How can I examine Christian claims fairly?
Examining Christianity fairly does not mean beginning by assuming that it is true or false. It means discovering what the earliest sources say and understanding how historians assess them.
Jesus encouraged people to look carefully at the evidence before them:
“Even though you do not believe me, believe the works.”
John 10:38
Begin with the historical questions
Find out what historians broadly agree about Jesus, where they disagree and why. Ask which conclusions are widely accepted and which depend more heavily on interpretation or faith.
Look at the earliest sources
Explore the letters of Paul, the four Gospels and the references to Jesus in non-Christian writers such as Josephus and Tacitus. Ask when each source was written, who produced it and how close it was to the events described.
Understand how historians work
Historians compare sources, consider their date and purpose, look for independent testimony and ask whether details are supported by other writings, archaeology or the historical setting.
They also distinguish between what a source reports, what its author believed and what can reasonably be concluded from it.
Investigate the Gospel accounts
Ask how historians understand the authorship of the Gospels, whether they preserve eyewitness testimony and how Matthew, Mark, Luke and John relate to one another.
Consider how historians assess the accounts of Jesus’s teaching, miracles, crucifixion and resurrection without assuming the answer in advance.
Examine the first Christians
Find out what the earliest evidence says about what Jesus’s followers believed, how soon those beliefs appeared and what is historically known about their persecution and deaths.
Be careful to distinguish strong early evidence from traditions recorded much later.
Investigate claims that Jesus was not divine
Do not examine only sources that support Christian belief. Explore sources that reject or reinterpret the claim that Jesus is God. Ask when each source was written, how close it was to Jesus’s lifetime and whether it preserves independent historical information.
Find out how historians assess these sources, what evidence their authors may have known and how their dates compare with the letters of Paul and the four Gospels. The aim is not to dismiss either conclusion in advance, but to understand which sources are earliest and what each can reasonably tell us.
Explore the Jewish background
Investigate what the Dead Sea Scrolls reveal about the Jewish world around the time of Jesus, and what they do not claim to prove about him directly.
You can also explore how historians and biblical scholars understand Old Testament passages that Christians later connected with Jesus.
Compare thoughtful sources
Look for work by professional historians and biblical scholars from Christian, Jewish, sceptical and non-religious backgrounds. Notice where they agree, where they differ and what evidence they use.
Try not to rely entirely on material written only to defend or disprove Christianity. A fair investigation listens carefully to more than one side.
You do not need to investigate everything at once. Choose one historical question, examine the sources and methods behind the different answers, and decide for yourself which explanation you find most convincing.
It is all right for your conclusion to remain open while you continue exploring.