| Traditional Roman Catholicism |
 |  |  |  |  |
Before we begin to examine the Gospel proofs for the Divinity of Jesus, we should look back to the old testament to see if He was
foretold by the prophets of old.
Since the time of the Prophet Daniel " Son of Man" is the name of the Messias, the anointed envoy of God and the Savior of the
world. " I beheld in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the
Ancient of Days, and they presented before him. And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom ; and all peoples, tribes and tongues
shall serve him ; his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed."
( Dan. 7: 13-14).
It was foretold that Jesus would be King and Lord in the Psalms
( Ps.2 ; Ps 44 ; Ps 109). He would also come as a Priest (Ps. 109:4), as a prophet ( Dt. 18: 15-18) , as a shepherd ( Ez. 34:23 ) , as a
suffering servant of God ( Is. 53 ). Of course we see in Is.7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel". Emmanuel meaning "God With Us".
Let us now examine the Gospels:
Jesus is the Son of God:
1. Testimony of Christ Himself:
"Tell us if thou be the Christ the Son of God. Jesus saith to him: Thou hast said it." And the response of the high priest: "He hath
blasphemed." (Matt. 26:63-4)
There are those who, in willful disregard of Jewish idiomatic usage, are blind enough to insist that Our Lord was denying His divinity with
this answer: "Thou hast said it." The truth is the contrary. This form of reply was the most emphatic way a Jew could respond in the
affirmative. If it were a denial then why did Caiphas consider it blasphemy? Saint Mark, who wrote his gospel in Greek, transmits the
exchange without the idiom:
"Art thou the Christ the Son of the blessed God? Jesus said to him; I am." (Mark 14:61-2)
To the man born blind: "Dost thou believe in the Son of God? ... Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?" To which Jesus replied:
"Thou hast both seen him: and it is he that talketh with thee." (John 9:34-35)
2. Testimony of the Father
At the baptism of Our Lord: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 3:13)
At the Savior's transfiguration: "This is my most beloved Son, hear ye him." (Mark 9:6)
3. Testimony of Saint Peter: "Thou are Christ the Son of the living God." (Matt. 16:15)
4. Testimony of Saint Martha: "Yea, Lord, I have believed that thou art Christ the Son of the living God." (John 11:27)
5. Testimony of Nathaniel: "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the king of Israel." (John 1:49)
6. Testimony of Saint Mark: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." (Mark 1:1)
An important aside: Note that Saint Peter was not the first to testify to Christ's divinity. Saints Martha and Nathaniel made the same
profession before the apostle did. And, in fact, there were many others who rendered Him adoration as the Scriptures do tell. Yet, it was
not upon Martha or Nathaniel or upon any other that Jesus chose to build his Church. Nor did the Savior change the name of any other
but Simon bar Jona to that of Cephas, which is translated as 'Petros'(rock). Hence, Protestants err greatly when they allege that it was
not Peter but Peter's faith that Christ willed to build his Church upon. For Faith does not exist except in the hearts of men. So the
Church, being a visible society, would of necessity be built not upon Faith - as an abstract virtue - but upon a faithful man.
7. Testimony of the wicked spirits:
"And the unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him: and they cried, saying: Thou art the Son of God. And he strictly
charged them that they should not make him known." (Mark 3: 11-12)
Jesus Called God
For all those who claim that nobody called Jesus , "God" , in the Bible I offer the following compilation of quotes directly from Holy
Scripture:
1. Upon seeing the risen Christ, the doubting apostle Thomas exclaimed: "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28)
2. "Looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and Our Savior, Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:13)
Saint Paul is referring here to the second coming of Christ in "glory," in contradistinction to His first coming in humility and meekness.
The "great God" and "our Savior" are both predicated to the same Person, Jesus Christ.
