What separates Christianity from most other religions is that it is bound up in historical facts. Christianity is not merely a moral code, nor merely a philosophy. While it contains those elements, it is based on revelation through historical events. The historical facts concerning Jesus of Nazareth form the basis of the Christian religion. This is why the New Testament begins with the Gospel accounts of His life, death, and resurrection. Later, Paul highlighted the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus to those who started becoming skeptical of the resurrection, then gave a list of witnesses as proof for the resurrection:
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time (1 Cor. 15:1-8).
Paul noted that at the time of his writing 1 Corinthians, the majority of these witnesses were still alive, so it was possible that his audience could check with them as to what they saw (1 Cor. 5:6). Instead of asking us to blindly believe these things happened, the Bible emphasizes the witnesses as proof. John, who was with Jesus during His public ministry (Matt. 4:21, 22), was present at the cross (John 19:26, 27), investigated the empty tomb (John 20:2-8), and ate with the resurrected Lord (John 21:1-14), wrote:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ (1 Jn. 1:1-3).
John was a witness to these events. He saw, heard, and touched Jesus. Based on his testimony, we can know these events actually occurred.
However, some doubt whether we can know anything for sure about the past since we cannot directly observe the past. Events in the past have ceased. All we have are the remains and memories that have been recorded for us. We have plenty of recorded memories and enduring remains of the people and events that form the belief basis of Christianity.
Is it impossible for us to be certain of the historical events surrounding the earthly life Jesus Christ because we were not eyewitnesses of these proceedings? No. A detective on the basis of evidence from eyewitnesses can reconstruct a crime and present the facts that an eyewitness himself knows to be correct. The detective knows what happened based on what eyewitnesses have relayed.
How are we certain that the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln is a fact? No one living today witnessed the event, but there were witnesses. None of the witnesses are physically alive to tell us what they saw, but that makes no difference. The records they made of the event and the memories they passed on to others are just as viable as they would be if they were alive to tell us themselves. We do not doubt that Lincoln’s assassination is historically factual because we have overwhelming evidence from eyewitnesses showing it to be true.
The opening paragraph of Luke’s gospel account reads:
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed (Luke 1:1-4).
Unlike Matthew and John, Luke was not an eyewitness to the happenings of the life of Jesus Christ; however, he “most surely believed” because eyewitness testimony had been delivered to him. Many had attempted to gather and arrange all the memories regarding Jesus. Luke, by inspiration, gives us an arrangement of the eyewitness accounts of Jesus. Inspiration did not preclude Luke compiling evidence from many sources in writing his gospel account. Luke knew the same facts that eyewitnesses did and believed because he appreciated the evidence. Further, Luke writes to Theophilus expecting him to “know the certainty of those things” that he had received through oral reports. Thus, Theophilus, and all generations since who have access to Luke’s account, can know just as certainly as Luke and even as the eyewitnesses what Jesus did.
Jesus died for your sins, was buried, and rose again to give you hope of eternal life; many witnesses attest to these facts. Do you appreciate the evidence?
–Mark Day