How God Became Jesus—and How I Came to Faith in Him

Published by Christianity Today on 16 April 2014.

Bart Ehrman, a professor of religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is something of a celebrity skeptic. He's written a number of bestsellers exposing the alleged errors in traditional accounts of early Christianity. His book Misquoting Jesus (2007) asserts that the manuscripts used to compile the New Testament are corrupted and unreliable, deviant from original autographs. His book Forged (2011) claims that many of the New Testament writings were counterfeits written pseudonymously under the names of the apostles.

In his latest book, How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee, Ehrman argues that belief in Jesus' divinity evolved over the first few centuries and eventually crystallized into what we know today. Jesus didn't claim to be God; rather, his followers thought he was divine because they believed he rose from the dead. But even then, the understanding of Jesus' divinity was incredibly elastic, ranging from a man exalted to be God's vice-regent to a pre-existent person who was equal with God. Only much later was Jesus identified as the Almighty. You can read Ehrman's own summary of his book at The Huffington Post.

Ehrman has a famous de-conversion, turning from an evangelical Christian to an agnostic. And he loves to tell his story. Ehrman is a gifted communicator, never short of a provocative quote. He knows how to stir a crowd, and he does well in talk shows, conferences, presentations, and debates.

But I've got my own de-conversion story to match his.

From Skepticism to Faith

I grew up in a secular home in suburban Australia, where religion was categorically rejected—it was seen as a crutch, and people of faith were derided as morally deviant hypocrites. Rates for church attendance in Australia are some of the lowest in the Western world, and the country's political leaders feel no need to feign religious devotion. In fact, they think it's better to avoid religion altogether.

As a teenager, I wrote poetry mocking belief in God. My mother threw enough profanity at religious door knockers to make even a sailor blush.

Many years later, however, I read the New Testament for myself. The Jesus I encountered was far different from the deluded radical, even mythical character described to me. This Jesus—the Jesus of history—was real. He touched upon things that cut close to my heart, especially as I pondered the meaning of human existence. I was struck by the early church's testimony to Jesus: In Christ's death God has vanquished evil, and by his resurrection he has brought life and hope to all.

When I crossed from unbelief to belief, all the pieces suddenly began to fit together. I had always felt a strange unease about my disbelief. I had an acute suspicion that there might be something more, something transcendent, but I also knew that I was told not to think that. I "knew" that ethics were nothing more than aesthetics, a mere word game for things I liked and disliked. I felt conflicted when my heart ached over the injustice and cruelty in the world.

Faith grew from seeds of doubt, and I came upon a whole new world that, for the first time, actually made sense to me. To this day, I do not find faith stifling or constricting. Rather, faith has been liberating and transformative for me. It has opened a constellation of meaning, beauty, hope, and life that I had been indoctrinated to deny. And so began a lifelong quest to know, study, and teach about the one whom Christians called Lord.

As a biblical scholar with expertise in early Christian history, I spend most of my time teaching and writing about Jesus, the early church, and the development of Christian thought.

In many ways, I am the anti-type of Bart Ehrman—a biblical scholar with a university doctorate and a modest quiver of publications under my belt who has shifted from the secular to the sacred, transitioned from skepticism to faith. Consequently, I do not see Jesus as merely another man whom people later venerated as a god. No, when I look to Jesus, I see that God is with us and for us, because he became one of us. I believe that God became a man, Jesus of Nazareth.

Fighting for the Faith

When I heard Ehrman had a forthcoming book about how Jesus became God, my interest was piqued. I'm intimately familiar with Ehrman's earlier works—and I often enjoy them—so I had a pretty good idea where he was going with this topic.

I also knew that while Ehrman could be informative, his retelling of church history could also be wildly skewed in some places. So I teamed up with four colleagues (Craig Evans, Simon Gathercole, Chris Tilling, and Charles Hill), all leading authorities in their own fields, to publish an immediate response to Ehrman. We read Ehrman's manuscript over the winter and set out to write How God Became Jesus: The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus' Divine Nature. In this book, we challenge Ehrman on the when, where, how, and who of the origins of belief in Jesus as God incarnate.

For many secularists, Ehrman is a godsend who propagates common misconceptions about Jesus and the early church. He believes there was a spectrum of divinity between gods and humans in the ancient world. Therefore, he asserts that the early church's beliefs about Jesus evolved: from a man exalted to heaven to an angel who became human to a pre-existent "divine" person who became incarnate to a subordinated or lesser god to being declared one with God.

My faith and studies have led me to believe otherwise. First-century Jews and early Christians clearly demarcated God from all other reality, thus leading them to hold to a very strict monotheism. That said, Jesus was not seen as a Greek god like Zeus who trotted about earth or a human being who morphed into an angel at death. Rather, the first Christians redefined the concept of "one God" around the person and work of Jesus Christ. Not to mention the New Testament writers, especially Luke and Paul, consistently identify Jesus with the God of Israel.