3. "And we know that the Son of God is come: and he hath given understanding that we may know the true God, and may be in his true
Son. This is the true God and life eternal." (1 John 5:20)
Saint John's two epistles and the introduction of the first chapter of his gospel (the last of his writings chronologically) were written to
refute the incredulous gnostics who, thinking to honor Christ as a mere man, they dissolved Him of His divinity, thus meriting for
themselves this severe condemnation from the beloved apostle: "And every spirit that dissolveth Jesus is not of God: and this is
Antichrist ..." (1 John 4:3)
In chapter five of his epistle given above Saint John makes use of the demonstrative pronoun "this" in reference to its antecedent "true
Son." God and "life eternal" are interchangeable. Thus we find at the start of the same letter the concept "life eternal" supposited for Son
of God: "We declare unto you the life eternal which was with the Father, and hath appeared to us" (1 John 1:2)
Jesus = Son of God = life eternal = true God
4. "From whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all things God blessed forever." (Romans 9:5)
5. "In this we have known the charity of God, because He hath laid down his life for us ..." (1 John 3:16)
It is Christ then, Who is "over all," and Christ Who is "God blessed forever." Whose love was made known by Our Lord's sacrificial
death? God's love, says Saint John. Therefore God laid down His life for us. God was hung upon the cross at Calvary. Could the two
apostles have made themselves more clear?
6. "Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, 'God with
us.' (Matt. 1:23 & Isa. 7:14)
7. "Say to the fainthearted: Take courage ... God himself will come and will save you." (Isaias 35:4)
8. "For a child is born to us and a son is given to us ... and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God the Mighty, the Father of
the world to come, Prince of Peace." (Isaias 9:6)
The Claims Of Jesus
I often hear the claim of non -Christians that Jesus never claimed to be the Messias. Let us see what Holy Scripture actually says.
Our Lord claimed to be God, the judge of all men: " When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the Angels with him, he will sit down
upon the throne of his glory and all nations shall be gathered into his presence.... ( Matt. 12:8 )
Jesus claimed to be all-powerful, a Divine person, equal to the Father in power, and to be in fact, God the son:
" All power is given to me in heaven and in earth" (Matt.28:18). " All things are delivered to me by the Father; and no one knoweth who
the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and to whom the Son will reveal him." ( Luke 10:22)
On the occasion of His trial before the High Priest, Jesus was asked: " Art thou the Christ, the son of the blessed God? Jesus said to
him I am." The priest understood this as blasphemy: "He has blasphemed." (Mark 14:61-64; Matt. 26:63-66) What was the blasphemy if
not that Jesus claimed to be the true Son of God? In John chapter 8 verse 58 Our Lord makes a similar claim when He says : " Before
Abraham was made I am." We also read from Saint John:
" For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and giveth life: so the Son also giveth life to whomsoever He will." (John 5:22-23). " Now glorify
thou me, O Father, with Thyself.... all my things are thine, and thine are mine." (John 17:5,10).
It is clear too, that the Jews understood Jesus to be claiming to be God:
" But for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." (John 10:33) Before Pilate : " The Jews answered him:
We have a law; and according to the law, he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God." (John 19:7)
Our Lord also did certain acts which are in themselves an implicit claim to the Divinity. He forgave sins as of His own independent
power: " Son, thy sins are forgiven thee." But the scribes who were present thought to themselves, " Who can forgive sins, but God
only.... " But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on heaven and earth to forgive sins...." (Mark 2:5-12). To Mary
Magdalen: " Thy sins are forgiven." (Luke 8:48).
Christ Performed Real Miracles
He performed actions which the powers of human nature cannot perform, actions which make an exception to all the laws of Creation.
He performed such actions often; He performed them in the full light of day, in the streets, in public places, in the presence of His
friends, before immense crowds, under the scrutinizing gaze of His enemies. His contemporaries never called these miracles in question;
His enemies attributed them to the influence of evil spirits. They are so intimately connected with the other facts of His life, with His
preaching, passion and death, that they cannot be eliminated without destroying the whole Gospel narrative. Christ worked many
miracles, many of them before hundreds or thousands of witnesses such as the multiplications of the loaves, walking on water, calming
the seas, curing the sick and the resurrection of Lazarus.
Christ Foretold the Future
There are other proofs of the Divinity of Christ, which is summarized for the sake of completeness. another proof is His prophecies. He
showed by them that He had knowledge of the future, which could have been possessed by any mere man. In astonishing detail, He
foretold His Passion, Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven; He foretold His betrayal by Judas, His denial by Peter and His desertion
by all the disciples; He foretold the growth of His Church , its persecution and its triumphs over the powers of Hell. Again, in
extraordinary detail, He described the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jewish people. By His prophecies, therefore,
Jesus Christ proved Himself to be God.
