Islam and Christianity diverge mostly in how they regard Jesus Christ. According to the Bible, is Jesus the fully divine and fully human Son of God (John 20:28–29, Matthew 3:17, Romans 1:3–4), who died on the cross to atone for our sins (Luke 23:33, 1 Peter 2:24) and was raised from the dead by God (Luke 24:5-7)? Or, is Jesus only a remarkable prophet (Al-Baqarah [2]:252-253) who, contrary to what the Qur’an claims, was never crucified (An-Nisÿ’ [4]:157)? Since Jesus Christ is the core of Christianity, the answer to this issue is crucial.
Fortunately, the historical data makes it straightforward to determine which religion is true.
Historical evidence of Jesus’ crucifixion
The public event of Jesus’ crucifixion is described in Luke 24:18 and Acts 26:26. It is also independently documented by early non-Christian historians such as the Roman historian Tacitus (writing in A.D. 64), the Jewish historian Josephus (writing sometime in the first century), the Greek satirist Lucian (writing in the second century), and the Babylonian Talmud (writing in the second century). In contrast, Jesus was not crucified according to the Qur’an, which was composed thousands of miles away from the events and hundreds of years after they occurred. Therefore, every trustworthy historical document demonstrates that the Qur’an is inaccurate. Furthermore, Islam cannot be the authentic religion if the Qur’an is false and cannot be the word of God.
Historical evidence of Jesus’ resurrection
History has demonstrated that both Jesus’ death and resurrection were real. The disciples of Jesus ran away in despair (Mark 14:50), believing that Jesus had taken away all of their hopes (Luke 24:19–21), and they were afraid for their lives (John 20:19). However, these same disciples soon started boldly proclaiming in Jerusalem that Jesus had risen from the dead (Acts 4:8–13), even though they knew they would almost certainly be tortured and killed for doing so. As a result, countless thousands of Jews swiftly decided to follow Jesus (Acts 2:41; 4:4). In Acts 9:1–30, Paul—who had killed numerous Christians through persecution—converted and started preaching the gospel!
How do we account for this abrupt direction change? The Bible’s explanation—that God raised His Son from the dead in fulfillment of all the prophecies of the Old Testament—is the only one that makes sense in light of all the historical evidence (Luke 24:44-47). Following that, the disciples (John 20:19–23), Paul (1 Corinthians 15:8), Mary Magdalene (John 20:16–18), and, on one occasion, over five hundred men at once (1 Corinthians 15:6) were among the numerous witnesses who saw the risen Jesus.
Jesus is the Son of God
Acts 17:31 and John 14:6 both state that Jesus’ resurrection establishes His status as the Son of God, the only one qualified to deliver us from hell. Consequently, Christianity is the only true religion, and in order for everyone to have the chance to follow Jesus, [we] need to spread the word about this good news to everyone on the planet (Matthew 28:18–20).
Once, an atheist named Frank Morrison attempted to create a book that would refute Jesus’ resurrection; however, after carefully examining all the available evidence, Frank Morrison converted to Christianity!
Subsequently, Lee Strobel, another man, attempted the same thing. plus he converted to Christianity! We recommend reading their books, “Who Moved the Stone?” and “The Case for Christ,” if you are an honest seeker of the truth, willing to accept the truth wherever it leads, no matter how painful it may be, and interested in delving deeper into the historical evidence. We also pray that God will lead you in your search.