Many people get the idea that Jesus was just a prophet and never claimed to be divine. But a careful look at the Gospels shows that the historical Jesus explicitly claimed to exercise divine prerogatives. He identified himself with God's activity in the world. He believed that in his own person, Israel's God was returning to Zion, just as the prophets had promised. And he claimed he would sit on God's throne. These claims, when studied up close, are de facto claims to divine personhood, the reasons religious leaders of the day were so outraged.

Evidence shows that Jesus claimed to be God incarnate, and within 20-some years after his death and resurrection, Christians were identifying him with the God of Israel, using the language and grammar of the Old Testament to do so.

Sure, some sects in the first few centuries held heretical beliefs about Jesus. But the mainstream, orthodox view of Christ's identity was always consistent with and rooted in the New Testament, though orthodox Christology became more refined in the following centuries.

Ehrman's book is genuinely informative and provocative in places, but he gets many things wrong. Modern secular audiences—who prefer provocative sound bites from Richard Dawkins and conspiracy theories from Dan Brown—love to hear Ehrman's message. He provides solace to secularists: the whole Jesus-is-God thing is a big mistake that has negatively affected human history. In our culture, unbelief is trendy and religion is passé; people of faith are often derided as superstitious yokels from the boonies.

Some have great confidence in skeptical scholarship, and I once did, perhaps more than anyone else. If anyone thinks they are assured in their unbelief, I was more committed: born of unbelieving parents, never baptized or dedicated; on scholarly credentials, a PhD from a secular university; as to zeal, mocking the church; as to ideological righteousness, totally radicalized. But whatever intellectual superiority I thought I had over Christians, I now count it as sheer ignorance. Indeed, I count everything in my former life as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing the historical Jesus who is also the risen Lord. For his sake, I have given up trying to be a hipster atheist. I consider that old chestnut pure filth, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a CV that will gain me tenure at an Ivy League school, but knowing that I've bound myself to Jesus—and where he is, there I shall also be.

The real story of Jesus Christ is good news, and it transformed my life. That's why I'm fighting to tell it amidst a cacophony of misguided voices.

Michael F. Bird is lecturer in theology at Ridley College in Melbourne and coauthor of How God Became Jesus: The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus' Divine Nature (Zondervan).

Link: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/april-web-only/how-god-became-jesus-and-how-i-came-to-faith-in-him.html?paging=off

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said

Painting by Simon Dewey entitled 'He Lives'. This sort of realistic painting, showing a triumphant Christ, is disparaged by the Art cognoscenti, but it is very popular, and in fact Simon Dewey is one of the most visible religious artists of the late 20th century. Its message is strong and direct: Christ is risen, he is the Saviour. The stone is rolled away, and darkness and death are behind him.

Matthew 28:1-10 

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." (NIV)

See also Mark 16:1-8 and Luke 24:1-12.

Did Jesus actually die on the cross?

The Ahmadiyya movement which began in Pakistan in 1879, has taught that Jesus was taken down from the cross before he actually died and later revived in a tomb. He then escaped from Jerusalem and travelled towards India to continue his ministry among the Lost tribes of Israel. Jesus completed his mission, died a natural death and was buried in Srinagar, Kashmir. 

Read more here: http://www.alislam.org/library/jesusinkashmir.html

Question: Is it possible that Jesus did not die on the cross?

Extracted from an interview conducted by reporter Lee Strobel to seek the expert opinion of Dr. Alexander Metherell, M.D. (University of Miami of Florida) and PH.D in Engineering (University of Bristol) [Strobel, 198-208].

After the Last Supper, Jesus went with his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. He prayed all night anticipating the events of the next day. He knew the suffering he has to endure. Naturally, he was experiencing a great deal of psychological stress (Matthew 36:28, Mark 14:33) and he began to sweat blood (Luke 22:44). This is known rare medical condition called “hematidrosis”.

This condition made Jesus’ skin to be extremely fragile. When Jesus was flogged by the Roman soldier the next day, the pain was intensified.  Roman floggings were designed to be terribly brutal. The soldier would use a whip of braided leather thongs with metal balls and pieces of sharp bones woven into them. When the whip strike the flesh, the metal balls would cause deep bruises or contusions, which will break open with further blows. The sharp bones would cut the flesh severely. The back would be so shredded that part of the spine was exposed by the deep cuts. According to 3^rd century historian, Eusebius, the sufferer’s veins were laid bare; the muscles, sinews and bowels were open to exposure. Many people would die from this kind of beating even before they could be crucified. Jesus would have experienced tremendous pain and gone into hypovolemic shock (effects of losing large amount of blood).

Jesus was in hypovolemic shock when he staggered up the road to the execution site, carrying the beam of the cross. He collapsed and Simon was ordered to carry the cross for him. Jesus was in critical condition at this stage.

