This past Tuesday was the Ides of March. The significance of the 15th of March would have totally slipped by me hadn’t I been reminded by a couple FaceBook posts. One such post attached an interesting article entitled “6 myths about the Ides of March and killing Caesar.” The article questions the accuracy of many facts that Shakespeare incorporated into his play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. The article’s author relies upon the expertise of Barry Strauss, a professor of history and classics at Cornell University.
I personally don’t know which set of facts are closer to reality, those from the ancient historian, Plutarch who Shakespeare apparently drew from, or those from alternate ancient historians, Nicolaus of Damascus, Suetonius, Appian, and Cassius Dio, who Professor Strauss additionally referenced to accent his recent book on Caesar. What I find disturbing is that most modern historians who quote from any of these ancient writers accept without question the authenticity of the life accounts of secular characters such as Caesar, while denying the accuracy of the combination of Biblical and secular evidence that describe in much greater detail the person of Jesus Christ, His teachings and the events surrounding His life and death.
A comparison of the nature of the evidence for each clearly establishes the biases of those who accept the former but deny the latter. The ancient documents and other evidence authenticating the life and times of the founder of the Christian faith far outnumber (times multiple hundreds) that of any other historical figure; and the earliest Biblical works have been dated much closer to the period when Jesus actually walked this earth, than those documents relating to the lives and accomplishments of Caesar, Mark Antony, Plato, Aristotle, etc.
So what can or should we do about this obvious unfairness? Nothing in the natural! For we know that many have chosen to be deceived and to deceive others rather than bend their knee to their Creator. But pray for them – for God can and has revealed Himself to many such intellectuals (of which I R one) – and will continue to do so until Christ’s return.