The historical evidence behind Jesus Christ’s existence is “overwhelming,” according to a senior apologist at Catholic Answers.
Tim Staples is challenging the “Jesus is a myth” argument that he says has been circulating online and flooding social media. He walked through the evidence, including historical records, miracles, and the Gospels, during EWTN News Nightly on July 30. His comments complemented a piece recently published by his organization called, “On Historical Evidence, Jesus Wins.”
Staples said that Jesus’ existence, historically, is “just really a no-brainer.”
“It’s only been in the last 150 years or so that this sort of ‘Jesus is a myth’ thing has revitalized,” he said. “We have an enormous amount of evidence from earliest sources.”
He pointed to Roman historians including Cornelius Tacitus and Suetonius. He also listed Lucian, a 2nd-century satirist, Flavius Josephus, an early Jewish historian, and Thallus, a Gentile historian in the first century.
Staples added that even the “enemies of Christianity in the early centuries” didn’t dispute Jesus’ existence. He listed Cerinthus, an early Gnostic, Simon Magus, a Samarian magician, and Celsus, a Greek philosopher.
None of the “various enemies of Christianity” even attempt to “deny the historicity of the person, Jesus,” he said, not “even later in the Jewish Talmud.”
In other words, “the fight is really over who he is.”
Still, he said, the Christ-myth controversy persists.
“Especially in the Soviet Union, you had a revitalization of this ‘Jesus is a myth’ sort of thing,” Staples said. “And now on the internet, lies tend to spread very, very fast so you have this newfangled sort of ‘Jesus is a myth’ sort of thing.
“But it simply does not hold up under scrutiny,” he concluded. “That historical evidence is overwhelming.”
He also addressed another piece of evidence: Jesus’ miracles.
“Those miracles of Christ are extremely important because they’re attested to, not just by friend, but also by foe,” Staples said.
He also highlighted the importance of the four Gospels and challenged those who deny their contents. He cited Sir William Ramsay, a late 19th-century skeptic, who attempted to expose the Gospels (particularly Luke–Acts) as “fabrications.” That didn’t happen. Instead, during his investigation, Ramsay found Luke–Acts “to be the most accurate work of ancient history he had ever encountered” and converted to Christianity.
Staples called the Gospels and the book of Acts “extraordinary” because of “the detail.” In this case, he said, scrutiny often leads to the scrutinizers “becoming believers.”
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Columbus, Ohio, Aug 18, 2019 / 04:55 pm (CNA).- Ashley Bratcher, lead actress in the pro-life movie “Unplanned,” has helped establish a scholarship for women pursing an education during an unexpected pregnancy.
“Women can pursue their careers, live out their dreams, and have richer, more fulfilling lives while balancing motherhood. Sometimes, it just takes a little help,” Bratcher said in a recent press release from Heartbeat International.
“I wanted to be a part of empowering mothers to chase their dreams and to provide a means for those who choose life to continue their educations.”
The scholarship, called the Unplanned Movie Scholarship, will give $5,000 annually for a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy. It can go toward educational educational opportunities including college or trade school.
The project is backed by Heartbeat International, a pro-life agency providing pregnancy resources to expecting mothers in over 2,000 locations worldwide.
“Not only will the scholarship financially support the decision of mothers to continue their education, but it will also connect them to an organization that will support them throughout their pregnancy and beyond,” Bratcher added.
Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International, said the scholarship will help expecting mothers embrace education and life.
“Tucked into Unplanned is a vivid reminder that education can present an obstacle to accepting the new life within,” said Godsey.
“The Unplanned Movie Scholarship will be a lifeline to a young mom’s future as she makes the brave choice to embrace motherhood.”
Bratcher played Abby Johnson in the movie, “Unplanned.” The story follows the life of Johnson, a former clinic director for Planned Parenthood, who had a conversion experience after witnessing the horrors of abortion. Today, Johnson is a pro-life advocate and the director of And Then There Were None, a ministry that helps other abortion workers leave the industry.
Following the movie’s release, numerous women reached out to Bratcher to share their stories of difficult pregnancy situations. Andrea Trudden, director of communications for Heartbeat International, told CNA that many women shared a common conflict – they needed financial support to finish their education.
“After the release of ‘Unplanned,’ Ashley had a lot of different questions from moms who were reaching out sharing their stories about their unplanned pregnancies,” she said.
“The education aspect tended to be one of the hurdles.”
Trudden said the scholarship’s development is still underway. She said applicants will be recommended from one of the agency’s pregnancy help centers, where the mothers’ needs will be best addressed.
“[Pregnancy centers] provide parenting classes and financial classes. We are able to couple what we do through these pregnancy health organizations with the woman who wants to continue her education,” she said.
“We are really looking at exactly how to partner with our pregnancy help organizations in order to provide the funds to the women.”
She said the scholarship will begin accepting applicants at the end of this year, after the organization receives enough funds. The scholarship is now accepting donations at www.UnplannedMovieScholarship.com.
Trudden said the opportunity will provide women the support they need to pursue their education, but it also presents a bigger message.
“Women can have careers, they can have fulfilling lives and be mothers. It’s not an either-or situation,” she said.