At the Calvary, Jesus was laid down and his hands would have been nailed in outstretched position to the horizontal beam. The Romans used spikes that were 5 to 7 inches long and tapered to a sharp point. The nails were driven to the wrists, the solid position that would lock the hand (contrary to traditional belief that the nails pierced his palms). The nail will crush the median nerve, the largest nerve going out to the hand. The pain was excruciating.

Then Jesus was hoisted as the crossbar was attached to the vertical stake. Nails were driven through his feet. Again the nerves in his feet would have been crushed and caused excruciating pain. The effects of hanging from the cross: both arms would have been stretched and both shoulders would have been dislocated.

Crucifixion is an agonizingly slow death by asphyxiation. The stresses on the Jesus’ muscles and diaphragm put the chest into the inhaled position. To exhale, Jesus must push up on his feet to ease the tension on the muscles for a moment. In doing so, the nail would tear through the feet, eventually locking up against the tarsal bones. After exhale, Jesus would be able to relax down and take another breath in. The push up and relax down would scraped Jesus’ bloodied back against the coarse wood of the cross. This would go on until complete exhaustion would take and Jesus would not be able to push up and breathe anymore.

As Jesus slowed down his breathing, he would have gone into respiratory acidosis—the carbon dioxide in his blood would have been dissolved as carbonic acid, would have caused the acidity of the blood to increase. Eventually, this would have led to irregular heartbeat. The hypovolemic shock would have caused a sustained rapid heart rate that would have contributed to heart failure resulting in pericardial and pleural effusions (collection of fluid in the membrane around the heart and lungs).

When the Roman soldier thrust a spear into Jesus’ side, the spear apparently went through the lung and (if it was on his right side) through the heart as well. When the spear was pulled out, the gospel of John’s description of “a sudden flow of blood and water” (John 19:34) matches the condition where the fluid from pericardial and pleural effusions came out. John probably had no idea why he saw “blood and water” yet the description is consistent with modern medicine.

There was absolutely no doubt that Jesus was dead.

When the Roman soldiers came and found that Jesus was already dead, they did not break his legs as they have done to the other 2 criminals who were nailed beside Jesus (John 19:32—33). With the special Sabbath coming, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses. They asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down (John 19:31). The breaking of the legs was to speed up death. The Romans would use the steel shaft of a short spear to shatter the sufferer’s lower leg bones. This would prevent him from pushing up with his legs so he could breathe. Death by asphyxiation would result in a matter of minutes. Jesus’ legs were not broken because the soldiers had already determined that he was dead.

These Roman soldiers were experienced and well-trained, experts in killing people. If a prisoner escaped, the responsible soldiers would be put to death themselves, so they had to make absolutely sure that every prisoner was dead when he was removed from the cross. The Roman soldier who pierced Jesus’ side with a spear later testified to the early believers and they found it to be true (John 19:34-35).

Resources: “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel (1998); “The Cross and the Crescent” by Colin Chapman (1995); “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ” by William D. Edwards, Journal of the American Medical Association (21 March 1986); “Crucify Him” by Dale Foreman (1990); “Crucifixion in the Ancient World” by M. Hengel (1977); “The Resurrection Factor” by Josh McDowell (1981).

The fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy (6th-century BCE), link here: http://www.biblestudytools.com/isaiah/53.html

Independent historical source: 1st century Romano-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (not a follower of Jesus Christ) recorded references on Jesus and the origins of Christianity:

"Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."

Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on_Jesus

The Suffering and Glory of the Servant

Isaiah 53

¹ Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

⁴ Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
¹¹ After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

In Christ Alone

Lyrics by Stuart Townend. Music: Keith Getty.

In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This cornerstone, this solid ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, who took on flesh,

Fullness of God in helpless babe,

This gift of love and righteousness,

Scorned by the ones He came to save.

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God is satisfied;

For every sin on Him was laid,

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain;

Then bursting forth in glorious Day,

Up from the grave he rose again!

And as He stands in victory,

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,

For I am His and He is mine --

Brought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

This is the power of Christ in me;

From life's first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand;

Till He returns or calls me home,

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!

"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross." Philippians 2: 6-8

CHRIST the Lord is risen today

CHRIST the Lord is risen today; Hallelujah!

Sons of men and angels say:

Raise your joys and triumphs high:

Sing, ye heavens; thou earth, reply:

Love's redeeming work is done;

Fought the fight, the battle won:

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal;

Christ hath burst the gates of hell:

Lives again our glorious King!

Where, O death, is now thy sting?

Once He died our souls to save:

Where's thy victory, boasting grave?

Soar we now where Christ hath led,

Following our exalted Head:

Made like Him, like Him we rise;

Ours the cross, the grave, the skies:

King of glory! Soul of bliss!

Everlasting life is this,

Thee to know, Thy power to prove,

Thus to sing, and thus to love.

By Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

This glorious Easter hymn which finds its inspiration from the accounts of the Ressurection in the four Gospels and in 1 Corinthians 15, first appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739) with the title "Hymn for Easter Day". Many would agree with W. T. Stead who said, "This hymn has long been accepted as the best English Easter hymn."