“Biblical faith isn’t a blind faith that operates without any reason to believe— rather, it looks at the evidence. In fact that is one of the reasons the apostles of Jesus recorded many of the miraculous signs performed by Jesus: ‘These [signs] are written down so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah’ (John 20:31).” Dr. Sean McDowell
Per historian Justo L. Gonzalez, “The early Christians did not believe that they were following a new religion (worldview). They were Jews, and their main difference with the rest of Judaism was that they were convinced that the Messiah (Christ) had come, whereas other Jews continued awaiting his advent.” (p. 41) [1]
Early Christians believed that Jesus had fulfilled the prophecies pertaining to the Messiah from the Old Testament scriptures. The works Jesus had performed and the worship he had received, made it clear to these early Christians— that Jesus was God incarnate (Ps 22; Isaiah 9:6; 53).
“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Matthew 1:1 📕
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 📕
“Do not think that I (Jesus) have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Matthew 5:17-18📕
Initially, the Romans viewed early Christians as a variant sect of Judaism. That is until people from outside of Judaism became followers of Jesus as well. The title “Christian” was given to them by authorities in Antioch as a way to designate them as a group (Acts 11:26; 1 Pe 4:16).
These early Christians were not following a mythological tale — Jesus was a real man who was crucified on a Roman cross. Nor were they staking their lives, literally, on wishful-thinking. They witnessed Jesus back-up his claims to be God incarnate and were willing to die for what they saw (Mk 2; Jn 5:17-18, 8:28; 1 Pe 3:15-16).
Written by Paul approximately 10 years before he was beheaded by Nero:
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-6📕
And even if someone were to ignore the eyewitness accounts recorded within the New Testament, regarding Jesus and the early church, there would still exist a “robust description of Jesus and his followers from ancient, non-Christian voices (ninety-two historical figures).” [3]
- The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation https://a.co/d/cJrFWCm
- Jewish Messianic Hope: https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2022/02/jewish-messianic-hope/
- J. Warner Wallace; Person of Interest, p. 110. 📙
Hold Fast Apologetics 