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Questions — List | 1 - 5 | 6 - 10 | 11 - 15 | 16 - 20 | 21 - 24
- Who killed Jesus? | written by Tim Jackson
There has been much discussion provoked by The Passion of the Christ as to who is responsible for killing Jesus. Some have accused Mel Gibson of being anti-Semitic because the film portrays the Jewish religious leadership demanding His crucifixion and the Roman soldiers carrying out Pilate’s execution order. Both are biblically and historically accurate. But is that all there is to the story?
In reality, we are all guilty for Christ’s death. It was our sin that put Him there. It was His love for us that kept Him there. The prophet Isaiah said it best some 600 years before Christ when he wrote, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
To symbolically underscore his own deep belief that it was his sin that was responsible for placing Christ on the cross, Gibson does appear in the film–his hand holds the nails driven into Jesus’ hands. In this case, his hands are representative of the reality that it was the sins of all of us that put Him there.
For further reading in this area, please read Mart De Haan’s e-mail newsletter, Who Killed Jesus?
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- Did Jesus rise from the dead? | written by Tim Jackson
The final scene of The Passion of the Christ is an understated but powerful image of resurrection. For some who view the film and are not familiar with the New Testament story of Jesus, the idea of someone coming back from the dead may seem more like science fiction and fantasy than reality. That’s quite understandable.
To explore the evidence that the New Testament offers on the resurrection of Jesus, take a look at our booklet, Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead?
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- Is it possible that the gospel account of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, as portrayed in The Passion of the Christ is a lie concocted by the church? | written by Dan Vander Lugt
A recent bestseller, The DaVinci Code, portrays Jesus as a goddess-worshiping pagan, and pretends that His story was deliberately altered to fit the purposes of a patriarchal Catholic church. Modern opponents of the gospel use many different strategies to undermine confidence in the gospel record, from denying that Jesus even existed to redefining Him in a manner that contradicts every thing He did and said.
Many who deny the gospel accounts of Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection are apparently unaware of the actual manuscript evidence and the apostolic foundation of the New Testament. Along with many other first-generation Christians, the apostles personally witnessed supernatural events that corroborated and explained the things their Master told them during His brief ministry (John 15:27; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Hebrews 2:3; 1 John 1:1-10). In fact, the basic qualification for apostleship was companionship with Christ, including contact with Him after His resurrection (Acts 1:21-22; 4:33). Although not “philosophers” or highly educated men by worldly standards, the apostles’ personal exposure to the supernatural evidence for Jesus Christ’s identity and authority gave them compelling credibility. They could easily see through any description of Jesus Christ and His ministry that was distorted or misleading. Only witnesses of such stature, people who had literally lived and walked with God, would be able to establish a doctrinal basis for the church that could stand the test of time and the opposition of the devil.
The apostle Paul is a striking example. Without the approval of the other apostles, Paul would never have been accepted as an authoritative teacher and apostle. His supernatural encounter with the resurrected Christ, and his testimony of his experience on the road to Damascus (along with his interpretation of his experience), were judged by the apostles as genuine. Paul and Matthias both derived their authority directly from Christ (Acts 1:24; Romans 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:1). They were accepted by the other apostles but not appointed by them.
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- What evidence supports the reliability of the New Testament? | written by Dan Vander Lugt
The New Testament canon was officially established in its final form by the third council of Carthage in 397. However, almost all of its 27 books were accepted as authoritative from the very beginning.
First-century Christians circulated documents either written or approved by the apostles that contained descriptions of Jesus' life and teaching. These documents often quoted from each other and presented the same message from different perspectives and in different styles. Hundreds of “gospels” were written, but the church quickly rejected spurious documents and established the authority of those that were genuine.
To gain canonical recognition, a document was expected to pass two tests. First, it had to have a history of “continuous and widespread approval amongst Christians” (J. W. Wenham, Christ and the Bible). Second, it was expected to demonstrate that it had either been written by an apostle or specifically approved by the apostles. The fact that the Muratorian Canon (approximately AD 170 ) listed all of the books in the New Testament except for Hebrews, James, and the two epistles of Peter, is another demonstration of the early, broad-based support for the canon. Another example (and many others could be given) is provided by the second-century theologian, Irenaeus. He quoted the four gospels extensively and included quotations from all of the New Testament books except Philemon and 3 John. Actually, the fact that a few books were received officially by the church at a later date is more a demonstration of the church’s discretion and caution than it is an indication that these books are in some way unreliable.
A well-known theologian once said that the church no more created the New Testament canon than Newton created the basic principles of physics. The earliest writings of the church fathers demonstrate their confidence in the authority of the New Testament Scriptures.
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