How can we trust the Bible? We know that Jesus existed for sure which every historian would agree but what about what he did ? If his miracles were true as gospels record them why don’t we have historical records of them outside the Bible?There were books that say that the 1st prime minister of India spotted Jesus in Himalayas ,what happened to the lost years of Jesus from 12 to 30? People say that he visited Hindu gurus and learned from them? And as per Muslim view Jesus was substituted by another man on the cross and other say he fainted,got healed in the tomb and lived in Kashmir by dying a natural death.And what about Dan browns davinci code and gnostic gospels many Christians say that these gospels and information were suppressed by early church to protect Jesus divinity. So what camis truth in all this? Where do we have a strong evidence for having faith in Bible that can make skeptics do Bible attackers quiet?

Answer;

We have plenty of historical records of Jesus. These sources show that he had thousands of followers, that he was crucified and that his followers believed he worked miracles and was raised from the dead.  There are nine different pagan or Jewish writers who reported various facts about Jesus from the first century after he lived.  This includes Suetonius, Tacitus, Josephus, Pliny the Elder and more.  A list of these and the quotes from their writings are found in my book Reasons for Belief (www.ipibooks.com)  You will also find the information in a lesson at the web site titled Evidence for Jesus.  It has been calculated that the number of ancient witnesses to Jesus of Nazareth and of Tiberius, the emperor during Jesus’ ministry are equal–nine references.  Given the relative obscurity of the life of Jesus, who never left the area of Palestine and who left no writings of his own, the number of non-Christian references to Jesus is astounding.   Here is a link for the non-Christian sources on Jesus:  https://evidenceforchristianity.org/evidence-for-jesus-class-audio-ppt-and-notes/

As for Jesus visiting India, there is literally not a shred of credible evidence for this happening.  I have looked often into such claims and all of them are completely fabricated.   People really ought to stop making such outlandish and totally unsubstantiated claims.  As I said in a recent article, the most likely scenario for Jesus between the age of twelve and the beginning of his ministry in his early thirties is that he remained in Nazareth and the immediate area, either apprenticing with his father, or, after his father died, taking on the role of man of the household as the oldest son in the family.  None of the people who knew him gave even the slightest hint that he traveled far from home during his lifetime.  It is downright irresponsible for people to put out these bogus claims that Jesus visited India.  For example, you say that there are reports that the first “prime minister” of India spotted Jesus in the Himalayas.  OK.  I am sure this is not true, but just in case, what is this person’s name, when did he live, and where and when does this report come from?  I am extremely confident that if you ask these simple questions you will find out right away how non-credible this claim is.  What you will probably find (based on my experience) is that someone perhaps one hundred years ago reported that someone told him that a couple of hundred years before that someone was told that more than a thousand years before that someone said that they saw Jesus in the Himalayas.  This does not even amount to evidence.  If you can send me a link to this claim, I would be happy to do some of the research to track it down.

It is true that Muhammad said that Jesus was substituted for another man.  Fine.  Where is his evidence for this?  What about the fact that Jesus’ mother was at the cross, as were a number of women who were very close to Jesus, as well as the apostle John.  Is there the slightest possibility that these people could have been fooled?  Could the Jews who wanted Jesus killed have been mistaken?  Is this believable?  This claim is nothing short of ridiculous.  I mean this literally.  It is utterly ridiculous that people are asked to believe Muhammad, who lived nearly six hundred years later, when we have multiple eye-witnesses who lived at the time, many of whom were actually at the crucifixion who says that it was Jesus.  It is completely obvious that Muhammad said this, not because of any evidence he had, but because the crucifixion of Jesus, which is attested to by many, including a number of non-Christian witnesses, is something that does not agree with his false idea about what a prophet of God is like.  Please do everyone a favor and do not even give any ground for this outrageous and obviously false allegation.

As for Dan Brown, please read the article I wrote about the Da Vinci Code at the web site.  This is a fiction novel written by a man who has an anti-Christian agenda.  https://evidenceforchristianity.org/the-davinci-code-a-review/

You ask what is the evidence that the opponents of the deity of Jesus were suppressed.  The answer is that there is no such evidence, and Dan Brown certainly offers none.  You ask for evidence that the Bible is true to quiet the skeptics.   I have a great suggestion for you.  Get a copy of my book Reasons for Belief (www.ipibooks.com)

John Oakes