Killing Jesus

Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard have written Killing Jesus and state,

… we have the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but they sometimes appear contradictory and were written from a spiritual point of view rather than as a historical chronicling of Jesus's [sic] life. [1]

They should get a copy of Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties by Gleason Archer which deals with these tensional verses.  Doctor Luke clearly states that he is using historical research methods (Lk 1:1-4).  Has O’Reilly actually read the Bible (all 66 books)?

O’Reilly’s spin is “We do not address Jesus as the Messiah” [2]  Did he take the same approach in Killing Lincoln and Killing Kennedy?  Was Lincoln merely a prominent leader during a Civil War?  NO, he was President.  Was JFK just a national figure loved by many celebs?  NO, he “kept the world from ending” (Cuban missile crisis).  Jesus Being the Christ cannot be overlooked!  The Jewish Historian Josephus recorded the following:

[Jesus’ disciples] reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive; accordingly, he was perhaps the messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders. [3]

This version comes from a tenth century Arabic text and so is unlikely to have been corrupted by Christian influence.  Christ’s miracles and perfect life point to his deity:

Jesus of Nazareth was a man proved to you by God himself through the works of power, the miracles and the signs which God showed through him here amongst you - as you very well know. … Now therefore the whole nation of Israel must know beyond the shadow of a doubt that this Jesus, whom you crucified, God has declared to be both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:22, 36, Philips).

O’Reilly claims to be Roman Catholic (RC), but he denies the reality of Adam and Eve and ridicules Noah’s Large Barge (Ark).  The Kolbe Center in an RC resource that supports traditional creation.  Dr. Joseph Strada (Ph.D.  Aeronautical Engineering and Mathematics) is one of their speakers.

O’Reilly refers to Jesus’ post-Resurrection appearances as “apparitions.” [4]  What’s up with that?

Even the cover of Killing Jesus is wrong.  Mel Gibson (friend of Robert Downey Jr.) got it right.  The sign on the cross, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,” was in Hebrew, Greek and Latin (Jn 19:20).

On a more positive note, O’Reilly’s references on the “Historical Jesus” include the work of J.P. Moreland, Darrell Bock, William Lane Craig, Paul Copan, Mike Licona and C.S. Lewis. [5]

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Notes:

1) Killing Jesus by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard , p. 1.
2) Ibid., p. 2.
3) quoted in Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics by Norman Geisler (Baker, Grand Rapids, MI, 1999), p. 254.
4) O'Reilly and Dugard, p. 261.
5) Ibid., p. 279.