The Christ: A Critical Review and Analysis of the Evidences of His Existence

Chapter 91: 79

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About This Book

A skeptical, systematic critique argues that the Christ of the New Testament is a constructed myth rather than a reliably attested historical person. It assesses the silence of contemporary writers, the anonymous and late character of the gospels, and the contradictions within infancy narratives, ministry accounts, crucifixion, and resurrection reports. The author evaluates the moral portrait and teachings attributed to the figure and traces parallels with older pagan religions and divinities as possible sources of the myth. The conclusion asserts that supernatural claims lack sufficient historical support and that veneration rests on literary and theological fabrication rather than firm documentary evidence.

79

How old was Jesus when John began his ministry?

Luke: “About thirty years of age” (iii, 2, 3, 23).

Matthew: “In those days [when Jesus’ parents brought him out of Egypt and settled in Nazareth, he being then about two years of age] came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea” (ii, 19–23; iii, 1).

Matthew, it is claimed, was written only ten or twenty years after Jesus’ baptism. If so, the phrase “in those days” clearly implies that he was but a child when John began his ministry. If the phrase was intended to comprehend a period of thirty years this gospel, it must be admitted, was written at least one hundred years after the event described.