a written compendium of Rabbinic Judaism's Oral Torah, and the Gemara (c. 500 CE), an elucidation of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the Hebrew Bible. "Talmud" translates literally as "instruction" in Hebrew.

The entire Talmud consists of 63 tractates, and in standard print is over 6,200 pages long. It is written in Tannaitic Hebrew and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic and contains the teachings and opinions of thousands of rabbis (dating from before the Common Era through the fifth century CE) on a variety of subjects, including Halakha (law), Jewish ethics, philosophy, customs, history, lore and many other topics. The Talmud is the basis for all codes of Jewish law, and is widely quoted in rabbinic literature.

What does the Talmud teach?We may see Judaism as some other regular religion, that proclaims to believe in the Tanakh, or in the Torah, and also in the

Talmud.

The Talmud was written by Rabbis in the time after Christ.

The Talmud speaks of blasphemies, hate, violence, etc.

The Rabbis have written racism and violence towards Gentiles (‘goyims’) and Christians.(Sanhedrin 58b)(Rosh Hashanah 17a)

They call all gentiles, animals.(Yebamoth 98a)

They say that having relations with gentiles is like having relations with animals.(Sanhedrin 74b)

They call the mother of Christ a harlot.(Sanhedrin 106a)

They promote violation, but not marrying a non-jew female. (Gad.Shas. 2:2)

They say if you’re a gentile you are forbidden to steal but a Jew is allowed to steal from a gentile. (Tosefta, Abda Zara VIII, 5)

Etc.

What does the Talmud say about Christ?The Talmud citations (Jewish writings from AD 100-500) are contested and some feel that they hold little value when it comes to the historicity of Christ. However, a worthwhile point that can be derived from the Talmud is that it provides no indication that Jesus was a mythical figure. Although the rabbinic sources may not contain clear references to Jesus - from the fact that the Talmudists concentrated on smearing Jesus' legitimacy rather than focusing on the issue of Jesus' existence, we may deduce that they had no grounds whatever for doubting his historical existence.

The following is an example from one of the writings (note that the Talmud uses the term hanging when referring to Roman crucifixion)

"On the eve of Passover they hanged Yeshu (of Nazareth) … he hath practiced sorcery and beguiled and led astray Israel. Let everyone knowing aught in his defense come and plead for him. But they found naught in his defense and hanged him on the eve of Passover" [5 p.86]

“‘Yashu’ (derogatory for ‘Jesus’) is in Hell being boiled in hot excrement.” (Gittin 57a)[’Yashu’ is an acronym for the Jewish curse, ‘May his (Jesus) name be wiped out forevermore.’]Yashu (Jesus) was sexually immoral and worshipped a brick.” (Sanhedrin 107b)“Yashu (Jesus) was cut off from the Jewish people for his wickedness and refused to repent.” (Sotah 47a)

They must really hate Jesus. (Note: Passover in the NT is found in Matthew 26; Mark 14; Luke 22; John 14:1)

Why did the Pharisees hate Jesus?Jesus Healed on the Sabbath, He didn’t follow what the Pharisees taught, remember Jesus kept the Sabbath his whole life. Luke 6:6-11 - “On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him. But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, "Get up and come forward!" And he got up and came forward. And Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?" After looking around at them all, He said to him, "Stretch out your hand!" And he did so; and his hand was restored. But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.” You can related to this: “Yashu (Jesus) was cut off from the Jewish people for his wickedness and refused to repent.” (Sotah 47a)

The Pharisees accused of Jesus using the powers of Beelzebub (another name for Satan). Matthew 12:24-27 - “But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.” You can also relate scripture to this: “...he hath practiced sorcery and beguiled and led astray Israel…”[5 p.86]

Note:The Pharisees also hate Jesus for claiming that he is God. Judaism today, many Jews will say how they follow by what the Talmud says about Christians and Jesus, there are even videos of Jewish people ignoring or wanting to argue with Christian citizens.

Has an Atheist ever said Jesus existed?Yes and No, there are a handful of Atheists who have concluded that Jesus has in fact have existed in time, but the majority of Atheists will deny the existence of Christ.

But we will look at one Atheist for sake of time.

Michael GrantMichael Grant CBE (21 November 1914 – 4 October 2004) was an English classicist, numismatist, and author of numerous popular books on ancient history.

In his book Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels, Atheist historian Michael Grant completely rejected the idea that Jesus never existed.

“This sceptical way of thinking reached its culmination in the argument that Jesus as a human being never existed at all and is a myth.... But above all, if we apply to the New Testament, as we should, the same sort of criteria as we should apply to other ancient writings containing historical material, we can no more reject Jesus' existence than we can reject the existence of a mass of pagan personages whose reality as historical figures is never questioned. Certainly, there are all those discrepancies between one Gospel and another. But we do not deny that an event ever took place just because some pagan historians such as, for example, Livy and Polybius, happen to have described it in differing terms.... To sum up, modern critical methods fail to support the Christ myth theory. It has 'again and again been answered and annihilated by first rank scholars.' In recent years, 'no serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non historicity of Jesus' or at any rate very few, and they have not succeeded in disposing of the much stronger, indeed very abundant, evidence to the contrary.”

