“I am an Orthodox Christian, but not a believer”

Dear C.,

Some time back we had a phone conversation about our faith and our hope in the risen Lord. Although you've been an Orthodox Christian all your life and are active in your church, you dismissed it all. It seems that to you “being good and doing good” is all that counts. Of course, you are to be commended for the good you have done all your life, and for what you continue to do; however, stating that you believe in God, as you do, is not enough—not for us, Orthodox Christians anyhow. If you had never heard about Jesus Christ, if you had not grown up in the Church, if you had never received the holy sacraments and instruction over the years, one could say that you are excused. However, since you don't have this defense, it is incumbent on you to confess the faith of the Church and to live a Christian life, in accordance with the commandments of the Lord. Still more, you dismiss the historicity of Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the dead – the foundations of our faith as Christians – as paramythia, “idle tales”. They are not made up, as you state, but are historical facts. I know that you, like your husband, are scientists and therefore your mind needs facts. I intend to provide these to you for your examination.

Since you are not up to reading the holy scripture right now, I will direct you to at least a few biblical passages which are historical accounts of eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ and of His resurrection, hoping that you'll give them serious consideration. I hope these passages will urge you to read the entire holy scripture, so that, by God's grace, you will regain your faith. I care more for you, because you have been a good friend over many years.

Historical, eyewitness accounts of Jesus Christ and His Resurrection

The quotations below are from three eyewitnesses, the holy Apostles Paul, Peter and John, according to the approximate date in which the texts were written. With one exception, I have not commented on these passages, leaving it up to you to draw your own conclusions.

The first author, Paul of Tarsus (better known as “Saint Paul”), was not even one of Christ's chosen 12 disciples. So how is he said to be an eyewitness of the Lord and of His resurrection? We'll let him answer this question himself... But first, I would like to point out that Paul was an educated man, having been a pupil of the illustrious teacher of Jewish law, Gamaliel, who was a Pharisee (a specialist in the Laws given through Moses – a theologian more than a lawyer). Paul too became a Pharisee. He was also proud to be a Roman citizen from birth. He went from being a zealous persecutor of the Church to become its leading missionary, who preached Christ as God to the non-Jews, the Greeks.

Paul's conversion is narrated by his later missionary companion Luke (cf. 2 Tim. 4:11), whom he called “the beloved physician” (Col. 4:14) and “my co-worker” (Philem. 24), in his letters. St. Luke followed the Apostle Paul, as we see in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 9, when he begins narrating the events in the first person plural. According to solid tradition, Luke is also the author of the book in the Bible that carries his name, “The Gospel According to Luke”. He introduces what he wrote about Jesus' life, calling it “an orderly account” (Lk. 1:3) so that we “may know the full truth about everything which you have been taught” (Lk. 1:4). This is precisely the purpose I write these words to you, dear C., hoping that you will be convinced about the truthfulness of what they have written, and that you too will become a believer.

I've marked in red the most pertinent passages, and in bold, words to which you should give special attention. The translations are those that I had handy. (Since you are a Greek language teacher and you know it well, it would be good for you to also look up and read the following passages in the original Greek as well, your maternal language that speaks more to your heart.)

1) PAUL (+c. 64 AD)

LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (c. 52-55 AD)

(To the Hellenized people of Galatia who had become Christians)

Chapter 1

LETTER TO THE ROMANS (c. 58 AD)

(To the Christians living in Rome)

CHAPTER 1

FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS (c. 53-57 AD)

(To the Christians living in Corinth)

CHAPTER 15

The appearance of Christ to over 500 people, who witnessed the Lord's resurrection, is a startling revelation. Although unique, we must not doubt the Apostle's word that he probably knew and met a number of them. A full analysis of this testimony is given here.

