Do You Believe?

Is it just me, or does the name Jesus Christ seem to stir up strong feelings in people? Some folks say it's because it reminds them of bad experiences with the Church or of Christianity's more violent history. But isn't it interesting that the words “Christianity” or “Catholic Church” don’t seem to provoke the same anxiety? I'd argue that the name itself has power, and that's because the person who bears it is believed to be God in human form. This is a radical claim that sets Jesus apart from the teachings of other major world religions, which largely view him as a great teacher, a prophet, or an "enlightened man" but not God.

So, why should we believe this incredible claim? For starters, Jesus believed he was God, and his actions backed it up. He didn't just teach about the truth; he declared, "I am the truth" (John 14:6). He also acted like God by forgiving sins, a power only God has (Mark 2:5-7). In a stunning display of divine identity, Jesus used the sacred, unpronounceable name of God for himself, saying, "before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58). This was a bold statement that infuriated the Jewish leaders of his time, but it wasn't blasphemy because, as Christians believe, he is God. These aren't the words or actions of a mere human teacher.

But how can we be sure that the Bible's account of Jesus's divinity is accurate and not just a legend added later? We can be confident because we can trust the New Testament documents. With over 5,500 copies of the Greek New Testament manuscripts and thousands more in other languages, there’s an incredible amount of textual evidence. The oldest complete copy of the New Testament dates to within 300 years of the original documents—a far cry from the 1,800-year gap for famous ancient works like Homer’s Iliad. This wealth of early, widespread copies means no single person or group could have changed the story of Jesus without being caught. Additionally, the Gospels were written by eyewitnesses or those who knew them, within decades of Jesus's death, making them reliable historical sources.

Finally, the earliest Christians didn't just believe Jesus was a good teacher; they worshipped him as God. These early believers, many of whom were converts from Judaism, risked their lives to worship Jesus. Jewish tradition, for over a thousand years, had strictly forbidden worshipping a man as God. The fact that these devout Jews would worship Jesus as "our great God and savior" (Titus 2:13) shows that his miracles, and especially his Resurrection, must have proven to them that he truly was divine. The Roman governor Pliny the Younger noted this in a letter to the emperor, describing how Christians "sang in alternate verse a hymn to Christ as to a god." The first Christians were convinced, and it cost them everything. So, do you believe?