1Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak for yourself.”
Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defense. 2“I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before you today concerning all the things that I am accused by the Jews, 3especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.
4“Indeed, all the Jews know my way of life from my youth up, which was from the beginning among my own nation and at Jerusalem; 5having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. 6Now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers, 7which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa! 8Why is it judged incredible with you if God does raise the dead?
9“I myself most certainly thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10I also did this in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them. 11Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
12“Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests, 13at noon, O king, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with me. 14When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
15“I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will reveal to you; 17delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, 18to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
19“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance. 21For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would happen, 23how the Christ must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to the Gentiles.”
24As he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are crazy! Your great learning is driving you insane!”
25But he said, “I am not crazy, most excellent Festus, but boldly declare words of truth and reasonableness. 26For the king knows of these things, to whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him, for this has not been done in a corner. 27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”
28Agrippa said to Paul, “With a little persuasion are you trying to make me a Christian?”
29Paul said, “I pray to God, that whether with little or with much, not only you, but also all that hear me today, might become such as I am, except for these bonds.”
30The king rose up with the governor and Bernice, and those who sat with them. 31When they had withdrawn, they spoke to one another, saying, “This man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds.” 32Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Many novices in biblical studies, and even a few scholars, have attempted to identify the virginal conception of Mary with pagan myths, as though the New Testament authors relied on these myths to create the story of Mary and Jesus. Such a view is based on a number of faulty assumptions and methodology. First of all, there is bias rhetoric, in which unstated bias is against supernatural intervention in the world. Biblical history and teaching is simply the result of evolutionary development.
Second is a faulty historical methodology. A few detractors to the virgin conception of Jesus seek to connect alleged parallels between mystery religions and Gnosticism with Christianity. It is true that world religions, ancient and modern, have some similarities, such as ritual meals, belief in some form of afterlife, ceremonies of initiation into the community, and some ancient religions practiced circumcision and sacrifice. To establish Christianity's dependence on these religions, though, would require not simply similarity of form, but agreement in essence. Having similarity is to be expected since we have a common human nature, experiences, and desires. What is important, however, is not the similarity of words and practices, but the meanings and significance attached to them.1 One example of such borrowing is made by two authors, in which they state, “Like Jesus, who at his crucifixion is given a crown of thorns, Dionysus was given a crown of ivy." This suggested parallel ignores the significant differences: a crown of thorns was on one occasion only forced on Jesus as a cruel mockery of Him as “King of the Jews,” while a crown of ivy was frequently and willingly worn by both Dionysus and the pagan worshipers as part of pagan ritual. Such “parallels” are merely superficial and do not indicate dependence."2
Third, those claiming that the authors of the New Testament borrowed from pagan myths fail to demonstrate that many of the myths of the pagan mysteries existed prior to Christianity. It is true that certain mystery religions existed before Christianity, but there is little information on them historically. It is more likely that they borrowed from Christian stories.
Fourth, authors like those above do an inadequate examination of the Hebrew background of Christianity. Many of the Christian terms such as "mystery," "sacrificial lamb," and "resurrection" are found in the Hebrew religion even predating the mysteries from Greece, rather than from the Ancient Near East, and ancient Greece. There is no evidence that the Jewish culture framed its religion after Greek culture, and the Maccabean wars were fought over this attempt by the Greek rulers after the time of Alexander.
Fifth, and last, there is a considerable historical connection between those matters relating to Jesus, supposedly borrowed by the authors of the Gospels. All of the books of the New Testament were written between 20-60 years after the historical events. "These were matters not done in a corner (Acts 26:26) and were not cleverly devised tales (2 Pet 1:16), but were testified to by many witnesses (Acts 2:22; 13:30-31). That the claims about Jesus were part of a grand hoax perpetrated by the early Christians, as the authors suggest, is an implausible explanation since they could be easily disproved in such a historical situation. Claims about Jesus’ resurrection, for example, could be easily disproved by a visit to His still-occupied tomb."3
Additional errors could be answered, but it is sufficient to say that the stories of Jesus are based on reliable records and personal testimonies from those who heard and recorded the words and deeds of Jesus.
NOTES
See my article on the alleged dependence of Christians on pagan myths of the ancient world, from which this article was written, and for further sources that support the historicity and accuracy of early teaching about Jesus, and early Christianity.