“We want to do everything we can to support the mothers during these hard decisions, to help prepare her for motherhood and … [provide her with] everything she needs to get through her pregnancy in a loving and caring way so she can positive choices for her life.”
Denver, Colo., Jan 17, 2023 / 16:23 pm (CNA).
The Catholic bishops of Scotland have warned that a proposal to ban what critics characterize as gay or transgender “conversion therapy” would have “totalitarian” effects and in … […]
Pope Francis and José María Del Corral, president of the Scholas Occurrentes youth movement, smile during a meeting with the group’s volunteers in Cascais, Portugal, on Aug. 3, 2023. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 3, 2023 / 08:50 am (CNA).
In his first encounters with young people ahead of his arrival at World Youth Day later in the day, Pope Francis on Thursday urged his audiences to use their knowledge and skills to care for the planet and the poor.
The Holy Father began his second day in Portugal with a meeting with students at the Portuguese Catholic University in Lisbon, followed by a visit with young volunteers in a coastal town outside the city who promote education in poor communities.
At the university, the pope first heard the testimonies of four students who shared their academic experiences and hopes for the future. The theme there was “integral ecology,” a view of the interconnected nature of the world’s problems that Francis developed in Laudato Si’, his 2015 encyclical on the environment.
Tomás Virtuoso, 29, a second-year theology student with undergraduate and master’s degrees in economics, speaks to Pope Francis at the Portuguese Catholic University in Lisbon, Portugal, on Aug. 3, 2023. Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
“It seems to me that my generation is being asked not to ignore the many insights that Laudato Si’ offers us,” said Tomás Virtuoso, 29, a second-year theology student with undergraduate and master’s degrees in economics.
“First, when it encourages us to bring the best of science to bear, trusting in the divine gift of reason, to continue to find effective solutions to the challenges we face,” he explained.
“Secondly, when it asks us to reject technological progress that does not have a strong ethical and spiritual root, that does not ensure respect for the inviolable dignity of the person and of all creation,” he continued.
“Thirdly, when it leads us to the firm decision to live according to the demands of the common good, the structuring principle of the Church’s social doctrine,” which “places the preferential option for the poor at the center,” he said.
“Finally, when it encourages young Catholics of my generation to evangelize, to fearlessly affirm that an authentic integral ecology is not possible without God, that there can be no future in a world without God.”
Working for a just society
In his remarks, Pope Francis urged students to “seek and risk,” reminding them that an education like theirs is both a gift and a responsibility.
“A university would have little use if it were simply to train the next generation to perpetuate the present global system of elitism and inequality, in which higher education is the privilege of a happy few. Unless knowledge is embraced as a responsibility, it bears little fruit,” he said.
“An academic degree should not be seen merely as a license to pursue personal well-being but as a mandate to work for a more just and inclusive — that is, truly progressive — society.”
Pope Francis meets with students at the Portuguese Catholic University in Lisbon, Portugal, on Aug. 3, 2023. Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Speaking of the responsibility of environmental stewardship, the Holy Father challenged students not to be content with mere “palliative” or “halfway measures” that “simply delay the inevitable disaster,” as he observes in Laudato Si’.
“Rather, it is a matter of confronting head-on what sadly continues to be postponed: the need to redefine what we mean by progress and development,” he explained.
“In the name of progress, we have often regressed. Yours can be the generation that takes up this great challenge. You have the most advanced scientific and technological tools, but please, avoid falling into the trap of myopic and partial approaches,” he stressed.
“Keep in mind that we need an integral ecology, attentive to the sufferings both of the planet and the poor. We need to align the tragedy of desertification with that of refugees, the issue of increased migration with that of a declining birth rate, and to see the material dimension of life within the greater purview of the spiritual,” he said.
“Instead of polarized approaches,” the pope underscored, “we need a unified vision, a vision capable of embracing the whole.”
Order out of ‘chaos’
Later in Cascais, a picturesque medieval town and popular coastal resort west of Lisbon, Pope Francis met with young members of the Portuguese chapter of Scholas Occurrentes, an international youth movement. It was the pope himself, as the archbishop of Buenos Aires, who founded the group, which promotes education in poor communities around the world.
A view of the “Life between Worlds” mural project at the Portuguese headquarters of the Scholas Occurrentes youth movement in Cascais, Portugal. Pope Francis visited with members of the community on Aug. 3, 2023. Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
While there, the pope was given a paintbrush he used to put the finishing touches on an elaborate “Life Between Worlds” mural that decorates the walls and ceiling of the group’s headquarters. “Old people and young people, rich and poor, children of different religions and nonbelievers, and young people of different nationalities participated in this work of art,” the group said in a statement.
In his unscripted remarks, the pope addressed the “chaos” some of the volunteers referenced in describing the challenges they face in their lives.
The pope reminded them that God always brings some good out of chaos, beginning with the first moments of creation.
“There it is in poetic language, how God makes light one day out of chaos, another day he makes man and goes on creating things and transforming chaos into cosmos,” he noted.
“The same thing happens in our lives. There are moments of crisis … that are chaotic … then the job of the people who accompany us, of a group like this, is to transform [that situation into] a cosmos,” he said.
After some time to eat and rest, the pope was set to arrive at the site of World Youth Day for a welcome service Thursday evening.
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