The Crown of All Miracles, His Own Resurrection
As a witness to His divinity, the resurrection has a threefold value: it is not only a miracle, but also the fullfillment of a prophecy, and it
was the preaching of the Gospel of the Resurrection that converted the world to the Religion of Christ.
Fulfillment of a prophecy:
To His disciples Jesus said: " The Son of Man shall be betrayed to the chief priests and scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death,
and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to be mocked, and scourged, and crucified, and the third day He shall rise again" (Matt. 20: 18-19)
When His enemies demanded proof of His Messianic mission, Jesus answered: " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
But He spoke of the temple of His body. (John 2:19). After His crucifixion His enemies remembered His words and asked Pilate to guard
His sepulcher until the third day, " lest perhaps His disciples come and steal Him away and say to the people: he is risen from the dead"
(Matt 27: 63-64).
The Resurrection of Christ is an Historical Fact.
" Joseph taking the body...... laid it in his own new monument...... and he rolled a great stone to the door of the monument.....And when
the sabbath past, Mary Magdlane, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought sweet spices, that coming they might anoint
Jesus. Very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen.... And looking, they saw
the stone rolled back. For it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with
a white robe: and they were astonished. Who saith to them: Be not affrighted; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he is
risen, he is not here" ..... some of the guards reached the city, and told the chief priests of all that befell. These gathered the elders to
take counsel, and offered a rich bribe to the soldiers, " saying: Say you, His disciples came by night, and stole him away when we were
asleep." The soldiers took the bribe, and did as they were instructed: and this is the tale which has gone abroad among Jews, to this
day. (Matt. 27: 59-60; Mark 16:1-6; Matt. 28:13).
Therefore, it cannot be denied that Christ's body was put into the tomb on the Friday night of His death; nor can it be denied that it
was not there on the next Sunday morning. similarly, it cannot be denied that Christ appeared to many after His death: " The Lord is
risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.... he other disciples therefore said to him(Thomas) We have seen the Lord" (Luke 24:34;
John 20:25 , etc.).
Saint Paul, writing thirty years later, mentions it as an undoubted fact, know to all and witnessed by numbers of people who were still
alive: " For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received: How tat Christ according to the Scriptures, died..... was buried, and
then...... rose again on the third day: That He was seen by Cephas (Peter) ; and after that by the eleven, then he was seen by more than
five hundred brethren at once: of whom many remain until this present." (1 Cor. 15:3-6). "He ate and drank and conversed with us,
before our eyes He was taken up to Heaven. Stephan saw Him standing at the right hand of God; in the splendor of celestial glory He
appeared to Saul."
This is the unwavering testimony of the Apostles to the resurrection and the glorified life of Jesus. If their testimony is not true, what
testimony is true? If we doubt the simple, definite, unanimous story of the Evangelists, the blood sealed testimony of the Apostles, can
we believe anything ?
The Resurrection Converted the World.
The Death and Resurrection of Christ is the central theme of the Gospel preached by the Apostles. The world became Christian by
believing in the Resurrection. Without the Resurrection Christianity would have been an event more miraculous than the Resurrection
itself. For their faith in the resurrection the martyrs went to torture and death. When the romans asked them: " How can you adore as
God a man who was crucified as a malefactor ? they replied: " He was crucified indeed, and was dead; but He rose from the tomb, and
that proves His Divinity."
The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus ( A.D. 37-100 )
I offer this little testimony from a non-Christian source, Flavius Josephus speaks of Christ in his Jewish Antiquities. In book XVIII , 3 he
writes:
"At this time appeared Jesus , a wise man, if it be right to call him a man, for he worked miracles. he was the teacher of men who
received the truth with joy, and He drew after Him many Jews and many Greeks. He was the Christ. On the denunciation of the first men
of our nation, Pilate condemned Him to the cross; but those who loved Him from the beginning did not cease to love Him. For He
appeared to them risen on the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold concerning Him, as also a thousand other marvels about
Him. The sect which receives from Him the name of Christians exists even to this day."
foretold by the prophets of old.
