When I read a myth, I expect it to sound like a fairy tale. “Once upon a time, there was pretty princess who met a dashing prince and they fell in love and got married.” I will hold off the urge to write children’s books for now, but you get the idea. When someone picks up a copy of the Gospel of Luke – it doesn’t read anything like that at all. It sounds more like a history textbook.
“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”
This wasn’t written to the masses, it was written to a person who had questions. Countless souls have been blessed by Luke’s work and investigation but there is nothing made-up about his account.
Christianity has thousands of intersecting points with history. This has been documented by Paul Maier in his book In the Fullness of Time. The events of Christianity are real events in time. You can walk along the same streets where Jesus walked.
Let’s say for the sake of argument – that the gospel accounts were made up – maybe, just maybe, the gospel writers went to all the trouble to risk their lives, rather, repeatedly give their lives for an elaborate lie. If that’s true, these are some of the worst myths around?! Consider the start of Matthew 11. John ends his life in prison questioning if Jesus was really the promised Messiah – oh, and then he’s beheaded. Who writes a story like that?! That’s a terrible way to end. CS Lewis points out that if you want to walk down this bizarre path you are assuming that “some rather ordinary men invented a genre of literature, Realistic Historic Fiction, that would not appear again for some 1,800 years.”
Want to hear more, including the impact that eyewitnesses have on the veracity of Scripture? Watch this Sunday’s Bible class, a continuation in our series, Not Sorry – Apologetics: These Stories About Jesus Are Myth, Not History
Please click HERE to find the Bible class slides.