Historical Christian Evidences (Wharton) (1st Edition) – Course Study Guide (Print)

Ed Wharton has preached the Gospel for more than 50 years, and has served on the faculty of Sunset International Bible Institute since 1963. He also serves as both teacher and evangelist in numerous speaking engagements, and trips to Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America. Ed and his wife, Martha, have three adult children.

In this study, Ed Wharton establishes the historicity of Jesus through extra-biblical writings as well as the inspired Word of God. The study is a clear presentation of the actual historical evidence for the divine nature of Jesus Christ and modern verification of the Christian religion.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
LESSON ONE: The Objective Nature Of Christianity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
LESSON TWO: Non-biblical Writers – The Historical Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
LESSON THREE: The Historical Reliability of the New Testament (1) . . . . . 13
LESSON FOUR: Reliability of the New Testament – The Apostolic Fathers (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
LESSON FIVE: Historical Reliability of the New Testament – Manuscript Attestation (3) . . . . . . . . . 23
LESSON SIX: The Resurrection and its Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
LESSON SEVEN: The Resurrection of Jesus – The Empty Tomb (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
LESSON EIGHT: The Resurrection of Jesus – The Change at Pentecost (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
LESSON NINE: The Resurrection of Jesus – The Apostles’ Testimony (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
LESSON TEN: The Resurrection of Jesus (4) – The Conversion of Saul of Tarsus . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
LESSON ELEVEN: Jesus, the Man of Destiny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
LESSON TWELVE: The Historical Jesus – The Mythology of Liberalism . . . . . 59

INTRODUCTION
We are going to begin our study by defining it, by defining what it is and
what it is not. We want to make the definition by means of a contrast. We
want to contrast the objective nature of historical Christian religion with
religious subjectivism. Subjectivism is not hard to define. And once we define it, it
will not be hard to identify.
Subjectivism is really an appeal to what we feel as a proof that something happened
in the past. Now, of course, there is no substance in that. There is no evidence of a
material nature or of an historical nature. But people are operating on it. Many a
person today is saying, “I know that I am saved because I feel like it in my heart.” But
the Bible never defines for us what it “feels like” to be saved. Now, granted, when
a person is saved he ought to have the joy of his salvation. But isn’t it also true that
a false teacher can bring false teaching to sincere people and convince some of those
people that what he has is true? Some will accept it and think they are saved and go
on their way “feeling saved”, when in fact they are not. Can’t we see that
subjectivism is a very dangerous thing? As a matter of fact, people would try to prove
that Jesus Christ has been resurrected from the dead by means of a feeling they have
in their heart. Today, there are people who actually say, “I know that Jesus is alive.
I know that He was resurrected from the dead because He is in my heart.”
Surely everybody ought to be able to figure out that we are not going to be able to
prove that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead or anything else happened in
the first century because of a modern emotion that takes place within a man’s breast.
But that is the idea of subjectivism.