Christianity is unique among the major religions in that its essential doctrines are based on the birth, life, death, and resurrection of its founder, Jesus. Its integrity stems from the credibility of these historical events.
Other major religions, such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, are based on the teachings of their founders only. Their fundamental doctrines do not hinge on the birth, life, and death of these men. The tenets of these faiths exist apart from these events.
Jesus Claimed To Be God
Jesus is the only founder of the world’s major religions who claimed to be God incarnate. Christianity would be reduced to a few platitudes without the historical confirmations of his deity.
Some founders of other major world religions said they were prophets of God, but none claimed to be God himself.
Jesus Fulfilled Prophecy
The Old Testament includes dozens of prophecies about the coming Messiah.
Jesus fulfilled each of them, including those about his birthplace and childhood that he could not have engineered if he was merely human. No other person has ever fulfilled more than a few of them.
For example, as prophecied, Jesus was a descendant of King David, but so were others. He was born in Bethlehem, as prophecied, but so were others. He spent part of his youth in Egypt, as prophecied, but so did others. He was also crucified, as prophecied, but so were others.
But few of these other people, if any, were concurrently descendants of King David, born in Bethlehem, temporary residents of Egypt, and crucified.
And none of them were the reason for the slaughter of young Israelite boys who were born about the same time and place as Jesus, which was prophecied.
None were later betrayed for thirty pieces of silver, which was prophecied. None defeated death and rose triumphantly from the grave, which was prophecied.
The fulfillment of every Messianic prophecy by Jesus validated his deity.
None of the founders of the other major world religions fulfilled any written prophecies about their births, lives, and deaths.
Indeed, there were no prophecies to fulfill.
Jesus Performed Miracles
Jesus validated his message and authority by healing the sick, raising several people from the dead, and rising from the dead himself.
None of the founders of the other major religions validated his message and authority by performing miracles or rising from the dead.
Liar, Lunatic, Or Lord Of All
Many unbelievers say Jesus was a great human teacher, but not God. However, Jesus himself claimed to be God in the flesh.
He was either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord of all.
If his claim was untrue and he knew it was false, Jesus was a liar. He was a delusional egomaniac if he thought his claim was accurate when it was incorrect.
If his claim was true, he was God incarnate.
No Credible Refutation
The Bible presents ample prophetical and historical evidence that Jesus was the Messiah and the second person of the Trinity. Moreover, the earliest copies of the four Gospels that documented his life have been dated within a few decades of his death.
No credible contemporaneous documents refuting these accounts have been found.
If such writings ever existed, we would have more copies of them than we have of the Gospel accounts because they would have been widely disseminated by the influential leaders of the day who wanted to discredit Jesus and destroy the early church.
Read More About Jesus
Jesus is the second person in the Trinity. His attributes are described throughout the Bible. There is a plausible explanation for his virgin birth. The evidence for his resurrection confirms his deity.