{"id":13891,"date":"2020-08-30T15:46:43","date_gmt":"2020-08-30T19:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=13891"},"modified":"2020-09-13T22:24:31","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T02:24:31","slug":"biography-of-jesus-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/biography-of-jesus-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"The Biography of Jesus Christ: Was He Real?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Is there a biography of Jesus Christ? Is Jesus’s biography in the Bible proof that Jesus was real?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biography of Jesus Christ is told mainly in the gospels and the New Testament. Lee Strobel argues that the biography of Jesus Christ is mostly accurate, and serves as proof that Christ was real. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about the biography of Jesus Christ below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Is The Biography of Jesus Christ Believable?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One important part of the question of whether or not Christ was real is to consider the biography of Jesus Christ. Strobel begins his investigation by interviewing Dr. Craig Blomberg<\/a>, a renowned biblical scholar and author of the book The Historical Reliability of the Gospels<\/em>. (The four gospels<\/a> are, in essence, biographies of Jesus.) Strobel picks Blomberg because, although he\u2019s a man of faith, he can be trusted not to paper over gaps in the historical record: He is known to have grappled with the objections to Christianity and nevertheless maintained his belief<\/strong>. The biography of Jesus Christ is told through the gospels: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospels<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Synoptic Gospels<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the primary points of controversy surrounding the first three gospels (also known as the \u201cSynoptic\u201d gospels) is their authorship: Did Matthew, Mark, and Luke truly write the gospels to which their names are attached? And are the reliable about the biography of Jesus Christ? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer is yes. <\/strong>Although scholars don\u2019t know for certain<\/em> who wrote each gospel, early church testimony is uniform on the subject of the authorship of the first three gospels<\/strong>. According to writings by Papias (125 AD) and Irenaeus (180 AD), Matthew, a tax collector also known as Levi, was the author of the first gospel; John Mark, a disciple of Peter, was the author of the second gospel; and Luke, Paul\u2019s companion and physician, was the author of \u201cThe Gospel of Luke\u201d and \u201cActs.\u201d It is unlikely that commentators like Papias and Irenaeus would lie about the authorship of these texts: As a tax collector, Matthew was probably not much favored during Jesus’s time, and Mark and Luke weren\u2019t even among Jesus’s twelve apostles. When later writers created apocryphal (in other words, fictitious) gospels, they used more famous figures like Philip, Peter, and Mary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is some debate, however, when it comes to the authorship of John\u2019s gospel, the fourth gospel when is comes to Jesus’s biography. An early Christian writer named Papias refers to the author both as John the apostle and John the elder, and it\u2019s unclear whether they\u2019re two different people or the same person; there\u2019s also evidence of an \u201ceditor\u201d modifying the very end of John\u2019s gospel. Papias\u2019s writings notwithstanding, the testimony unanimously points to John the apostle as author<\/strong>. So what does this mean for the biography of Christ? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Incompleteness of the Synoptic Gospels<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When we pick up a biography in a bookstore, we expect the story to begin with the subject\u2019s birth\u2014or even before <\/em>it\u2014and proceed to the subject\u2019s death (if the subject of the biography is already deceased). But this is not true for the biography of Christ. the biographies offer only a partial account of Jesus\u2019s life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to remember that ancient biographies are quite different from the biographies we might buy in our local bookstore. In the ancient world, biographies had a didactic function<\/strong>: that is, they were meant to teach readers lessons rather than depict their subject\u2019s entire life. So Mark, for example, felt no compunction about minimizing Jesus’s early years in favor of the events leading up to Jesus’s crucifixion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s also a theological reason for the gospels\u2019 selective approach to Jesus’s biography. Jesus’s teachings derive their authority from his divinity\u2014his death and resurrection, which provided atonement for the sins of humanity. Because this event is the most important part of Jesus’s story, it stands to reason his biographers would concentrate on it<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Question of Q<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cQ\u201d is scholars\u2019 shorthand for \u201cQuelle<\/em>,\u201d German for \u201csource.\u201d This is an important part of the biography of Christ. Analysts of the first three gospels have determined that Mark\u2019s gospel was written prior to Matthew\u2019s and Luke\u2019s, and that Matthew\u2019s and Luke\u2019s gospels not only draw on Mark\u2019s, but also include material from an anonymous text, \u201cQ.\u201d Q comprises a compilation of Jesus’s sayings without any narrative to connect them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some skeptics have claimed that the existence of \u201cQ\u201d undermines the gospels\u2019 accounts of Jesus\u2019s life because it doesn\u2019t feature miracles. But, though there\u2019s no narration<\/em> of miracles in Q, Jesus does speak<\/em> of miracles he\u2019s performed. Because Q predates the Synoptic Gospels, these references provide strong evidence of Jesus’s divinity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Another curiosity is why Matthew and Luke, who were eyewitnesses to Jesus’s works, would rely on Mark\u2019s gospel, which was a second-hand account based on the recollections of Peter. Blomberg responds that Peter was closer to Jesus than Matthew or Luke, and so Mark\u2019s gospel, as a representation of Peter\u2019s account, contained information neither Matthew nor Luke could know.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Earliest Account<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s worth remembering when considering the biography of Jesus Christ that the books of the New Testament don\u2019t appear in the order in which they were written. In fact, the earliest sections of the New Testament to be composed are Paul\u2019s letters (written between 40\u201350 AD), which themselves feature elements from an oral tradition dating back to within a few years of Jesus\u2019s death<\/strong>. A key example appears in 1 Corinthians 15. This passage finds Paul repeating the creed of Jesus\u2019s death, resurrection, and appearance to his apostles and followers. If Paul was told of these events shortly after his conversion to Christianity\u2014which took place in the mid-30s AD\u2014that means that Jesus\u2019s divinity was accepted fact in the immediate aftermath of his death. In other words, the earliest accounts of Jesus in the New Testament support the theology of the gospels.<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is there a biography of Jesus Christ? Is Jesus’s biography in the Bible proof that Jesus was real? The biography of Jesus Christ is told mainly in the gospels and the New Testament. Lee Strobel argues that the biography of Jesus Christ is mostly accurate, and serves as proof that Christ was real. Read more about the biography of Jesus Christ below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":14076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,6],"tags":[125],"class_list":["post-13891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","category-spiritual","tag-the-case-for-christ","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Biography of Jesus Christ: Was He Real? - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is the biography of Jesus Christ? 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