Evidence For Jesus Outside The Bible

This is a side-note, as Muslims are unable to deny that Jesus existed, and the topic here is to demonstrate Christianity to Muslim audience.  Nevertheless, in case someone claims that Jesus never existed, I find this video convincing, along with the associated text form of the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bLlpiWh9-k (Is Jesus Real? - Non-biblical Evidence of His Existence)

http://thedevineevidence.com/jesus_history.html (TheDivineEvidence.com)

We sometimes view the Bible as a monolithic work, just because it is all between the same two cardboard covers.  Actually it is a collection of (mostly) independent works by different authors who did not always agree on everything.  It contains many historical references that are well-corroborated with secular history.  The authors of the New Testament clearly intended for their works to be treated as true, historically accurate accounts. 

Even without referencing non-Christian sources for the existence of Jesus, the critical question is this: If the New Testament is made-up fiction, how did the New Testament ever get a crowd of followers to read, and re-copy its manuscripts  and pass them down to the next generation all the way to us?  The New Testament is not boring, but it also does not fit the genre of "entertainment".

Did the Early Christians suffer Persecution?

When discussing with Muslims (or anyone, actually), it is often useful to establish that Christianity started out as a persecuted minority.  For example, when it came to believing in the resurrection, people at the time had every incentive NOT to believe it and find rationales for rejecting it.

So it is good to be able to quote some verses to demonstrate the prevailing persecution of the time.

Also, the specific verses where Paul describes his own persecutions are useful to show that he had no selfish motive in his ministry work.



Paul writes:


Now brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.
--Gal 5:11

From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I bear on my body scars for the cause of Jesus.
--Gal 6:17

(Paul could not have credibly said this if he did not have these scars)

...near death many times.
 Five times I received 39 lashes from Jews.
 Three times I was beaten with rods by the Romans.
Once I was stoned by my enemies.
Three times I was shipwrecked.
I have spent a night and a day
in the open sea.
 On frequent journeys, I faced
dangers from rivers,
dangers from robbers,
dangers from my own people,
dangers from the Gentiles,
dangers in the city,
dangers in the open country,
dangers on the sea,
and dangers among false brothers;
 labor and hardship,
many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst,
often without food, cold, and lacking clothing.
--2 Cor 11 24-27


You both had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an enduring one in the heavens.
--Hebrews 10:4

Also we convincingly have this:

PLINY THE YOUNGER (63 - 113 A.D) Pliny the Younger admits to torturing and executing Christians who refused to deny Christ. Those who denied the charges were spared and ordered to exalt the Roman gods and curse the name of Christ. Pliny addresses his concerns to Emperor Trajan that too many citizens were being killed for their refusal to deny their faith.

"I asked them directly if they were Christians...those who persisted, I ordered away... Those who denied they were or ever had been Christians...worshiped both your image and the images of the gods and cursed Christ. They used to gather on a stated day before dawn and sing to Christ as if he were a god... All the more I believed it necessary to find out what was the truth from two servant maids, which were called deaconesses, by means of torture. Nothing more did I find than a disgusting, fanatical superstition. Therefore I stopped the examination, and hastened to consult you...on account of the number of people endangered. For many of all ages, all classes, and both sexes already are brought into danger..."
--Pliny's letter to Emperor Trajan

Though Pliny states some of the accused denied the charges, a recurring theme in the correspondence between Pliny and Trajan is the willingness of the true believer to die for Christ.
(See this site:)
http://thedevineevidence.com/jesus_history.html

What is the Most Important Claim of The Gospel?

The

• death 
• burial
• resurrection

is demonstrably the central claim of the gospel.

This shows the approximate fraction of each gospel is dedicated the final week of Jesus' life:

Matthew 21 out of 28 chapters before final week => 25% on final week
Mark 11 out of 16 chapters before the final week  => 31% on final week
Luke 20 out of 24 chapters before final week  => 16% on final week.
John 17 out of 25 chapters before the final week  =>  32% on final week.

Muslims see it as their mission to correct Christians' view by describing Jesus as "a prophet" (implying he is like other prophets).

But then why is there such an emphasis on the last week of the life of Jesus?  Jesus certainly was an Apostle, Prophet, Teacher, Evangelist, Pastor, (ministry gifts from Ephesians 4:11), but his primary mission was as as "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world"

Claim of Christianity against Islam: The Resurrection

The death, burial and  resurrection is demonstrably the central claim of the gospel. And the Quran does not respond to it.  The closest it gets is denying the crucifixion of Christ in 40 vague words.

The Muslim reality is that the Quran replaces the Bible.  How much time is spent in mosque reading the Bible except to disparage it?

