There’s a growing trend in the realm of skepticism to claim that there is no historical proof that Jesus ever existed in the first place. They believe the contents of the canonical Gospel narratives to have developed during the century following whatever may have actually happened in the first century that caused a group of men to scatter across the Roman Empire and start claiming that the Jewish Messiah had arrived, bringing the kind of Kingdom no one expected–one that would encompass all nations. Technically, the eyewitness accounts that initially testified of his life, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension are sufficient. But usually, only Christian believers and honest historians accept the four Gospels as historically reliable. Others demand supplementary evidence. There’s plenty. Until the late twentieth century, the evidence that currently stands satisfied the demands of historical scholarship. Now, some radical skeptics have imposed a double standard on Jesus and raised the bar, just so they can feel their arguments have more merit. When one’s argument is weak, sometimes the only way it can survive is by putting down the other side.

Anyway, I found an awesome series of YouTube videos presenting some of the major extra-biblical historical references that have provided the evidence for the existence of Jesus of Nazareth. It also defends these citations against common “skeptical interjections.” I think the man who made these did a terrific job. These videos were apparently produced by the folks who run a website called “The Divine Evidence.” I know little about them other than the good job they did in this video presentation, but you can read their “About Us” on the homepage for more info.

On with the show…