Since the time of the Prophet Daniel " Son of Man" is the name of the Messias, the anointed envoy of God and the Savior of the
world. " I beheld in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the
Ancient of Days, and they presented before him. And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom ; and all peoples, tribes and tongues
shall serve him ; his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed."
( Dan. 7: 13-14).
It was foretold that Jesus would be King and Lord in the Psalms
( Ps.2 ; Ps 44 ; Ps 109). He would also come as a Priest (Ps. 109:4), as a prophet ( Dt. 18: 15-18) , as a shepherd ( Ez. 34:23 ) , as a
suffering servant of God ( Is. 53 ). Of course we see in Is.7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel". Emmanuel meaning "God With Us".
Let us now examine the Gospels:
Jesus is the Son of God:
1. Testimony of Christ Himself:
"Tell us if thou be the Christ the Son of God. Jesus saith to him: Thou hast said it." And the response of the high priest: "He hath
blasphemed." (Matt. 26:63-4)
There are those who, in willful disregard of Jewish idiomatic usage, are blind enough to insist that Our Lord was denying His divinity with
this answer: "Thou hast said it." The truth is the contrary. This form of reply was the most emphatic way a Jew could respond in the
affirmative. If it were a denial then why did Caiphas consider it blasphemy? Saint Mark, who wrote his gospel in Greek, transmits the
exchange without the idiom:
"Art thou the Christ the Son of the blessed God? Jesus said to him; I am." (Mark 14:61-2)
To the man born blind: "Dost thou believe in the Son of God? ... Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?" To which Jesus replied:
"Thou hast both seen him: and it is he that talketh with thee." (John 9:34-35)
2. Testimony of the Father
At the baptism of Our Lord: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 3:13)
At the Savior's transfiguration: "This is my most beloved Son, hear ye him." (Mark 9:6)
3. Testimony of Saint Peter: "Thou are Christ the Son of the living God." (Matt. 16:15)
4. Testimony of Saint Martha: "Yea, Lord, I have believed that thou art Christ the Son of the living God." (John 11:27)
5. Testimony of Nathaniel: "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the king of Israel." (John 1:49)
6. Testimony of Saint Mark: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." (Mark 1:1)
An important aside: Note that Saint Peter was not the first to testify to Christ's divinity. Saints Martha and Nathaniel made the same
profession before the apostle did. And, in fact, there were many others who rendered Him adoration as the Scriptures do tell. Yet, it was
not upon Martha or Nathaniel or upon any other that Jesus chose to build his Church. Nor did the Savior change the name of any other
but Simon bar Jona to that of Cephas, which is translated as 'Petros'(rock). Hence, Protestants err greatly when they allege that it was
not Peter but Peter's faith that Christ willed to build his Church upon. For Faith does not exist except in the hearts of men. So the
Church, being a visible society, would of necessity be built not upon Faith - as an abstract virtue - but upon a faithful man.
7. Testimony of the wicked spirits:
"And the unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him: and they cried, saying: Thou art the Son of God. And he strictly
charged them that they should not make him known." (Mark 3: 11-12)
Jesus Called God
For all those who claim that nobody called Jesus , "God" , in the Bible I offer the following compilation of quotes directly from Holy
Scripture:
1. Upon seeing the risen Christ, the doubting apostle Thomas exclaimed: "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28)
2. "Looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and Our Savior, Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:13)
Saint Paul is referring here to the second coming of Christ in "glory," in contradistinction to His first coming in humility and meekness.
The "great God" and "our Savior" are both predicated to the same Person, Jesus Christ.
