The Cause Community Church Life Groups: Fall Season 2013
GROUNDED: The Facts that Support Faith
Session 3: “The Case for Jesus (of Nazareth)”
Reminders for H.O.S.T.s:
 This is a guide. Adjust the content used based on the needs of your
group. You do NOT have to use the entire discussion and ask every
question.
 This discussion is written for H.O.S.T.s and not for distribution to your Life
Group members.
 Take attendance and report to Kristyna Brusby (kristynab@thecause.cc or
714.255.0930).
 Please collect apologetics questions from your Life Group and email them
to Pastor Bob Reeve (bob@thecause.cc).
Recommended book for further study: The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
I. Group Welcome/Icebreaker, if needed (Suggested Time: 3-5
min.)
II. Fellowship/Life Sharing (Suggested Time: 10-15 min.)
Allow each individual or couple to share about how they are doing personally.
Open in prayer.
III. DVD Teaching of Pastor Bob (Approximately 20 min.)
Play the GROUNDED DVD Teaching (Session 3).
IV. Discussion/Study Questions (Suggested Time: 30-60 min.)
Reaction/feedback from DVD: Is there anything that Pastor Bob said that stood
out to you?
1. What do you think when you see books, TV shows, articles, etc. that claim
that Jesus is a myth?
2. How do these claims affect the culture?
3. How do these claims affect your faith?
4. How would you answer the claim, “Jesus never actually existed”?
H.O.S.T.’s answer:
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The answer is a definitive “No”. One has to ignore a great deal of evidence, and
treat the evidence left over most unfairly, in order to deny that Jesus existed.
Support for the "Jesus-myth" does not come from historians, but from writers
operating far out of their field. For historians, the historicity of Jesus is as sure as
that of Julius Caesar.
(For further study, see: "Jesus. Shattering the Christ-Myth. The Reliability of the
Secular References to Jesus", Tekton: Building Blocks for Christian Faith, J. P.
Holding, http://tektonics.org/jesusexist/jesusexisthub.html)
5. From a historical perspective, why is the reality of Jesus’ existence not in
question?
H.O.S.T.’s answer:
If Jesus was entirely fictitious, then early Judaism would have demolished such a
fable. The opposite is true.
Flavius Josephus is a primary Jewish historian from the first century validating
the existence of Jesus of Nazareth. Below is info about Josephus and an
excerpt from his writings:
Josephus (born AD 37) was a Jewish historian. He became a Pharisee at
the age 19 and in A.D. 66 he was the commander of Jewish forces in
Galilee. After being captured, he was attached to the Roman
headquarters. [5 p. 82] In Josephus’ antiquities, there are two quotes that
mention Jesus. Here is the first and smaller quote:
Antiquities 20.9.1
But the younger Ananus who, as we said, received the high priesthood,
was of a bold disposition and exceptionally daring; he followed the party of
the Sadducees, who are severe in judgment above all the Jews, as we
have already shown. As therefore Ananus was of such a disposition, he
thought he had now a good opportunity, as Festus was now dead, and
Albinus was still on the road; so he assembled a council of judges, and
brought before it the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ, whose name
was James, together with some others, and having accused them as lawbreakers, he delivered them over to be stoned. [3]
(emphasis added)
Also, note the Roman historian, Tacitus, and this excerpt:
Tacitus was a Roman historian writing early in the second century AD
(112 AD). His Annals provide us with a single reference to Jesus of
considerable value. The following is a full quote of the relevant cite, from
Annals 15.44. Jesus and the Christians are mentioned in an account of
how the Emperor Nero went after Christians in order to draw attention
away from himself after Rome's fire of 64 AD: [3]
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But not all the relief that could come from man, not all the bounties that the
prince could bestow, nor all the atonements which could be presented to
the gods, availed to relieve Nero from the infamy of being believed to have
ordered the conflagration, the fire of Rome. Hence to suppress the rumor,
he falsely charged with the guilt, and punished Christians, who were hated
for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by
Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius: but the
pernicious superstition, repressed for a time broke out again, not only
through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city of
Rome also, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the
world find their center and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was
first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an
immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the
city, as of hatred against mankind.
(emphasis added)
Is this Tacitus a reliable source? Is there good reason to trust what he
says? The answer here is: Absolutely! The Tacitean literature is full of
praise for the accuracy, care, critical capability, and trustworthiness of the
work of Tacitus.
(Additional sources – see “Extra Section” for details):
 Moderately reliable sources: Thallus, Pliny, and Lucian.
 Marginally reliable or unreliable sources: Suetonius, the letter of Mara
Bar-Serapion, and the Talmud.
6. Are there any other questions you have, or others have asked you, about the
historicity of Jesus?
 Reminder to H.O.S.T.’s: You can collect these questions and email
them to Pastor Bob (bob@thecause.cc).
7. What do you think about the “Lord, Liar, Lunatic” argument (C.S. Lewis
discusses this in his book, Mere Christianity). It states that Jesus was either
the Lord – He was who He said He was, a liar, or a lunatic, but He was NOT
all three of these.
8. Read Matthew 16:13-20.
 Why is the question, “Who do you say Jesus is?,” so important?
 How do you personally answer this question (“Who do you say Jesus
is?”)
9. Why do you believe that Jesus is who the Bible says He is?
V. Prayer (Suggested Time: 10-15 min.)
Pray for any personal needs.
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VI. Important Church Announcements (Suggested Time: 2-3
min.)
Encourage your Life Group members to participate in the upcoming opportunities
and events at The Cause.
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Extra Section: Additional Resources for Discussion and Study
Below are some additional non-biblical sources affirming the existence of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth.