However, what justification does Mohammed bring for replacing the Bible?  The burden of proof is on Mohammed to show Jesus was not crucified and raised, as plenty of Christians testified to this with their lives.

In contrast the New Testament has book of Hebrews (among other material) is a 300 verse block of material justifying why Christianity replaces Judaism.

I never did get a reply to this and I found Muslims would just stop engaging when presented with this.

It is not enough for Muslims to quote Ahmed Deedat or Bart Eherman; the justification needs to be anticipated in the Quran.  Is the Quran from Allah or is it something Muslims have to carry around and prop up like an idol?

Is there Science in the Quran?

It is often said by Muslims that one of the proofs that the Quran came from Allah is that it describes scientific phenomena that were not understood at the time it was written.

When Muslims present these miracles from the Quran, they can sound impressive.

However if you read the Quran in its entirety you will see that these statements are just pulled out from a body of poetry and are counterbalanced by all the unscientific statements everywhere else, such as ants talking to Solomon.  Ants do not have vocal cords.

When scientists want to solve a hard problem, do they run to the Quran for inspiration?  Do Muslim scientists win all the Nobel prizes?

I encourage you to read the Quran for yourself to judge the whether the "science" it contains really proves that it originates from Allah.

Also here is a book that talks about this topic in great detail.

http://answering-islam.org/Campbell/contents.html

1)  The author of Quran thinks that the people of the Book believe that Mary is part of the Trinity, and that Jesus was conceived in a biological way.

http://simpleargumentsversusislam.blogspot.com/

There is no way to justify that Mary is part of the Trinity from the "Book".

1) We should keep in mind that today's Quran is from 1924.

http://apologika.blogspot.com/2014/01/is-there-truly-only-one-quran.html

Even Shabir Ally lets the 1924 claim stand:

https://youtu.be/fWHV9VnOJtc

There anything claimed that was not known in 1924?

3) Is there are there any scientific statements in the Quran that point to things yet to be discovered by science?  Or is it always like last week's lottery numbers?

Islam's Intellectual Contributions to Humanity

A  Jewish  Boycott – Well now,  what do you think of these facts?  

Iran's Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the Muslim World to boycott anything and everything that originates with the Jewish people.

In response, Meyer M. Treinkman, a pharmacist, out of the kindness of his heart, offered to assist them in their boycott  as follows:

"Any Muslim who has Syphilis must not be cured by  Salvarsan discovered by a Jew, Dr. Ehrlich. He should not even try to find  out whether he has Syphilis, because the Wasserman Test is the discovery  of a Jew. If a Muslim suspects that he has Gonorrhea, he must not seek  diagnosis, because he will be using the method of a Jew named  Neissner.

"A Muslim who has heart disease must not use Digitalis, a  discovery by a Jew, Ludwig Traube.

Should he suffer with a  toothache, he must not use Novocaine, a discovery of the Jews, Widal and  Weil.

If a Muslim has Diabetes, he must not use Insulin, the result  of research by Minkowsky, a Jew. If one has a headache, he must shun  Pyramidon and Antypyrin, due to the Jews, Spiro and Ellege.

Muslims  with convulsions must put up with them because it was a Jew, Oscar  Leibreich, who proposed the use of Chloral Hydrate.

Arabs must do  likewise with their psychic ailments because Freud, father of  psychoanalysis, was a Jew.

Should a Muslim child get Diphtheria, he  must refrain from the “Schick" reaction which was invented by the Jew,  Bella Schick.

"Muslims should be ready to die in great numbers and  must not permit treatment of ear and brain damage, work of Jewish Nobel  Prize winner, Robert Baram.

They should continue to die or remain  crippled by Infantile Paralysis because the discoverer of the anti-polio  vaccine is a Jew, Jonas Salk.

"Muslims must refuse to use  Streptomycin and continue to die of Tuberculosis because a Jew, Zalman  Waxman, invented the wonder drug against this killing  disease.

Muslim doctors must discard all discoveries and  improvements by dermatologist Judas Sehn Benedict, or the lung specialist,  Frawnkel, and of many other world renowned Jewish scientists and medical  experts.

"In short, good and loyal Muslims properly and  fittingly should remain afflicted with Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Heart Disease,  Headaches, Typhus, Diabetes, Mental Disorders, Polio Convulsions and  Tuberculosis and be proud to obey the Islamic boycott."

Oh, and  by the way, don't call for a doctor on your cell phone because the cell  phone was invented in Israel by a Jewish engineer.

Meanwhile I ask,  what medical contributions to the world have the Muslims made?"

