Scholars and historians, both believers and non-believers, agree the person of Jesus lived in the times and places depicted in the Bible. The question you have to ask yourself; is Jesus’ historical account, the way He lived His life, the person He claimed to be, and His teachings, are they reliable and trustworthy. Then look to the Bible as the historical document it’s been proven to be. The Bible is a compilation of sixty-six separate books written over 1,500 years and forty generations, by forty different authors. No other ancient document has been tested as much and proven the veracity of the complete and consistent message within it. When Paul defended the reality of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, he said “Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.” Manuscripts were written from eyewitness accounts, a time frame unheard of when it’s applied for validity and verification. The Bible has maintained the best track record of accuracy historically, archeologically, and scholarly being incomparable to any other work.

Prophecies. According to one calculation, there are 332 Messianic prophecies from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), which Jesus fulfilled. This is why the Dead Sea Scrolls are such a big deal: they date back to about 100 years before the birth of Jesus, which shows us that the prophecies which Jesus fulfilled were indeed written before his birth, and were not later redactions or additions. (src) Professor Peter W. Stoner, a Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena College ran the math. If one man fulfilled 8 prophecies, it would have been a 1 in 100 Quadrillion, that’s 17 zeros, chance of them being fulfilled. He then calculated 48 fulfilled prophecies; 1 in 10 to the 157th power. The lottery for Powerball in 2024, 1 in 302.6 million. Jesus fullfilled 332, verified from data gathered from historical documents written prior to His life and those that came after His death.

The Bible is the inerrant, infallible, inspired word of God, tested meticulously throughout the ages and never left wanting. The data within it cross references itself 63,779 times. 40 authors? 1500 years? And it still remains that consistent? I’m not asking you to blindly believe any of the information above, seek it out for yourself. But I will say this about Christ. He’s truthful, reliable, and ethical. While dying on the cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them…”. He is consistent. He told everyone while walking the earth that he would die and raise from the dead three days later and kept His word, verified by over 500 eyewitnesses. Pontius Pilate, the man who sentenced Christ to the cross ironically looked Truth in the face and asked, “What is truth,”. Seek after Him, after Truth, you will find Him.