For example, consider John 8:12 in which Jesus said (or, at least, the writer says that He said it!) "I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life." This seems absolute insanity, for a man to make a claim such as this! If such words were to come from the lips of some great world leader of the present day, he would not continue very long as a leader! And Jesus, of course, was nothing at the time except an obscure Galilean carpenter, with a motley handful of disciples.
Yet this ridiculous assertion, whether actually made by the carpenter's son himself in a moment of fanatical frenzy, or imagined by the gospel writer on the lips of a character he was creating, has been demonstrated for two thousand years to be a remarkably fulfilled prophecy! This man, whether insane or imaginary or what, has indeed been the "light of the world" ever since the words were written. The world's greatest literature, the most beautiful paintings, the most glorious music have all been inspired by Jesus Christ. Most of the hospitals, many or even most of the great educational institutions, and most of the world's charitable organizations have been founded originally in His Name. The same is true of genuine social reforms, such as abolition of slavery. Not only so, but literally millions of individuals over the centuries have found that in following Jesus, they indeed received "the light of life." Instead, therefore, of the ravings of a fanatic or the philosophizings of a fictional character, these words of the Lord Jesus Christ have been proved to be, in light of all subsequent history, the sanest and truest words that could be spoken!
Consider also the remarkable fulfillment of the words of Christ in Matthew 24:35: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Such a claim, at the time it was made, must have seemed sheer madness! Who was this eccentric wanderer from an obscure village in a despised nation, that He should imagine anyone but His own circle of ignorant followers would ever be interested in what He had to say? Never pass away, indeed!
And yet, absurd and impossible though it may be, for two thousand years His words have not passed away! They have, in fact, been heard and read and loved and obeyed by more people in more nations that those of any other man who ever lived.
He also said: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This He said, signifying what death He should die" (John 12:32-33). One would think that the sight of the death of a condemned criminal on a Roman cross would present no great attraction, but rather a feeling of repulsion, to be erased from the memory as quickly as possible.
But once again, the prophecy has experienced a continuous fulfillment for two thousand years. Representative men from every nation, every walk of life, every degree of learning or ignorance, every age, every level of wealth or poverty, have been drawn to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Such a phenomenon, utterly unique in history, could never have been anticipated by human reason. But there it is!
Then there is the prophecy concerning His church. "Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18). Again, this is an absurdly impossible claim that has nevertheless been fully accomplished in history. That the pitiful aggregation of disciples, for whom the spokesman and leader was an ignorant and impulsive fisherman like Peter, should somehow be perpetuated and multiplied despite intense and continuous opposition and persecution, seems a wild dream at best. Still more foolish would seem the notion that this persistence would be founded on Peter's belief that Jesus was the Son of the living God. Nevertheless, the dream has come true.
Jesus also predicted that these unlikely disciples would be witnesses for Him "unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). This was, so far as known at the time, an utter physical impossibility, not to mention the intrinsic absurdity of the very thought that the disciples of such a teacher and such a message would be equal to such an assignment. And now, with radio, air travel, and other technological aids the Word is being taken to the most isolated tribes in the remotest regions, and has long since been preached as a witness in all the more accessible lands.
Many similar prophetic claims of Christ could be discussed in similar fashion. He made any number of claims and predictions which, coming from the lips of any other man who ever lived, would sound insane and impossible. But these words coming from His lips seem always right and natural and true, and in fact have always proved out to be true, whether on the stage of world history or in the realm of individual human experience.
This body of unequivocal facts, like it or not, has no rational explanation if Jesus is not actually God in human form, as the New Testament everywhere proclaims Him to be. It doesn't help any to allege, as some have done, that the writers may have misquoted Jesus and exaggerated His claims. This itself is a naive notion; the writers would rather have been shocked themselves by such claims and, if anything, would have tried to soften them and make them sound more rational. But in any case the greater fact is that, whether Christ made the claims or not, they have nevertheless been fulfilled. The writers can hardly be charged with manufacturing the fulfillments! If Christianity is false, the existence of a fallacy of such scope as this constitutes a greater miracle than if it were true.
Selected books for further study:
Bruce, F.F. 1954. The New Testament Documents: Are they Reliable? Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co. 120 p.
Burgon, John W. 1990. Unholy Hands on the Bible: An Introduction to Textual Criticism. ed. Jay Green. Sovereign Grace Trust Fund. 603 p.
Deissman, Adolph. 1927. Light from the Ancient East. New York, NY: Hodder and Stoughton. 535 p.
Greenleaf, Simon. 1965. Testimony of the Evangelists. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. 613 p.
Habermas, Gary R. 1984. Ancient Evidence for the Life of Jesus. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers. 187 p.
Kenyon, Frederick G. 1940. The Bible and Archaeology. New York, NY: Harper Brothers.
Kenyon, Frederick G. 1967. The Story of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Linnemann, Eta. 1992. Is There A Synoptic Problem? Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. 219 p.
Linton, Irwin H. 1943. A Lawyer Examines the Bible. Boston, MA: W. A. Wilde Co. 300 p.
Morris, Henry M. 1980. King of Creation. San Diego, CA: CLP Publishers. 239 p.
McRay, John. 1991. Archaeology and the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. 432 p.
Ramsay, William. 1953. The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament. New York, NY: Hodder and Stoughton. 427 p.
Ramsay, William. 1962. St. Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
Thiessen, Henry C. Introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ. Co. 347 p.
Unger, Merrill F. 1962. Archaeology and the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publ. House. 350 p.
Waite, D.A. 1992. Defending the King James Bible. Collingwood, NJ: Bible for Today Press. 306 p.
Chapter IV
The Authenticity of the Old Testament
The Canon of Scripture
Our present Old Testament Scriptures consist of 39 books, and there is little doubt that these were the same books accepted by the Jews of Christ's day as their divinely inspired Scriptures. The writings of Josephus, the Jewish historian, various statements in the Talmud, and numerous references in the New Testament all agree in focusing on these books, and only these, as the recognized Scriptures of the Jews. Likewise, it was these books that were accepted and used by the first Christians.
Whether or not they were all mistaken in this belief may be a matter for further discussion,