The  Global Islamic population is approximately 1,200,000,000; that is ONE  BILLION TWO HUNDRED MILLION or 20% of the world's population.

They  have received the following Nobel  Prizes:

Literature:

1988 - Najib  Mahfooz

Peace:

1978 - Mohamed Anwar  El-Sadat

1990 - Elias James Corey

1994 - Yaser Arafat:

1999 -  Ahmed Zewai

Economics:

(zero)

Physics:

(zero)

Medicine:

1960 - Peter Brian  Medawar

1998 - Ferid Mourad

TOTAL: 7 SEVEN

The  Global Jewish population is approximately 14,000,000; that is FOURTEEN  MILLION or about 0.02% of the world's population.

They have  received the following Nobel  Prizes:

Literature:

1910 - Paul Heyse

1927 -  Henri Bergson

1958 - Boris Pasternak

1966 - Shmuel Yosef  Agnon

1966 - Nelly Sachs

1976 - Saul Bellow

1978 - Isaac Bashevis  Singer

1981 - Elias Canetti

1987 - Joseph Brodsky

1991 - Nadine  Gordimer World

Peace:

1911 - Alfred  Fried

1911 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser

1968 - Rene Cassin

1973 -  Henry Kissinger

1978 - Menachem Begin

1986 - Elie Wiesel

1994 -  Shimon Peres

1994 - Yitzhak  Rabin

Physics:

1905 - Adolph Von  Baeyer

1906 - Henri Moissan

1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson

1908  - Gabriel Lippmann

1910 - Otto Wallach

1915 - Richard  Willstaetter

1918 - Fritz Haber

1921 - Albert Einstein

1922 -  Niels Bohr

1925 - James Franck

1925 - Gustav Hertz

1943 - Gustav  Stern

1943 - George Charles de Hevesy

1944 - Isidor Issac  Rabi

1952 - Felix Bloch

1954 - Max Born

1958 - Igor Tamm

1959  - Emilio Segre

1960 - Donald A. Glaser

1961 - Robert  Hofstadter

1961 - Melvin Calvin

1962 - Lev Davidovich Landau

1962  - Max Ferdinand Perutz

1965 - Richard Phillips Feynman

1965 - Julian  Schwinger

1969 - Murray Gell-Mann

1971 - Dennis Gabor

1972 -  William Howard Stein

1973 - Brian David Josephson

1975 - Benjamin  Mottleson

1976 - Burton Richter

1977 - Ilya Prigogine

1978 - Arno  Allan Penzias

1978 - Peter L Kapitza

1979 - Stephen Weinberg

1979  - Sheldon Glashow

1979 - Herbert Charles Brown

1980 - Paul  Berg

1980 - Walter Gilbert

1981 - Roald Hoffmann

1982 - Aaron  Klug

1985 - Albert A. Hauptman

1985 - Jerome Karle

1986 - Dudley  R. Herschbach

1988 - Robert Huber

1988 - Leon Lederman

1988 -  Melvin Schwartz

1988 - Jack Steinberger

1989 - Sidney Altman

1990  - Jerome Friedman

1992 - Rudolph Marcus

1995 - Martin Perl

2000 -  Alan J. Heeger

Economics:

1970 - Paul Anthony  Samuelson

1971 - Simon Kuznets

1972 - Kenneth Joseph Arrow

1975 -  Leonid Kantorovich

1976 - Milton Friedman

1978 - Herbert A.  Simon

1980 - Lawrence Robert Klein

1985 - Franco Modigliani

1987  - Robert M. Solow

1990 - Harry Markowitz

1990 - Merton  Miller

1992 - Gary Becker

1993 - Robert  Fogel

Medicine:

1908 - Elie  Metchnikoff

1908 - Paul Erlich

1914 - Robert Barany

1922 - Otto  Meyerhof

1930 - Karl Landsteiner

1931 - Otto Warburg

1936 - Otto  Loewi

1944 - Joseph Erlanger

1944 - Herbert Spencer Gasser

1945 -  Ernst Boris Chain

1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller

1950 - Tadeus  Reichstein

1952 - Selman Abraham Waksman

1953 - Hans Krebs

1953 -  Fritz Albert Lipmann

1958 - Joshua Lederberg

1959 - Arthur  Kornberg

1964 - Konrad Bloch

1965 - Francois Jacob

1965 - Andre  Lwoff

1967 - George Wald

1968 - Marshall W. Nirenberg

1969 -  Salvador Luria

1970 - Julius Axelrod

1970 - Sir Bernard Katz

1972  - Gerald Maurice Edelman

1975 - Howard Martin Temin

1976 - Baruch S.  Blumberg

1977 - Roselyn Sussman Yalow

1978 - Daniel Nathans

1980  - Baruj Benacerraf

1984 - Cesar Milstein

1985 - Michael Stuart  Brown

1985 - Joseph L. Goldstein

1986 - Stanley Cohen [& Rita  Levi-Montalcini]

1988 - Gertrude Elion

1989 - Harold Varmus

1991  - Erwin Neher

1991 - Bert Sakmann

1993 - Richard J. Roberts

1993  - Phillip Sharp

1994 - Alfred Gilman

1995 - Edward B. Lewis

1996-  Lu RoseIacovino

TOTAL: 129!

