The reality of this article is such an easy sale, for those that care enough to dig in. And those that disagree seem to fall into the delusion prior predicted in Scripture.
2 Thessalonians 2:9–12 talks about the coming “lawless one,” deception, and people who refuse the truth: “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie…”
Then, Paul describes something similar in Romans 1:21–25. Humanity knows something of God but suppresses the truth, exchanges God's glory for created things, and ultimately: “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.”
The Bible is not one book dropped into history without context. It is a collection of writings produced across many centuries, repeatedly naming identifiable kings, cities, nations, wars, political officials, dynasties, geographic locations, and cultural practices. And many of those details intersect with evidence outside the Bible.
Babylon was real. Nebuchadnezzar was real. Cyrus was real. The Assyrian Empire was real. Jerusalem was real. The Babylonian exile was real. The Persian return was real. The British Museum's description of the sixth-century-BC Cyrus Cylinder, for example, notes Cyrus's conquest of Babylon, restoration of religious practices, and return of displaced peoples- including Jews- to their homelands.
That does not archaeologically “prove Christianity” in one move. Archaeology cannot excavate forgiveness of sins or put the resurrection under a microscope. But it does demonstrate something undeniable and extremely important to this conversation: the biblical story is deeply anchored to actual history.
The New Testament takes the same approach.
Jesus is presented not merely as a spiritual teacher in an undefined past, but as a Jewish man living in Roman-controlled Judea during the governorship of Pontius Pilate. His followers place His crucifixion publicly, geographically, and politically within first-century history.
And this brings us to perhaps the clearest collision between Christianity and Islam.
The New Testament says Jesus was crucified. The Quran, written centuries later, says: “They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear to them so.” -Quran 4:157
These claims cannot both describe the same historical event accurately. And here the evidence overwhelmingly favors the earlier Christian account.
Jesus' crucifixion is not some obscure doctrine Christians invented in the Middle Ages. It sits at the center of our earliest Christian testimony. Paul's letters were written within decades of Jesus' death, and Paul was already proclaiming that Christ “died for our sins,” was buried, and was raised (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).
The four Gospels likewise place the crucifixion at the center of Jesus' story. Even non-Christian ancient sources, including Tacitus, associate Jesus' execution with Pontius Pilate.
So consider the historical problem: Christian sources emerge in the first century, in the world in which the events occurred.
The Quran appears in the seventh century, roughly six centuries later, and contradicts them on the central event.
If we approached these merely as ancient historical documents, without first deciding which religion we preferred, which testimony would normally receive greater historical weight?
The sources closest to the event. That does not automatically prove every theological claim Christianity makes about the cross. But it creates a serious problem for the Quranic denial of the crucifixion.
There is another major difference. The Bible repeatedly exposes itself to historical investigation because it constantly gives us details that can potentially be checked.
- Names.
- Places.
- Rulers.
- Genealogies.
- Wars.
- Cities.
- Political offices.
- Travel routes.
- Empires.
Even embarrassing failures of its own heroes. Christianity actually depends upon history to an extraordinary degree. Paul understood this and conveyed as much in his writing.
He did not say the resurrection was merely a beautiful spiritual metaphor. He wrote: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile.” -1 Corinthians 15:17
That is an astonishing statement. Christianity basically says: investigate the claim. If Jesus remained dead, Christianity collapses.
The Gospel is built around things Christians claim actually happened: Jesus lived. Jesus was crucified. Jesus was buried. And against mass persecution, Christians proclaimed that Jesus physically rose from the dead.
That is why the discussion between Christianity and Islam should not become an exercise in insulting Muslims or mocking their faith. Christians are commanded to speak truth in love.
But love does not require pretending contradictory claims can both be true. They cannot.
Either Jesus was crucified or He wasn't. Either the earliest testimony concerning Jesus is substantially correct about His death, or a document appearing approximately six centuries later correctly overturns it.
This is not a question of belief based on faith, it is a historical one. And Christians should not be afraid of asking it either. In fact, we should invite people to investigate.
Read the sources. Study the dates. Examine the manuscript tradition. Look at archaeology. Read ancient non-Christian references to Jesus. Compare what the New Testament says about Jesus with what the Quran says centuries afterward.
Then ask the question that ultimately matters: Which account best explains the historical evidence?
Christian faith does not ask us to believe that history doesn't matter. It makes an even more radical claim: God entered history.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” -John 1:14
And if Jesus truly entered history, was crucified in history, and rose within history, then Christianity is not merely one religious philosophy competing with another.
It is an announcement about something God actually did. And that trumps everything.
If ever you took a comment seriously, take this one: THIS IS WORTH YOUR INVESTIGATION TO KNOW THE TRUTH. YOUR ETERNITY DEPENDS ON THE TRUTH THAT YOU DISCOVER NOW. Please don't wait.
Our prayers are with all those who are seeking.
~Devin
Devin Osborne
The Early Church