What stands out clearly when you interact with the New Testament texts with an open mind, are the very human responses to the gospel by those depicted in these texts aside from the main character Jesus. The apostle Peter, for example disowned Jesus prior to Jesus’ execution, yet for some reason, does a complete about-face to leed the growth of the early church under great adversity and persecution. That reason being that he simply saw the risen Jesus alive. He later died for the gospel that he would not renounce. There are many more examples such as these accessible for you to read online, if you are serious about investigating Jesus more thoroughly. The following YouTube link is a good summary of of the key arguments for why people don’t believe. As we work out over time, these reasons for disbelieving are Good reasons to believe! When an atheist says why should I believe in Jesus and all other fairytales?
What has gained my curiosity over the last week however, which I thought I would focus on today, is the thinking that the apostles colluded to make up a good story about Jesus at a time when the Jewish people needed a legend in light of the oppression they were experiencing under the Roman occupation (a common myth concerning the life of Jesus). In light of this, I thought that one way me might be able to evaluate this assumption is to try and answer a simple question that might encourage us to think a little deeper about what is being suggested here, that question being: ‘what potential is there for a group of people to remain committed to a lie for a lifetime?’ (say over 50 years. That’s a lifetime right?). That is, if we we could predict the events post Jesus on the assumption that all the apostles, (and the many others who believed in him) colluded to make up the story about Jesus, what would be the potential of them remaining together in that lie for the rest of their lives?
If we are really going to be able to think through more precisely the potential that the apostles made up the story of Jesus however, then it is important to first consider the type of people that we are dealing with here, wouldn’t you agree? If the story of Jesus was made up by the apostles then we would be dealing with individuals with the potential to behave in ways contrary to the ethical standards that underpinned the framework they claimed to live by). We could consider them corrupt, or liars. Criminals even. Not very trustworthy individuals. The real question therefore, if we continue to break down this assumption in this manner is: ‘what is the potential for corruptible individuals to stay in a lie for a lifetime?’
One method used by law enforcements to convict criminals is the cultivation of informants (people known to criminals – loved ones, friends, those they may have been in contact with). This is simply because what is well known in such circles is that relationships frequently breakdown, and there is usually someone (an ex-wife or partner, past acquaintances or friend for example), that would so love to get some revenge. In such circles enemies are frequently made, people get hurt, and friends turn on each other; and they turn each other in. That is the nature of such relationships; and they never last long. So further to our first question, we might also want to ask ourselves then, ‘what is the chance of not one of the apostles (or those who came to believe in Jesus) caving in about the truth of the lie if they were indeed corrupt individuals with a predisposition to hold a lie?’ I continued with this thinking and also came up with the following.
A paper that discusses collusion between cartels in the 80s outlined that it was quite common practice for companies to sign agreements to fix pricing and control whole market pricing through collusion. There are actually a number of good papers that outline the behaviours of cartels and their potential for success. The apostles weren’t price fixing, however their colluding behaviour under false pretence is quite consistent with cartel type behaviour. I was surprised to read in this particular paper firstly, that this type of organised collusion actually did take place in corporations. What was even more surprising however (aside of the recommendations provided for sustainable collusion!), was that key reasons why collusion could not be sustained in most instances was simply because of the greed of particular members of the cartel (who made other deals on the side), and because of real market influences that forced each party to behave in a manner that was not conducive to sustaining the cartel. Most cartels fell over within the first year. Not one lasted a lifetime, and the longest known cartel in Japan lasted some 25 years. It’s really hard to sustain collusion between corrupt individuals over a long period of time, let alone a lifetime!; it’s just not sustainable. And for there to be not one ounce of evidence to suggest that the relationships between the gospel believers was fractured (and whilst under the significant persecution by the religious and civil groups of the time), and that not one of them caved in to disclose the untruth, well this should be enough to provide you with the confidence that what has been passed on about Jesus was no lie.
What is more believable is that the 12 men remained committed to a cause lifelong because something significant occurred that had a life changing effect on each of them, so much so, that not one of them disowned their commitment to Jesus in their life time. This is truly remarkable. This is probably one of the strongest cases to support the authenticity of the accounts concerning Jesus and who he was in the new testament text, because nothing in this world could sway the apostles’ steadfast conviction to follow Jesus for a lifetime, and for most of them, not even execution. Jesus was whom he claimed to be and the apostles response to this over their lifetime is one of the best reasons for investigating Jesus more thoroughly. What are you waiting for!
The Gospel that Saves 