This chapter opens with the thrilling tales of how an FBI agent can profile people based on evidence from a crime scene. Strobel then asks if we can do profiling of who Jesus was based on what we have about him. Given that, by this point, Strobel has already bought wholeheartedly into the idea that the gospels are historically accurate, is there really any need to write this chapter?
Strobel interviews Dr. Ben Witherington in this chapter. Dr. Witherington mentions mentions that “[Dr. Witherington:] …there were already a host of expectations about what the messiah would look like…” (Strobel, CFC, P. 146) when talking about the difficulty of the Jewish people at the time to accept that Jesus is the Messiah. This is because Jesus does not meet the criteria[1] of being the Jewish messiah. Christians will claim that the Jews are being pedantic and ignoring what Jesus said, but the Jews can point to the written works in the bible (rather, their holy books, but bible is close enough for most people) that describe what the messiah will be like.
Exploring the Earliest Traditions
This section does nothing to add to or strengthen the case Strobel is trying to make. Strobel claims that Dr. Witherington has gone back to “[Strobel:] …the most primitive material, unquestionably safe from legendary development…” (Strobel, CFC, p. 146). As we’ve seen from the gospels, legendary development can happen quickly. Especially if the writers are intending this to be the foundation for a new religion.
Rather than telling us what documents Strobel refers to so we can cross reference their reliability ourselves, all that Dr. Witherington brings up in this is some references in the gospels. Dr. Witherington points to how Jesus is continually depicted as being in positions of godhood throughout the gospels. As shown in the problems with chapters 2 and 3, the gospels are, at best, unreliable when it comes to the narrative about Jesus. At best, we can get the impression that the gospel writers considered Jesus to be very important.
By the Finger of god
Dr. Witherington draws again from the gospels here to prove his points. Just reread the last paragraph of the section above for my reply. We still haven’t been referred to any new material.
John’s Portrait of Jesus
Interestingly, Dr. Witherington tells us that he believes “[Dr. Witherington] When you’re dealing with the gospel of John, you’re dealing with a somewhat interpreted picture of Jesus…” (Strobel, CFC, P. 151). While Dr. Witherington gives no reasons to indicate why this is so, this means he has to have some doubts about the accuracy of John. Why, then, would he not have similar reservations about other gospels? Because they agree on most points more? Because Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source to draw from whereas John drew on the other 3?
I and the Father are one
Strobel cites the book “Reasonable Faith” by Williman Lane Craig for justification that Christology started up soon after Jesus is held to have died. A quick read of the book reveals that the book is making the same claim that anyone who reads the gospels would: That Jesus claimed to be god and the messiah. There’s no doubt that the gospels, written several decades after Jesus’s death, would have the same claims as the mythology at the time. Pointing to the gospels and claiming that it’s obvious that Jesus viewed himself as god only tells us what the writers of the gospels believed Jesus was and what they believed he said.
Dr. Witherington wonders towards the end of the section “[Dr. Witherington:] Why is there no other first century Jew who has millions of followers today?” (Strobel, CFC, P. 154). He concludes the only explanation is “[Dr. Witherington:] It’s because this Jesus – the historical Jesus – is also the living Lord.” (Strobel, CFC, P. 154). There are alternate theories that would provide an explanation far better.
First, one could theorize that religions tend to propagate through societies in a manner similar to a virus. Read through this brief essay[2] if you’re curious about this position. If we take this position to be a good enough explanation, then it appears that Christianity has created some very strong controls over the people who believe in it. While these controls were still in their initial development when they religion began, they were suitably strong enough to motivate early believers in Christianity to stick to their guns… er…. spears?… when pressed to recant their beliefs. These controls were refined throughout the centuries to the point where they are incredibly effective methods to control large swaths of the population.
Alternatively, we could look at decisions that changed how Christians reacted to the events around them. The bible taught that the savior of the world suffered and died terribly, and many Christians themselves took this to mean that they should persevere through persecution. This gave the early Christians, and many today, a persecution complex where they believe being persecuted is a sign that their beliefs are right (hint: It’s not).
Because of this, the early persecution of the Christians had the opposite effect intended. In 313BCE, the roman emperors signed the Edict of Milan[3], making religious tolerance the default stance of the roman empire. Because the Christians were no longer being persecuted as heavily, this was viewed as a massive victory, and many started to convert to Christianity due to the extreme evangelizing efforts to recruit more followers. This continual recruitment effort despite persecution has brought us to where we are today.
In the Very Place of god
This chapter tries to put together a narrative that people claim Jesus never believed he was divine. This chapter then uses the gospels, which were written to prove Jesus’s divine status to the world, to make the case that Jesus believed he was. At no point does Strobel give any questions or counterexamples that could prompt further discussion. Overall, this chapter seemed to be pretty forced into the book.