JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

"Archeology has not yet said its last word, but the results already achieved
confirm what faith would suggest, that the Bible can do nothing but gain
from an increase in knowledge."32
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The four biographies of Christ (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) were written within the
lifetime of Jesus' contemporaries (no later than A.D. 90). This means that there simply was not
enough time for myth and legend to accrue and distort historical facts. A. N. Sherwin-White, a
scholar of Ancient Roman and Greek History at Oxford, has studied the rate at which legend
accumulated in the ancient world, using the writings of Herodotus as a test case. He contends
that even a span of two generations is not sufficient time for legend to wipe out a solid core of
historical facts. The story of Jesus, as we have seen, was established well within that length of
time.
It would be incredible for a mere legend about Christ to have gained the circulation and
to have had the impact it had, without a shred of basis. For someone to claim deity, to forgive
peoples' sins and to have risen from the dead is a story too wild and fantastic to get off the
ground if there were still people around who knew such a person.
Historical Evidence
There is a vast difference between non-Christian scriptures and the Christian Scriptures.
Zoroaster's "Avesta," the Confucian classics, Gautama's "Upanishads," the Mohammed's Koran,
and the Church of the Latter Day Saints' "Book of Mormon" are basically philosophical in
nature. It is true, however, that in the case of the Mormons, Joseph Smith makes claim to a
"historical" revelation by Jesus to him personally. These religions or cults contain the subjective
experiences and visions of their authors. It is from these mystic dreams and meditations that the
non-Christian scriptures derive their so-called "information" about the Creator of the world.
Since these are philosophical in nature, they are unverifiable. No one can confirm or deny
these subjective visions, for they exist primarily in the personal experiences of their authors. In
fact, in all these non-Christian religions (or cult in the case of the Mormons), the prophet is more
important than the god whom he claims to reveal. This is carried to its extreme in Buddhism,
which is really an atheistic technique for obtaining happiness, since Buddha virtually left out the
idea of god altogether.
Also, none of these religions claim that a personal relationship with the Creator of the
world is possible today. They emphasize their creed, their method, their opinions, but not man's
need or opportunity to get to know the Creator in a personal way.
Unlike all other religions of the world which provide visions, dreams and opinions which
cannot be verified, Judaism and Christianity, because they are historical religions, provide
historical facts which can be verified through archeology and through comparison with other