The Jews are NOT  promoting brainwashing children in military training camps, teaching them  how to blow themselves up and cause maximum deaths of Jews and other  non-Muslims.

The Jews don't hijack planes, nor kill  athletes at the Olympics, or blow themselves up in German  restaurants.

There is NOT one single Jew who has destroyed a  church.

There is NOT a single Jew who protests by killing  people. The Jews don't traffic slaves, nor have leaders calling for Jihad  and death to all the Infidels.

Perhaps the world's Muslims  should consider investing more in standard education and less in blaming  the Jews for all their problems.

Muslims must ask 'what can they do  for humankind' before they demand that humankind respects  them.

Regardless of your feelings about the crisis between Israel  and the Palestinians and Arab neighbors, even if you believe there is more  culpability on Israel 's part, the following two sentences really say it  all:

'If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no  more violence.

If the Jews put down their  weapons today, there would be no more Israel."

Benjamin Netanyahu:  General Eisenhower warned us. It is a matter of history that when the  Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, found  the victims of the death camps he ordered all possible photographs to be  taken, and for the German people from surrounding villages to be ushered  through the camps and even made to bury the dead.

He did this  because he said in words to this effect: 'Get it all on record now - get  the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the road of history  some bastard will get up and say that this never  happened'

Recently, the UK debated whether to remove The Holocaust  from its school curriculum because it 'offends' the Muslim  population which claims it never occurred.

It is not  removed as yet. However, this is a frightening portent of the fear that is  gripping the world and how easily each country is giving into  it.

It is now more than 65 years after the Second World War in  Europe ended.

Now, more than ever, with Iran, among others,  claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it is imperative to make sure the  world never forgets.

Do you interpret the words of Jesus literally?

Someone may say that  Jesus is advocating self-mutilation with words like this:

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear
it out and throw it away!
--Matthew 5:22

However, we see that we need to interpret this verse in light of the fact that  Jesus uses hyperbole:

You blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
--Matthew 23:24

The words of Jesus have to be interpreted the way they were intended to be understood.

An overview of Islam: Why was Hell created? *

Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
--Matthew 25:41

Jesus points out that hell was created for the devil and his angels, and some people are sent there also.  This is no coincidence.

The purpose of Satan's rebellion was to try to overthrow Gods's rule by unleashing evil on an inexpressibly vast scale into God's creation that previously only knew goodness.  This was a premeditated and well-understood act.  Hell is the just and fitting punishment for this: for Satan and the angels that joined in his rebellion.

However, naïve humanity was tricked into joining in on this evil scheme.  It is because of this entanglement with that rebellion, that we are separated from God and in need of salvation.

Trinity: Typical Muslim Attacks on Jesus as a man and God +

As soon as the conversation turns to "Jesus is God", you can expect a flood of questions that can catch unprepared Christians off-guard.

1)
Muslims believe that it is undignified for God to become a man.   This set of questions may be  asked graphically or euphemistically to various degrees:

Q: Is it is befitting that God should take on human characteristics
Q: Does your god use bathroom?
Q: Was your god born from the private parts of a woman?

A: Yes, absolutely, all the above and more!

The extreme measures God took to save humanity from sin shows God's love for us, and shows how big or problem with sin is.
Jesus fully took part in the human condition.
Jesus paid a big price to redeem us for sin.
God did not just ignore our sin and pretend it did not happen.
Our salvation was expensive!  There is a penalty for sin that must be paid.

[We] were bought with a price.
--1 Cor 6:20

The Word became flesh
and took up residence among us.
We observed His glory,
the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
--John 1:14

[Jesus] was tempted in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.
--Hebrews 4:15

2)
Q:Can God die? Did your god die?
Q: Jesus died, therefore he cannot be God.

A:Jesus died, but that does not mean he stopped existing.    "Death" means he was separated from his body. Jesus still kept on ministering after his resurrection.

