Was Jesus a liar, lunatic, Lord? Made famous by C. S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity, this trilemma helped persuade many of the truthfulness of Christian faith and the divinity of Jesus. In recent years, critical scholarship has suggested a fourth option: perhaps Jesus was a legend. This would cast doubt on the historicity of the words and ministry attributed to Jesus—especially his claims to divinity.
In this Seven Minute Seminary video, Dr. Lynn Cohick rebuts this argument by appealing to proper the historical method, which usues important criteria for establishing the likelihood of claims. They include features of the New Testament texts such as: early and multiple testimony, dissimilarity (or distinctives), and similarity (or consistency in terms of his cultural background).
Read some leading apologetic books on the historical reliability of the Gospels (affiliate links):
- Can We Trust the Gospels? by Peter J. Williams
- The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ by Gary Habermas
- Can We Still Believe the Bible? by Craig L. Blomberg