Ralph O. Muncaster. Evidence for Jesus. Harvest House Publishers. 2004.

Did Jesus really exist? Christians would automatically say “Yes”. Other people have real difficulty believing that God sent his Son to this earth to teach us about God the Father. If you are in either of these groups, believers or unbelievers, Evidence for Jesus will make you think and hopefully, persuade you to become a Christian.

Muncaster’s book provides you with hard, cold facts when you are trying to witness to nonbelievers. Here is a listing of the chapters included. Each chapter title is self explanatory about the contents of that particular chapter.

1. The Empty Tomb
2. High Security at the Tomb
3. The Martyrdom of the Apostles
4. The Witnesses of Spectacular Events of Jesus
5. Hostile Witnesses
6. The Early Christian Martyrs
7. The Existence of the Christian Church
8. The Church Fathers
9. Evidence from Early Manuscripts
10. Evidence from Non-Christian Sources
11. Archaeological Sites of Jesus
12. Other Archaeological Support for Jesus
13. Great Archaeologists Convert to Christianity
14. Miraculous Prophecy Forecasts Jesus’ Life and Ministry
15. Prophecies Leading Up to Jesus’ Crucifixion
16. Prophecies About Jesus’ Crucifixion and Resurrection
17. Reliability of Ancient Manuscripts Confirms Prophecy
18. People’s Changed Lives Confirm Jesus
19. Accepting Jesus: A Decision Based on Evidence

During the past century, we witnessed the horrifying deaths of people over their belief that the end was coming quickly. Jim Jones was able to convince nearly 700 people to drink kool-aid laced with cyanide based on a belief that they would be sent to heaven. Other people have died in rooms after drinking poison based on strange beliefs that UFO’s would take them to the next life.

People have serious difficulty believing in Jesus on faith alone. Unfortunately, faith is an essential part of the Christian experience. This book is written for those who must have solid evidence that Jesus even existed.

One of my favorite chapters was on the archaeologists searching for evidence for Jesus converting to Christianity after finding such evidence. William Albright, a director of Research at Johns Hopkins University concluded that the Dead Sea scrolls proved that the prophecies about Jesus were written BEFORE Jesus was born. He researched and confirmed the dating of both Old Testament and New Testament books.

Early in his professional life, William F. Albright had some doubts about the validity of biblical claims about Jesus. These, however, were answered conclusively in favor of the authenticity of the Bible as he conducted his research. [Page 150]

Sir William Ramsey was considered one of the greatest archaeologists of his time. He found physical evidence for the existence of towns and cities mentioned by Luke, specifically Iconium, Derby, and Lystra. He spent his career trying to prove the book of Luke wrong but after fifteen years of research in 32 countries, he concluded that Luke was one of the greatest historians. As a result of his own personal research, he converted to Christianity.

The final chapter in this book tells you how to have a relationship with Jesus, the Son of God. Although the book is full of facts to support the authenticity of the Bible, the author states “But in the end the important issue is not the knowledge gained in knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus was who he claimed to be. The important issue is what we do with that knowledge [Page 215].

Recommendation

Will this book convince the skeptics in your family or congregation that Jesus is real? Consider teaching a Sunday School or Wednesday evening class using this book for the text. It may be just what you need to bring people from sitting on the sidelines to becoming fully committed Christians.

Copyrighted by Diana Pederson, 2005-2009