Most scholars in the fields of biblical studies and history agree that Jesus was a Jewish teacher from Galilee who was regarded as a healer, was baptized by John the Baptist, was accused of sedition against the Roman Empire, and on the orders of Roman Governor Pontius Pilate was sentenced to death by crucifixion. In fact, there is much more evidence for the existence of Jesus than Alexander the Great, and Alexander the Great is an accepted historical figure (read more here).

Some people say that Jesus was only a teacher, nothing more. Yet, does this make logical sense? (For the purposes of this post, I will call it the “teacher assumption”.)

Let’s go through the scenario. Jesus’ death is estimated be around 26-37 AD. There were eyewitnesses that stated that they had seen Jesus after his death and alleged resurrection. Of course, eyewitnesses can either be mistaken, lying, or right.

Let’s say that the eyewitnesses were simply mistaken. This is very improbable, considering that hundreds of people saw Jesus, and he appeared many times. For example, in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he states, “Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.” No mass collaboration or hallucination is possible, because people saw him in different locations at different times. Furthermore, when the accounts of these eyewitnesses were given, they were still alive, and able to contradict anything that was not the truth.

But let’s say that the eyewitnesses were lying. The main “eyewitnesses” were the apostles themselves. According to other historical documents of the time, most of the apostles were martyred. For example, Peter was crucified under Nero (AD 64). Now, these people claimed to have seen Christ with their very own eyes. And they died for it. Why would someone be willing to die for something they knew was a lie? They got nothing out of lying except pain.

A common reaction to this would be to say that people die for their beliefs all the time: those suicide bombers and such. However, these people today die for what they believe is true. In order for the teacher assumption to be correct, the apostles must have died for what they know was a lie, and gained nothing.

Logically, this assumption does not make any sense. Therefore, it is ironic that many people claim to be logical and rational, and yet, still reject Christianity. But when we do look at Jesus’ death and resurrection logically, we can see that if the eyewitnesses were not mistaken or lying, they must have been right.