3. "And we know that the Son of God is come: and he hath given understanding that we may know the true God, and may be in his true
Son. This is the true God and life eternal." (1 John 5:20)
Saint John's two epistles and the introduction of the first chapter of his gospel (the last of his writings chronologically) were written to
refute the incredulous gnostics who, thinking to honor Christ as a mere man, they dissolved Him of His divinity, thus meriting for
themselves this severe condemnation from the beloved apostle: "And every spirit that dissolveth Jesus is not of God: and this is
Antichrist ..." (1 John 4:3)
In chapter five of his epistle given above Saint John makes use of the demonstrative pronoun "this" in reference to its antecedent "true
Son." God and "life eternal" are interchangeable. Thus we find at the start of the same letter the concept "life eternal" supposited for Son
of God: "We declare unto you the life eternal which was with the Father, and hath appeared to us" (1 John 1:2)
Jesus = Son of God = life eternal = true God
4. "From whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all things God blessed forever." (Romans 9:5)
5. "In this we have known the charity of God, because He hath laid down his life for us ..." (1 John 3:16)
It is Christ then, Who is "over all," and Christ Who is "God blessed forever." Whose love was made known by Our Lord's sacrificial
death? God's love, says Saint John. Therefore God laid down His life for us. God was hung upon the cross at Calvary. Could the two
apostles have made themselves more clear?
6. "Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, 'God with
us.' (Matt. 1:23 & Isa. 7:14)
7. "Say to the fainthearted: Take courage ... God himself will come and will save you." (Isaias 35:4)
8. "For a child is born to us and a son is given to us ... and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God the Mighty, the Father of
the world to come, Prince of Peace." (Isaias 9:6)
The Claims Of Jesus
I often hear the claim of non -Christians that Jesus never claimed to be the Messias. Let us see what Holy Scripture actually says.
Our Lord claimed to be God, the judge of all men: " When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the Angels with him, he will sit down
upon the throne of his glory and all nations shall be gathered into his presence.... ( Matt. 12:8 )
Jesus claimed to be all-powerful, a Divine person, equal to the Father in power, and to be in fact, God the son:
" All power is given to me in heaven and in earth" (Matt.28:18). " All things are delivered to me by the Father; and no one knoweth who
the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and to whom the Son will reveal him." ( Luke 10:22)
On the occasion of His trial before the High Priest, Jesus was asked: " Art thou the Christ, the son of the blessed God? Jesus said to
him I am." The priest understood this as blasphemy: "He has blasphemed." (Mark 14:61-64; Matt. 26:63-66) What was the blasphemy if
not that Jesus claimed to be the true Son of God? In John chapter 8 verse 58 Our Lord makes a similar claim when He says : " Before
Abraham was made I am." We also read from Saint John:
" For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and giveth life: so the Son also giveth life to whomsoever He will." (John 5:22-23). " Now glorify
thou me, O Father, with Thyself.... all my things are thine, and thine are mine." (John 17:5,10).
It is clear too, that the Jews understood Jesus to be claiming to be God:
" But for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." (John 10:33) Before Pilate : " The Jews answered him:
We have a law; and according to the law, he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God." (John 19:7)
Our Lord also did certain acts which are in themselves an implicit claim to the Divinity. He forgave sins as of His own independent
power: " Son, thy sins are forgiven thee." But the scribes who were present thought to themselves, " Who can forgive sins, but God
only.... " But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on heaven and earth to forgive sins...." (Mark 2:5-12). To Mary
Magdalen: " Thy sins are forgiven." (Luke 8:48).
Christ Performed Real Miracles
He performed actions which the powers of human nature cannot perform, actions which make an exception to all the laws of Creation.
He performed such actions often; He performed them in the full light of day, in the streets, in public places, in the presence of His
friends, before immense crowds, under the scrutinizing gaze of His enemies. His contemporaries never called these miracles in question;
His enemies attributed them to the influence of evil spirits. They are so intimately connected with the other facts of His life, with His
preaching, passion and death, that they cannot be eliminated without destroying the whole Gospel narrative. Christ worked many
miracles, many of them before hundreds or thousands of witnesses such as the multiplications of the loaves, walking on water, calming
the seas, curing the sick and the resurrection of Lazarus.
Christ Foretold the Future
There are other proofs of the Divinity of Christ, which is summarized for the sake of completeness. another proof is His prophecies. He
showed by them that He had knowledge of the future, which could have been possessed by any mere man. In astonishing detail, He
foretold His Passion, Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven; He foretold His betrayal by Judas, His denial by Peter and His desertion
by all the disciples; He foretold the growth of His Church , its persecution and its triumphs over the powers of Hell. Again, in
extraordinary detail, He described the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jewish people. By His prophecies, therefore,
Jesus Christ proved Himself to be God.
