Lesson 1: Did Jesus Even Exist?

• Students will discover the historical evidence for the existence of Jesus
• Students will learn how to evaluate the historical evidence for Jesus
• Students will identify the significance of the resurrection claims for the whole of Christianity

• Students can explain how reliable and credible the historical evidence for Jesus is
• Students can articulate their own opinions on the historical claims for Jesus’ existence and uniqueness

Students complete the ‘Adobe – Real or Photoshop’ individually or as a group. (Photos are real or photoshopped).
Once the quiz is completed you can use some of the following questions to start a discussion that leads into an exploration of the historicity of Jesus.

• Were there any pictures that surprised you?
• How can you tell if something is fake or not?
• How hard is it to know what’s real in today’s world? Why?

Students read ’10 of the Greatest Hoaxes’, the teacher then leads a ‘Think-Pair-Share’ for the following questions

• Which of these hoaxes stands out to you the most? Why?
• What do these hoaxes have in common?

Teacher facilitates student response, including to the following statements on the historicity of Jesus:

• Jesus was a real person who lived around 2000 years ago
• It doesn’t matter if Jesus was a real person or not

If you’re unfamiliar with this learning protocol you can read the instructions and access a slides template for the Human Barometer Activity here.

Use some, or all, of these resources as a basis for the following learning activities.

• Clip: Why bother with history? Evidence for Jesus’ existence (1:02)
• Clip: Did Jesus really exist? (1:51)
• Clip: Beyond Doubt: Evidence for Jesus’ existence (2:18)
• Clip: Was Jesus a real historical figure? (1:41)
• Article: I’ll eat a page from my Bible if Jesus didn’t exist. (4 minute read)

Students evaluate the credibility for the claims that Christianity makes about the historicity of Jesus and fill in a ‘Claim / Support / Question’ table.

Teacher leads a class discussion using the following questions, taking notes on the board.

• Why do you think Jesus’ existence is sometimes doubted?
• John Dickson mentions the work of Richard Carrier, who argues that Jesus started out as a religious myth, and then was later written into accounts purporting to be history by the Gospel writers, and because of this people began to think he was a real person. What is John Dickson’s main complaint against Richard Carrier?
• Which piece of evidence about Jesus’ existence do you find most persuasive?
• What other evidence would you like to see for Jesus’ existence?

Students read 1 John 1:1-3 (NLT recommended)

• Highlight the repeated words/ideas in these verses.
• Based on the words John repeats, what do you think he is trying to draw attention to here? Why might he have chosen to begin his letter with this paragraph?
• Do you think these verses offer support for Jesus’ existence as a historical figure? Why or why not?

Drawing on the content covered in this lesson, students are to design and produce a full-page newspaper/magazine advertisement designed to persuade an audience that Jesus really existed.

Students write individual answers to the following questions and post them on a digital discussion platform. Each student then comments respectfully on at least one other student’s answer.

• After evaluating the information you engaged with, do you think Jesus existed? Why or why not?
• Do you think it matters today whether or not Jesus existed? Why or why not?

Students research the writings of one ancient writer who refers to Jesus and/or Christians. They consider what either Pliny, Suetonius, Tacitus, Josephus, or Lucian had to say about Jesus/Christians and answer the following questions:

• What information can we learn from this writer about Jesus?
• How reliable is this historical evidence for the existence of Jesus?
• Do you consider this writer’s account to be persuasive evidence for Jesus’ existence? Why? Why not?