The case for christ (student edition) - Essay Example

I. Who is this Jesus?  Summarize and explain who Jesus claimed to be and how he can be identified as the messiah. In your discussion, explain which arguments or pieces of evidence are most convincing to you and why! Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ is the central figure in Christianity. He was conceived by a virgin birth by Mary and was born Bethlehem of Judea and later grew up in Nazareth in Galilee hence the name Jesus Christ. He is considered as the Messiah and the Savior of man and those who desires to go to His father who is in Heaven has to come to Him.

His Divinity was evidenced by His resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven.II. How reliable is the information about Christ?  Describe the evidence that strobel presents for the reliability of the Gospels. Discuss the exam that are most convincing to you and explain why.To ask the reliability of Jesus Christ is also to ask the historical accuracy and competence of the Holy Bible because it is the source of our information about Jesus Christ. For academic discussion, it may be necessary to cross reference the existence of Jesus Christ from other sources other than the Bible itself.

Jesus Christ was recognized to have existed by early historians such as Tacitus, the first century Roman historian who is touted to be the most credible historian of the ancient world. In his historical recordings, “Christians” (derived from Christus, the Latin equivalent for Christ) was already mentioned in an unflattering way considering that he is a Roman. He mentioned that a certain superstitious “Christian” or “Christus” existed during the reign of Tiberius and suffered under Pontius Pilate.

In the same breadth, the legendary Jewish historian also made an account of Jesus Christ. In his “Antiquities”, he mentioned that there was a “Christ” who is a brother of James. Again, he referred Jesus Christ in an unflattering way considering he is a Jew: “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats..He was [the] Christ.he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him.

” One version reads, “At this time there was a wise man named Jesus. His conduct was good and [he] was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. But those who became his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and that he was alive; accordingly he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders” (Antiquity, 18:3).

Perhaps this could lend strong evidence to the existence of Jesus Christ considering that other historians which are not of the Christian faith acknowledge that He did existed. III. Can a dead man come back to life?  Summarize and explain the evidence for the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. In your discussion explain which arguments or pieces of evidence are most convincing to you and why. Applying the law of physiology, a man that is clinically dead and buried cannot come back to life.

But Jesus Christ rose from the dead as these passages from the bible clearly illustrate:Matthew 27:59 - 28:3 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave. 62 Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, 63 and said, "Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, After three days I am to rise again.

64 "Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, He has risen from the dead, and the last deception will be worse than the first." 65 Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how." 66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone. 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day , of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the evidence of his Divinity without it "then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain" (I Cor:15:14). As an evidence of that he really resurrected from the dead was when his tomb examined three days later and the His body was gone that even the most skeptic of scholars and historians agreed that the body was gone after three days.

The grave was secured as we can glean from the Bible “and they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone. (Mt 27:62-66). This seal cannot be broken because the punishment for breaking the Roman seal was punishable by death during the Roman Empire. It is also inconceivable that the guards who were guarding it were overpowered assuming that somebody intends to steal the body of Jesus Christ. There is no other explanation why the body was gone other than what was given in the Bible that Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead to join His Father who is in Heaven.IV. Choose one new idea that you learned from the book that helped you better understand or believe the truth of Christ and discuss it.

Perhaps one of the ideas that helped me to believe the truth of Jesus Christ was his teachings about love. That just by accepting Him as my Savior is already enough for me to become His child. In our world that is so divided by hatred and violence, this divinely magnanimity particularly about His teaching about unconditional love and acceptance opened my heart to receive and believe his Truths.