Proof for the Historicity of the Crucifixion

• “First, there are sixty six resource books (of the Bible) stating that Jesus was crucified. Thirty-nine precede the crucifixion prophesizing its happening. These prophecies, contained details of events that later took place at the cross. Twenty seven books discussed Jesus, crucifixion after it took place. Psalm 22 which was written one thousand years before Christ and Isaiah 53 which was written seven hundred years before Christ, contain prophecies which later happened, thus, proving that those men who wrote the Bible were guided by the Holy Spirit to describe events that they could not see.

• Moreover, there is a psychological proof that Jesus was crucified. Logically enough, no one would be proud to spread the news of the death of his leader unless it really happened and it led to something great. St Paul says that he has nothing to be proud of more than the cross of Christ. Moreover, Christians made the cross a subject of their pride; they hang it on their chests, engrave it on their arms, and lift it up on their churches. To them, the cross which was once a symbol of shame, is now a symbol of joy and pride.

• All the first catechisms of Christianity described the crucifixion (I Cor 15:1-4). 

• A fourth piece of evidence proving the crucifixion as a historical event is found in what Jesus Himself announced to His disciples in his last days about His death in Mark 8 and in John 12:24.

When the leaders of the Jews asked Him to give them a sign that He was the Son of God. He gave them the sign of Jonah the prophet (Matthew 12:39, 40). This means that Jesus was conscious that the cross was coming upon Him, and He was preparing His followers for that.

• A fifth proof is taken from the writing of Cornelius Tacitus, the governor of Asia Minor, who wrote in the year 112 AD that Jesus died during Pilate’s reign of Judea. The historian Josephus wrote on the year 66 AD that his people killed Christ. Other Contemporary historians of the crucifixion did the same, though they were non-believers in Jesus.

• A sixth proof of the crucifixion is that those who were drawn unto Jesus by His death more than those who were drawn to Him by His life. Unlike all heroes, His death did not limit the number of his followers.

It is certainly strange that six hundred years after the crucifixion of someone (Mohammed) comes to prove its fallacy!

(Taken from the Notes, MUSLIM OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY by Menes Abdul Noor).