2 Peter 1:16 – For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
At some point, every Christian is told that what they believe about Jesus Christ are myths. The famed psychologist Sigmund Freud called Christian faith a “fairy tale”. Today, people say the same thing when they claim to not believe in the Easter bunny, Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, or Jesus Christ.
The critical claim that Christians believe “myths” apparently started very early. While Peter is still alive, he writes to a group of churches telling believers that Jesus Christ is no myth. Unlike Superman, Spiderman, and Aquaman who are mythology, Jesus Christ the God-man is reality.
To prove his point, Peter points to his own life experience. Peter was chosen by Jesus to spend three years living and traveling together. Peter heard the words Jesus said and saw the deeds Jesus did. When Jesus healed someone, walked on water, performed a miracle, or preached a sermon, Peter was there to witness it firsthand. Furthermore, Peter was one of the three disciples given privileged access to Jesus’ private moments as part of his inner circle of disciples along with James and John.
Peter remained loyal to Jesus throughout his life, admittedly with a few weak moments along the way, despite the fact it made his life incredibly painful and hard. In a previous verse, Peter was clear that preaching Jesus was going to even soon cost him his life saying, “I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.”
There are two reasons why Christian belief is fact and not myth:
- There was not time for intricate myth, legend, fable and folklore to occur. Christians started preaching about Christ immediately after His resurrection and their message never changed. In comparison, for a complicated set of fabricated claims to be constructed and transmitted to a large number of people in the ancient world without technology and communication like we have today would’ve taken a long time. There was simply not enough time between Jesus’ death and the preaching of His resurrection for a myth to become popular.
- The eyewitnesses to the life of Jesus were still alive and testifying publicly about historical fact despite the fact it was costing them their life. People simply do not die for things they know to be false and in no way benefit them. Furthermore, if they believe lying about God will sentence them to hell, they are remiss to do that very thing.
What parts of Christianity have people told you they thought was a myth?
To download the free e-book Power Under Pressure which is a study in 2 Peter for individuals, groups, and families from Pastor Mark click HERE. To listen to Pastor Mark’s 4 sermons on 2 Peter preached in the summer of 2020, visit realfaith.com. These and other resources are made possible by our ministry partners who support Real Faith as a Bible teaching ministry of Mark Driscoll Ministries to whom we say THANK YOU!