The Christian claim is that God has made himself an object of our observation. He began with Israel, working into their very history, culture, and religion the means by which to interpret and understand his ultimate self-disclosure in the appearance of Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus of Nazareth unlocks the meaning of the Old Testament in ways no one else does even as the Old Testament reveals the meaning of Jesus’ life and actions.
Christians find it incredible that the person of Jesus could be a fabrication. The personality is far too perfect for a collection of writers to construct. The history is far too detailed to be foisted on a people during the very period in which it was supposed to have happened. This is not the stuff of legends (like the legends surrounding Buddha which developed long after the fact).
Christians are confused as to how anyone could ascribe ulterior motives to the apostles who gained nothing by proclaiming Jesus. There was no glory for them in that first century world. It brought most of them to a martyrs’ death.
So far from displaying the traits of liars or legend-makers, these apostles reveal a profound morality (see Paul on love, 1 Corinthians 13) and a strong sense of the historical (see Luke’s accurate descriptions of Roman cities, customs, rulers, etc., in the Book of Acts).
The best explanation of the evidence, Christians claim, is that God has appeared in our history. It happened in Bethlehem of Judea.
I happen to think they’re right.
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