What about the possibilities of the prophecies being fulfilled?In 1957 Moody Press in Chicago, Illinois published a book by Professor Peter W. Stoner, called

“SCIENCE SPEAKS”, An Evaluation of Certain Christian Evidences.

Stoner introduces the chapter on “The Christ of Prophecy” with a salient quote from John 5:39,

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of

me…”

On page 71, Stoner notes, “I am making use of the well-known principle of probability. If the chance

of one thing happening is one in M and the chance of another, and independent thing happening is

one in N, then the chance that they both shall happen is one in M times N. …Suppose one man in

every ten is bald, and one man in 100 has lost a finger, then one man in every 1,000 ( the product of

10 and 100) is both bald and has lost a finger.”

8 Prophecies were considered in Stoner’s book.1)“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel: whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2) (Note: today the population of the earth is larger than the 2 billion figure used when Stoner made his model. ) To arrive at the answer Stoner started with the average population of Bethlehem from the days of the prophet Micah to this present time and divided it by the average population of the earth for the same period. It was discovered that this ratio was 1 to 280,000. Since that time the earth has had an average population of 2,000,000,000. So the answer would be one man in 7,150/2,000,000,000 or one man in 2.8 X10 to the fifth power was born in Bethlehem.

2)“Behold I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me…” (Malachi 3:1) How many men who have been born in Bethlehem have had a forerunner sent by God to prepare his way? We will use the conservative estimate of 1 in 1,000 or 1 in 10 to the third power.

3) “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon…a colt the foal of an ass. ” (Zechariah 9:9) The question now becomes, “One man in how many, who was born in Bethlehem and had a forerunner, entered into Jerusalem as a king riding on the colt, the foal of an ass?” Because this question is too restrictive, let’s say it in this manner, “One man in how many, who has entered Jerusalem as a ruler, has entered riding on a colt, the foal of an ass?” We will use 1 in 10 to the second power.

4) “And one shall say unto him, ‘What are these wounds in thine hands?’ Then he shall answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'” (Zechariah 13:6) One man in how many all over the world has been betrayed by a friend and as a result suffered wounds in his hands? We will use 1 in 10 to the third power.

5) “And I said unto them, ‘If ye think good, give me my price; and if no, forbear. So they weighed for my price, thirty pieces of silver.” (Zechariah 11:12) Of all the people who have suffered betrayal, how many have been betrayed for exactly thirty pieces of silver? We will use 1 in 1,000 or 1 in 10 to third power.

6) “And the Lord said unto me, ‘Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.” (Zechariah 11:13) This specifies that the price is not to be returned, but rather cast down in the house of the Lord. Then, without the person throwing them down doing anything, those to whom the silver was returned would have to give the silver to the potter. The reason the priests to whom the remorseful Judas returned the money he received from them to betray the Messiah did not put the funds back into the temple treasury was because it was not money obtained in a kosher, an appropriate way. There was a provision that the priests could spend discretionary funds to meet specific needs. The field they purchased from the potter was subsequently used as a cemetery for travelers and low income people. None of the students had ever heard of another incident involving all these criteria. So we used the estimate as 1 in 100,000 or 10 to the fifth power.

7) “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before the shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7) What are the odds that an innocent man who has been betrayed, oppressed and afflicted and is on trial for his life will not offer a single word in his own defense?” We will use 1 in 1,000 or 1 in 10 to the third power.

8) “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet” (Psalm 22:16) When David wrote these words, death by crucifixion had yet to be invented. The question is, “One man in how many from the time of King David on, has been crucified?” (p. 105) We estimated that it would have been 1 in 10,000 or 1 in 10 to the fourth power.

Probabilities of propheciesThere are some 300 – 350 prophecies which were written in the Old Testament to help us identify which person is the promised Messiah. Suppose we add eight more prophecies to our list? And assume that their chance at being fulfilled by just one man is the same as the eight prophecies just considered. Those odds would be 10 to the 28th power X 10 to the 17th power or 1 in 10 to the 45th power.

Scenario: Imagine how big of a number that is. How big would a ball of silver dollars be using this number? Its diameter would be thirty times the distance from the center of the earth to the sun. Let’s take that same atheistic professor, put a space suit on him, place a check on one of those silver dollars and shoot him out into space. Do you think he would pick the silver dollar with a check on it the first time?

Now think of right now in our life here on earth that the odds of one person fulfilling them all?

That one man would be 1 in 10 to the 157th power.

In conclusion for the Faithful and Skeptics.We see now that with many of the historical figures, a scientist and even an Atheist have in fact believe in the existence of Christ, we see how even in their writings, we see that they are not inspired by the Holy Spirit, but through history, studying, and even basic logic they all have concluded that Jesus Christ have in fact existed.

Jesus did walk among us.