The Crown of All Miracles, His Own Resurrection
As a witness to His divinity, the resurrection has a threefold value: it is not only a miracle, but also the fullfillment of a prophecy, and it
was the preaching of the Gospel of the Resurrection that converted the world to the Religion of Christ.
Fulfillment of a prophecy:
To His disciples Jesus said: " The Son of Man shall be betrayed to the chief priests and scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death,
and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to be mocked, and scourged, and crucified, and the third day He shall rise again" (Matt. 20: 18-19)
When His enemies demanded proof of His Messianic mission, Jesus answered: " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
But He spoke of the temple of His body. (John 2:19). After His crucifixion His enemies remembered His words and asked Pilate to guard
His sepulcher until the third day, " lest perhaps His disciples come and steal Him away and say to the people: he is risen from the dead"
(Matt 27: 63-64).
The Resurrection of Christ is an Historical Fact.
" Joseph taking the body...... laid it in his own new monument...... and he rolled a great stone to the door of the monument.....And when
the sabbath past, Mary Magdlane, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought sweet spices, that coming they might anoint
Jesus. Very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen.... And looking, they saw
the stone rolled back. For it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with
a white robe: and they were astonished. Who saith to them: Be not affrighted; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he is
risen, he is not here" ..... some of the guards reached the city, and told the chief priests of all that befell. These gathered the elders to
take counsel, and offered a rich bribe to the soldiers, " saying: Say you, His disciples came by night, and stole him away when we were
asleep." The soldiers took the bribe, and did as they were instructed: and this is the tale which has gone abroad among Jews, to this
day. (Matt. 27: 59-60; Mark 16:1-6; Matt. 28:13).
Therefore, it cannot be denied that Christ's body was put into the tomb on the Friday night of His death; nor can it be denied that it
was not there on the next Sunday morning. similarly, it cannot be denied that Christ appeared to many after His death: " The Lord is
risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.... he other disciples therefore said to him(Thomas) We have seen the Lord" (Luke 24:34;
John 20:25 , etc.).
Saint Paul, writing thirty years later, mentions it as an undoubted fact, know to all and witnessed by numbers of people who were still
alive: " For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received: How tat Christ according to the Scriptures, died..... was buried, and
then...... rose again on the third day: That He was seen by Cephas (Peter) ; and after that by the eleven, then he was seen by more than
five hundred brethren at once: of whom many remain until this present." (1 Cor. 15:3-6). "He ate and drank and conversed with us,
before our eyes He was taken up to Heaven. Stephan saw Him standing at the right hand of God; in the splendor of celestial glory He
appeared to Saul."
This is the unwavering testimony of the Apostles to the resurrection and the glorified life of Jesus. If their testimony is not true, what
testimony is true? If we doubt the simple, definite, unanimous story of the Evangelists, the blood sealed testimony of the Apostles, can
we believe anything ?
The Resurrection Converted the World.
The Death and Resurrection of Christ is the central theme of the Gospel preached by the Apostles. The world became Christian by
believing in the Resurrection. Without the Resurrection Christianity would have been an event more miraculous than the Resurrection
itself. For their faith in the resurrection the martyrs went to torture and death. When the romans asked them: " How can you adore as
God a man who was crucified as a malefactor ? they replied: " He was crucified indeed, and was dead; but He rose from the tomb, and
that proves His Divinity."
The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus ( A.D. 37-100 )
I offer this little testimony from a non-Christian source, Flavius Josephus speaks of Christ in his Jewish Antiquities. In book XVIII , 3 he
writes:
"At this time appeared Jesus , a wise man, if it be right to call him a man, for he worked miracles. he was the teacher of men who
received the truth with joy, and He drew after Him many Jews and many Greeks. He was the Christ. On the denunciation of the first men
of our nation, Pilate condemned Him to the cross; but those who loved Him from the beginning did not cease to love Him. For He
appeared to them risen on the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold concerning Him, as also a thousand other marvels about
Him. The sect which receives from Him the name of Christians exists even to this day."
The Divinity of Jesus Christ