3)
Q: Could you become God?
A: No, I am a human being.
Q: Was Jesus a human being?
A: Yes.
Q: Then how could Jesus be God?

With God all things are possible.
--Matt 19:26
Our God is able take on human form and live with us as a man.


4)
Q: Do you believe Jesus was God or that he was sent by God?
A: Both.
Q: Why is God is all-knowing, by definition, but Jesus was not?  For example:
Concerning that day or hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son—except the Father.
 --Mark 13:32
A: Jesus is not all-knowing because:
he emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
--Phil 2:7

5)
Q: God does what he wants, Jesus did not.  For example:
I can do nothing on My own. I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
--John 5:30

A: Jesus did God's will:
being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.
--Phil 2:8

6)
Q: Jesus prayed to God. why should God pray?
A: Jesus prayed because he became human like us.

All these show the Muslims' initial definition of God needs to be revised.
When God reveals himself for how he is, Muslims complain that God does not meet their preconceptions of what God should be like.

Is there Compulsion In Christianity?

No, there is no compulsion in Christianity.  It is fundamentally contrary to Christianity in many ways.

The Bible has this very definitive verse:

God is love.
-- 1 John 4:8

Love is also the greatest commandment in Christianity:

 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all 
your soul, 
and with all your mind, 
and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 
The second is like this, 
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
--Mark 12:30-31

Is it possible to force (or use compulsion) to love you?  No, absolutely not!  That is not love.

Love is contrary to compulsion.  It is impossible to force someone to love you, and if love is out of incentive, then is it out of true love?

What is God seeking then?

“But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
--John 4:23

To worship in spirit and in truth is the opposite of compulsion.

Therefore Christianity generally does not have prescribed rituals:

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
-- 2 Cor 3:17

Love is a very individual response and cannot be confined to ceremonial actions.
That is the opposite of that fake forced worship that Muslims do.

Question for Muslims:
Is there compulsion in Islam?  Are Muslims free to convert to Christianity in majority-Muslim countries without fear of harm?

What does "Mohamed" mean? --

"Mohammed" means "Praised one"--referring to the prophet himself.

All the Old Testament prophets have a name that describes an attribute of God.  For example, Joshua means God (or Yahweh) saves.

Did any of the the prophets in the Bible have names that brought glory to themselves?  I don't know of any.

[All this copied to another article. ]

Why don't Christians take their shoes off when entering Church?

Muslims point out they take off their shoes like Moses did in the presence of God.

This reminds me of what Jesus said of the Pharisees:

Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.
--Luke 11:39

True Christianity emphasizes an inward spirituality, not an outward show.

Some Muslims say that Jesus was acting like a Muslim when he says: “Peace be unto you”, when he appeared to his disciples them after his resurrection (John 20:19)

Actually, it is the other way around. When Muslims greet each other they are acting like Jesus in a superficial way.

If Jesus is God, then why does he say "The Father is greater than I"?

Muslims often point out that Jesus is not God because he said, "The Father is greater than I".
To them this is proof that Jesus is not divine.

You have heard Me tell you, 
‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ 
If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.
--John 14:28

And yet one wonders why Jesus had to point this out.  I know that I have never felt the need to clarify on this point.

If this means that Jesus was only a human prophet then what does it mean three chapter later Jesus prays:

And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
--John 17:5

This says that Jesus had glory along side the Father in eternity.  How can this be?

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
--Philippians 2:4-11

Most scholars agree that Paul is quoting an early Christian hymn in this passage.

Here is a video that answers this by Sam Shamun:
https://youtu.be/VzBesvLK5bE

John the Baptist: A fore-runner of Christian Martyrs under the Anti-Christ

In the Bible, John the Baptist was beheaded for speaking out against sin.  He is the only person mentioned by name who is beheaded in the New Testament.

Interestingly the martyrs in the book of Revelations are specifically called out as being beheaded under the Anti-Christ.

Then I saw thrones, and people seated on them who were given authority to judge. I also saw the people who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of God’s word, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and who had not accepted the mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with the Messiah for 1,000 years.
--Revelations 20:4

Beheading is one of Islam's sanctioned ways of executing people.

It is ironic (as well as prophetic) that they respect John the Baptist as one of the prophets, and yet prefer the same style of execution that he suffered.

Why Does Islam not have Female Imams?

Why do women become Muslim when they don't have female Imams?

If a female Muslim is called a Muslima, then what would a female Imam be called?
An Imama?  Pronounced "e-MAMA"?

Seriously now.  The Bible documents many women in ministry including female prophets.  A small sample are found on my page here:

http://simpleargumentsversusislam.blogspot.com/2013/10/holy-books-named-after-women.html