A Mere Ignorant Apocalypse Preacher?

by Terry Wane Benton

Atheist: The New Testament Jesus believed in a bunch of Old Testament nonsense. He was an ignorant apocalypse preacher, at best.

Reply: Maybe all the real ignorance is yours, and you're the one who's believed a bunch of nonsense. How did an “ignorant apocalypse preacher” manage to get His death and resurrection written in the Old Testament ahead of time? The whole Old Testament tells of one who is “wounded for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53), and after His soul is made an offering for sin, “His days would be prolonged” (risen from the dead). Never has a mere ignorant apocalypse preacher been able to fit himself into such an amazing scenario where his hands and feet are pierced, his enemies cast lots for his garments, his burial is among the rich, and his tomb is empty in three days according to scripture and increase his credibility on such impossible odds to fulfill.

How did he manage to get his kingdom in motion for 2000 years and have it prophesied that “of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end” (Isaiah 9:6f)? I would wager that regular “ignorant apocalypse preachers” can’t pull it off to have their name mentioned and revered for 2000 years. How did an ignorant apocalypse preacher manage to get himself crucified according to prophecy, get himself raised from the dead according to prophecy, and get a kingdom of believers memorializing him on a new day (Sunday) for 2000 years according to command and prophecy?

Think of what it would take to change a covenant of Levitical priests for a different priesthood (Psalm 110; Hebrews 7-8) and a different ruler (someone becoming priest and king all in one) and pulling off such a change of covenant but all as just an “ignorant apocalypse preacher”.

Jesus believed the Old Testament all right, but that was not ignorance. It was proof of wisdom from above, and proof of His deity. To be an ignorant apocalypse preacher, he would fail at being born at the right time and place, fail at being crucified and raised from the dead, fail at being witnessed with an empty tomb and His witnesses willing to suffer and die to tell what they saw. It is ignorance to think a mere man, an ignorant apocalypse preacher, could retrofit these kind of prophecies into actions that would be believed and never exposed as false in 2000 years.

You cannot be credible and give yourself a proper lineage to king David, give yourself the proper birth place, the proper place to die as a sacrifice, the proper timing of resurrection after crucifixion, and retrofit yourself to a prophecy that after your death Jerusalem would be destroyed again (Daniel 9:24ff), and after your resurrection your kingdom would increase and never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44f; Isaiah 9:6-7). No mere “ignorant apocalypse preacher” would pull off any of these things much less all of these things perfectly. No person could be credible and retrofit these prophecies to a mere man and pull off such a story with any credibility.

I truly believe that the only “nonsense” in this review is the skeptics, but you still have a chance to repent and bow the knee to Jesus now, before you will have to do it in the end. Please give it proper thought.