What Can History Establish About Jesus?
The minimal facts most historians — across belief systems — accept about Jesus of Nazareth, and where history ends and theology begins.
The Resurrection: Claim, Evidence, and Interpretation
Separating the historical data (early testimony, the empty-tomb tradition) from the theological conclusion that it was a divine act.
How Early Did People Worship Jesus as Divine?
The evidence that devotion to Jesus as divine is strikingly early — and what that does and doesn't prove.
What Actually Happened at Nicaea?
Separating the popular myth of Nicaea (319 CE) from the documented history of the 325 council.
Liar, Lunatic, or Lord — Is the Trilemma Valid?
Steelmanning and stress-testing C.S. Lewis's famous argument about who Jesus claimed to be.
Faith and Reason — Enemies or Partners?
Whether faith is belief without evidence, or trust calibrated to evidence — and why the definition matters.
The Passion: The Tribulation of Jesus Christ
An overview of the suffering and death of Jesus across Passion Week — what the Gospels narrate and how the four accounts relate.
Gethsemane — The Agony in the Garden
Jesus' anguished prayer before arrest — and what it reveals about his humanity and his obedience.
The Trials of Jesus: Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod
The sequence of religious and Roman hearings — what each court charged, and what history can and cannot confirm.
Scourging and Roman Crucifixion
What Roman flogging and crucifixion actually involved — the physical reality behind the word 'cross.'
The Seven Last Words from the Cross
The seven sayings of the crucified Jesus, harmonized from the four Gospels, and their meaning.
The Atonement: Why the Cross?
The major theories of how Jesus' death 'saves' — and the fact that the church never dogmatized just one.
The Great Commission and the Birth of Mission
The risen Christ's charge to make disciples — and why it shaped a global movement.
The 'I AM' Sayings of John
John's distinctive 'I am' statements — metaphors of identity and an echo of the divine name.
Prophecy and Fulfillment — Reading It Honestly
How the Gospels claim Jesus fulfills Hebrew scripture — and how to weigh such claims without special pleading.
The Tribulation: Competing Views of the End
What 'the great tribulation' means across the major interpretive schools — preterist, historicist, futurist, idealist.
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages ... true God from true God, begotten not ...
Josephus — Antiquities (Testimonium Flavianum)
About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man ... He was [called] the Christ. And when Pilate ... had condemned him to be crucified, those w...
Tacitus — Annals on the Christians
Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of ... Pontius Pilatus....
Ehrman — Misquoting Jesus
Scribes copying the New Testament introduced changes — most accidental, some intentional — yet the vast majority are trivial, and the discip...
Bauckham — Jesus and the Eyewitnesses
The Gospels are close to the testimony of named eyewitnesses, and ancient practices of memory and transmission make a strong case for their ...
Philippians 2 — The Christ Hymn
Though he was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a serv...
Gospel of Mark — The Earliest Gospel
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. ... And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved Son; with you I am well p...
Ignatius of Antioch — Letters
There is one Physician ... both of flesh and of spirit, born and unborn, God in man ... Jesus Christ our Lord....
N.T. Wright — The Resurrection of the Son of God
The historian must explain why Christianity arose and took the shape it did. The early Christian belief in Jesus' bodily resurrection ... re...
Larry Hurtado — Lord Jesus Christ
Devotion to Jesus as divine erupted suddenly and early ... not gradually and late, as a result of pagan influence....
E.P. Sanders — The Historical Figure of Jesus
There are no substantial doubts about the general course of Jesus' life: when and where he lived, approximately when and where he died, and ...
C.S. Lewis — Mere Christianity
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic ... or el...
Gethsemane — 'Let this cup pass'
My soul is very sorrowful, even to death ... My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as yo...
Before the Sanhedrin — 'I am'
Again the high priest asked him, 'Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?' And Jesus said, 'I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated...
The Crucifixion — 'It is finished'
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. ... one of the soldiers pier...
Romans — Sin, Grace, and Justification
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ J...
Hebrews — The Final Sacrifice
He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. ... by a single offering he has perfected f...
The Olivet Discourse — Tribulation Foretold
For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now ... But concerning that day and hou...
JAMA — On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ
Clearly, the weight of historical and medical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead before the wound to his side was inflicted ... death by...
Who Was Jesus? History and Confession
Separating the historical Jesus from the Christ of faith — and honoring both
How Early Was 'High' Christology?
Tracing devotion to Jesus from the 50s CE to Nicaea
The Passion of the Christ
From Gethsemane to the empty tomb — history, suffering, and meaning