Can We Dismiss the Gospel as a Fairy Tale? Part 1

There's a lot to talk about with the subject. I'll be posting in three parts.

There is a common line of thought that I heard expressed quite well in one simple statement from a coworker: "The burden is on you to prove that Cinderella was based on a true story." This concise barb illustrates one prevalent line of thought. There are many people who believe that the story contained in the Gospels is nothing more than a fairy tale, used to scare people into being good or rendering their goods and services to the Church.

 Let us first note the definition of the term fairy tale as defined in the Oxford Dictionary:  
     1 A children’s story about magical and imaginary beings and lands. 
     1.1 [as modifier] Denoting something regarded as resembling a fairy story in being magical, idealized, or extremely happy: 
     1.2 A fabricated story, especially one intended to deceive.

 A fairy story has its main power in the ability to entertain our fancy, and many of the most well known ones were told for this purpose. No one ever recited a folk tale in an effort to convince people of its literal truth, although many of them contain morals to be learned. From Cinderella to Paul Bunyan, these were fanciful tales forged to light the spirits of imagination and hope. You may be tempted to say that this is just what the Gospels seem to be, but there are important differences.
     The main issue with applying this description to the Gospels is that they were written as historical events that so changed the lives of the witnesses thereof as to demand retelling. I would challenge the reader to name any movement in which the adherents thereof contrived a deliberate fallacy and then went about spreading it upon pain of death. It is important to note that many of the first Christians, the witnesses to the events and teachings they then testified of, were tortured and killed for their belief in the risen Jesus Christ.  The level of commitment to the truth of the Gospel had to be a genuine one for it to have spread as powerfully as it did, and at the very least one would have to concede that the apostles believed that what they were telling was, indeed, true.
  
The context of historical narrative is most apparent in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, he begins by saying:
"1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled^a among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught."
 This text plainly puts the testimony of Luke outside the realm of a fictional account. It underlines the fact that he is meant to be taken seriously, having "carefully investigated" the matter himself.
 Luke was the companion and physician of St. Paul (once called Saul of Tarsus.) Paul is one of the most notable martyrs for the Christian faith, as he was in an elevated social position before his conversion. Born a Roman citizen, he had many rights which the Jews of Palestine did not enjoy. He was also a member of the Pharisees, a powerful religious authority at the time. He hunted and killed the followers of Christ with religious zeal, and it was on the road to Damascus that he claimed to have seen the risen Christ. For more on this event, see  Acts 9. 
  Paul went to his death in order to spread the Gospel to the non-Jewish world. He proclaimed the experience of the risen Christ, but also confirmed everything that the original Apostles were saying about His life, and teachings. This points directly to an experience within (at the time) recent history, which was witnessed and born out with the utmost conviction.

  Next week I will address the Gospels as mythology. In the meantime, maybe there are some "ok, but" questions you have that I will be glad to answer. As always, thanks for taking the time to read. Keep thinking!