Why Are There Only Four Short Books
About the Life of Jesus?

Outside of the Bible, few accounts exist of the life of Jesus. Many say this indicates he was not real.

(This is part three of my Response to Zeitgeist Movement. Click here to read part one .)

Zeitgeist: The Movie makes the point that outside of the Bible there exists few historical references to the life of Jesus. They conclude that if he was really raising the dead and healing the sick there would be more records of his existence.

First, there are people today who raise the dead and heal the sick.

It’s rare such miracles workers come out and heal and perform feats for the inspiration of the masses. Still, many have. The Hindu teacher, Parahamansa Yogananda, spent many years traveling the United States in the 1920s and 1930s healing and performing “miracles.”

The Los Angeles Time, January 28, 1925, reported: “The Philharmonic Auditorium presents the extraordinary spectacle of thousands being turned away an hour before the advertised opening of a lecture with the 3,000-seat hall filled to its outmost capacity. Swami Yogananda was the attraction.”

Yet Yogananda felt he was only attracting spectators – not real spiritual seekers – and later retired to training serious students in his hermitages in California.

There are endless examples of such people. They are well documented. Interesting for a day and then largely forgotten by the masses. A passing form of entertainment.

Nothing more. Metaphysical demonstrations threaten the very fabric of most people’s materialistic values.

So not only do I believe Jesus performed such miracles – I also don’t believe Jesus was the only one to do so. Jesus even says himself that others would do more impressive miracles then he (John 14:12).

And his disciples even complain to Jesus that others were performing miracles who weren’t “with them.”

Likewise the rest of the Bible is full of stories of people performing miracles other than Jesus (personally, the parting of the Red Sea by Moses seemed more miraculous than anything Jesus did).

Lastly, people believe what they see with their own eyes. The same reason news of Jesus’ miracles didn’t become the international bestseller of its time is the same reason modern accounts of miracles get little attention. People don’t believe or don’t see any connection to their own life.

Honestly, I think the only reason Jesus became the world figure that he is today is because his message was hijacked and used by the Roman Empire. If left to the early Christian communities his teachings and life story would never have been taken up by the mainstream (yet the integrity of his message would have been much better preserved).

Which leads me into another reason why there are so few accounts of Jesus outside of the bible… which I’ll cover next time (click here to read part four now).

About the Author: John C. A. Manley writes meaningful science fiction and fantasy novels with a spiritual backbone. You can get a free subscription to his MetaphysicalSF email newsletter and free sample chapters from his novels. Click here to find out more....