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES (c. 70 AD)

(Written by Luke the Evangelist, much of which is about Paul's “acts”)

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 22

(Paul's words, recounted by Luke)

CHAPTER 26

(Paul giving a defense of his faith before King Agrippa (AD 27/28 – c. 92 or 100), as narrated by Luke)

2) PETER (+ c. 64 AD)

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES (c. 70 AD)

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

ST PETER'S FIRST UNIVERSAL LETTER (1 PETER) (c. 63 AD)

CHAPTER 5

ST. PETER'S SECOND UNIVERSAL LETTER (2 PETER) (c. 64 AD)

CHAPTER 1

3) JOHN THE APOSTLE, EVANGELIST, THEOLOGIAN (+ c. 95 AD)

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST JOHN (c. 90 AD)

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 20

ST JOHN'S FIRST UNIVERSAL LETTER (c. 90 AD)

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

My Comments

Please bear in mind, dear C., that the selections from the historical documents quoted above were written 20 to 60 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ by eyewitnesses of the events they describe. They have been preserved by His followers and guarded with their own lives — in many cases quite literally. Therefore anyone who questions their authenticity should consider that we accept other historical figures without question.

For example, if we examine the historicity of Alexander the Great, what historical documents will we find that narrate the events of his life? The earliest source is the historian Callisthenes who accompanied Alexander, but his unfinished history Deeds of Alexander (327 BC) is lost to us. Cleitarchus wrote his History of Alexander (c. 300 BC), and Ptolemy, Alexander's general, also wrote his Memoirs of Alexander's campaign at about the same time, but both of these accounts are lost as well. The writings of Aristoboulos, Onesicritus and Nearchus, officials of Alexander, had the same fate. Diodorus's The Library of History is the oldest surviving source (c. 35-30 BC), written some 290 years after Alexander's death, followed by the History of Alexander the Great, written by Quintus Curtius Rufus c. 30 AD (353 years after Alexander's death). For the most part we rely on the accounts of Plutarch's Parallel Lives (written during the last 10 years of his life (died 125 AD), some 448 years after Alexander's death) and Arrian's Anabasis, written about 20 years later (c. 145 AD). The latter is the most reliable source of Alexander's life and deeds. The recently discovered Astronomical Diary is the only contemporary source on Alexander, which places his death on June 11, 323 BC. (See other online sources, including, this source)

The accounts of the eyewitnesses presented here, as well as of the other writers of the New Testament, which include names of places, people and events, have been confirmed by archeological findings. For example, Paul's tomb with his relics were discovered during excavations. Archeologists confirmed it was the tomb of Apostle Paul in 2005 (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Apostle). The universal acceptance of the New Testament writings and the universal transmission of Baptism and Eucharist are also a testament to the authenticity of the texts. These are not cleverly devised myths, but true and real historical accounts, therefore to deny them would show a lack of good will.

Faith is not a conviction based on unproven stories, or on private, baseless convictions that have no security. This is how St. Paul describes faith:

Faith gives us assurance, a certainty of things we hope for; faith convinces us about things we have not seen ourselves, that we have not experienced with our own senses, but we believe in them based on the witness of others. We have not seen Jesus Christ, we have had no first-hand knowledge of His life and His deeds, we did not see Him die and rise from the dead, neither has He appeared to us. Yet we have a certainty about these things, based on the testimony of those who have seen Him, and all the marvelous things they describe. Our faith is not based on falsehood nor is it in vain. Why does having faith in Christ matter? We believe, because by doing so we receive the blessing of the Lord, who said: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” (John 20:29)

The conclusion we draw from all this is that we need to strengthen our faith in Christ, that He is the Son of God in the flesh, that He became human so that we could become divine, that He freed us from sin, suffering and death with His death and resurrection from the dead, that He will come again in glory to raise us from death and grant us His life – as long as we remain united with Him and live His life, a life of complete obedience to God.

We set our hopes in our Savior. We hope and trust we won't be disappointed: “Glory to You, O Lord and God, our hope, glory to You.”

Fr. Emmanuel Hatzidakis
3-18-2019
(edited by AH, 9-2022)