Thallus, The Samaritan-Born Historian
He is one of the first Gentile writers who mentions Christ. In 52 A.D. he wrote
attempting to give a natural explanation for the darkness which occurred at the
crucifixion of Jesus. However, his writings have disappeared and we only know
of them from fragments cited by other writers. One such writer is Julius Africanus,
a Christian writer about 221 A.D. One very interesting passage relates to a
comment from Thallus. Julius Africanus writes:
“ ‘Thallus, in the third book of his histories, explains away this darkness
as an eclipse of the sun – unreasonably, as it seems to me’
(unreasonably, of course, because a solar eclipse could not take place
at the time of the full moon, and it was at the season of the Paschal full
moon that Christ died).”
(emphasis added)
From the reference we see that the Gospel account of the darkness (Matthew
27:45) which fell upon the land during Christ’s crucifixion was well known and
required a naturalistic explanation from those non-believers who witnessed it. [5 p.
84] Note that the word 'Gospel' often refers to one of the four main New
Testament books: Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.
Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger was Governor of Bithynia. His correspondence in 106 A.D.
with the emperor Trajan included a report on proceedings against Christians. In
an extended explanation to his supervisor, Pliny explained that he had been
killing both men and women, boys and girls. There were so many being put to
death that he wondered if he should continue killing anyone who was discovered
to be a Christian, or if he should kill only certain ones. He goes on to say that he
also forced them to "curse Christ, which a genuine Christian cannot be induced
to do." He also described their actions and practices as follows:
They affirmed, however, that the whole of their guilt, or their error, was,
that they were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it
was light, when they sang in alternate verse a hymn to Christ as to a
god, and bound themselves to a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds,
but never to commit any fraud, theft, adultery, never to falsify their word,
not to deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up. [5 p.
83]
(emphasis added)
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Is this a genuine reference, or are there doubts about its veracity? Although a
few critics in the previous centuries claimed otherwise, there is really no doubt
about the genuineness of this reference. That it is some kind of Christian creation
is a position that is not taken seriously today.
What is important, is the testimony by Pliny that Christians died for their faith.
This was extremely unlikely to have happened if Jesus had not existed.
Lucian of Samosata
From this satirist and playwright of the second century, we have two quotes from
a play entitled "The Passing of Peregrinus." The hero of the tale, Peregrinus, was
a Cynic philosopher who became a Christian, rose in prominence in the Christian
community, then returned to Cynicism. Lucian's attack is not so much on
Christianity, but on the person of Peregrinus who took advantage of the
Christians' simplicity and gullibility.
He alludes to Christ as:
“…the man who was crucified in Palestine because he introduced this
new cult to the world … Furthermore, their first lawgiver persuaded
them that they were all brothers ... after they have transgressed once
for all by denying the Greek gods and by worshiping the crucified
sophist himself and live under his laws."
(emphasis added)
Although, Jesus isn’t mentioned by name, there is no doubt that he is referring to
Jesus. No one else was ever worshipped by the Christians.
Suetonius
Suetonius was a court official and annalist under Hadrian, 120 A.D. He wrote the
following:
"As the Jews were making constant disturbance at the instigation of
Chrestus, he expelled them from Rome”.
(emphasis added)
The main objection to using this passage is that the word "Chrestus" as
Suetonius spells it. Because of this, some say that it does not refer to Jesus
Christ. Others believe that it is an alternative spelling for Christus – a name used
to refer to Jesus Christ.
Note that Luke possibly references this same expulsion in Acts 18:1-2.
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Mara Bar-Sepaion
He sent a letter to his son, Serapion. His letter contains following:
“What advantage did the Athenians gain from putting Socrates to
death? Famine and plague came upon them as a judgment for their
crime. What advantage did the men of Samos gain from burning
Pythagoras? In a moment their land was covered with sand. What
advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise King? It was just
after that their Kingdom was abolished. God justly avenged these three
wise men: the Athenians died of hunger; the Samians were
overwhelmed by the sea; the Jews, ruined and driven from their land,
live in complete dispersion. But Socrates did not die for good; he lived
on in the teaching of Plato. Pythagoras did not die for good; he lived on
in the statue of Hera. Nor did the wise King die for good; He lived on in
the teaching which He had given.”
(emphasis added)
This reference to Jesus is not particularly valuable. We have no idea what
qualifications the writer of this letter held. We are not even sure when this letter
was written, other than that it was after 73 AD. At best, it offers us a special
insight into how one particular non-Christian viewed the person of Jesus.
It is, however, clear that the writer regarded Jesus as a "real" person like
Socrates and Pythagoras - and not as a myth or an invention of Christianity, as
the Christ-mythicists would argue.
The Rabbinic Writings
The Talmud citations (Jewish writings from AD 100-500) are contested and some
feel that they hold little value when it comes to the historicity of Christ. However,
a worthwhile point that can be derived from the Talmud is that it provides no
indication that Jesus was a mythical figure. Although the rabbinic sources may
not contain clear references to Jesus - from the fact that the Talmudists
concentrated on smearing Jesus' legitimacy rather than focusing on the issue of
Jesus' existence, we may deduce that they had no grounds whatever for
doubting his historical existence.
The following is an example from one of the writings (note that the Talmud uses
the term hanging when referring to Roman crucifixion)
“On the eve of Passover they hanged Yeshu (of Nazareth) … he hath
practiced sorcery and beguiled and led astray Israel. Let everyone
knowing aught in his defense come and plead for him. But they found
naught in his defense and hanged him on the eve of Passover"
(emphasis added)
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