Why Alex O’Connor’s case against Christianity fails

In a recent video, atheist Alex O’Connor responded to Wesley Huff’s interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast, challenging several points made by Huff during the conversation.

Here is a summary of three specific areas where O’Connor disputes the credibility of Christianity.

1. Jesus never claimed to be God.
2. Mark’s Gospel does not mention the resurrection.
3. John’s Gospel was written significantly later than commonly believed.

Let’s take a closer look at each of the three refutations O’Connor presents to determine whether his arguments against Christianity hold up under scrutiny.

1. Did Jesus claim to be God?

O’Connor argues that because Jesus did not explicitly declare, “I am God,” He never made a claim to divinity. However, this interpretation overlooks the Jewish cultural context of first-century Galilee. In that setting, Jesus’s statements and teachings conveyed His authority in ways not reliant on modern interpretations.

For instance, Jesus frequently prefaced His teachings with the term “Amen” or “Truly,” which set Him apart from other rabbis who traditionally did not claim such definitive authority in their teachings. In the Sermon on the Mount, He employed the phrase “Ego de Lego,” meaning “But I say,” indicating that His words were the ultimate expression of God’s will (Matthew 5:22, 28, 34). This use of self-reference indicated a unique authority, suggesting that He regarded Himself as the source of divine truth.

N.T. Wright, a renowned British New Testament scholar, notes that by starting His statements with “Amen,” Jesus was making a profound claim about His divine authority.

Although Alex may consider the Gospel accounts as mere speculation, it could be pointed out that many eyewitness accounts of the first century corroborate Jesus’s statements and the miraculous actions that He did and that are reported in the historical records of the canonical Gospels. For example, Jesus did miracles like healing the sick and bringing the dead back to life. Many of Jesus’s miracles attracted large crowds because they were performed in public and witnessed by both His followers and His enemies.

For example, an illustration of Jesus’s divine authority is found in Mark 2:7, where Jesus first forgave a paralytic’s sins. After this, the scribes questioned, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus responded by teaching that He was validating His authority, saying, “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Mark 2:10). The title “Son of Man” has prophetic antecedents in Daniel 7:13 and serves as a significant marker of Jesus’s divine identity.

In Mark 4:39-41, Jesus calms a storm, demonstrating divine control over nature—an act clearly understood to be performed only by God Himself.

2. Does Mark’s Gospel mention Jesus’s resurrection?

Scholars use “Markan Priority” to acknowledge Mark as the earliest Gospel, probably written in the early 50s. This dating also allows for the presence of eyewitnesses like the Apostle Peter, whose experiences provide the foundation for John Mark to write down an accurate account of Jesus’s life.

The early Church Father Papias (a pupil of the Apostle John himself) affirmed this link as well, writing in “Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord” (AD 130 or 140) that Mark accurately recorded Peter’s eyewitness accounts without error.

Additionally, Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, writing around AD 180, affirmed in “Against Heresies” that Mark’s account came directly from the Apostle Peter’s insights, reinforcing its historical credibility.

Although Mark 16:9-20 is absent from the earliest and most complete Greek manuscripts, such as Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus (4th century), this absence does not undermine Jesus rising from the dead. Here are a few things to consider:

3. Is the P52 fragment from John’s Gospel?

According to O’Connor, the P52 fragment lacks solid verification, raising concerns about how much trust we can place in the dating and structural content of John’s Gospel.

What we do know is that in 1934, C.H. Roberts sent photographs of P52 to three European papyrologists, who dated it to AD 100-150. Additionally, the handwriting resembled that of papyri discovered during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, who ruled from AD 117-138. 

While the date of P52 is debated between AD 100 to AD 150, what truly stands out is the preservation of the Gospels and the New Testament letters. As Sir Frederick Kenyon, a notable biblical scholar in ancient manuscripts, stated in Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts,

While Alex O’Connor is a thoughtful seeker of truth, analyzing his claims against Christianity reveals that his arguments lack historical context, overlook strong textual evidence, and disregard early testimonies supporting Jesus’s divinity and resurrection.

We can trust in the preservation of these sacred teachings from the Gospels, which offer us the eternal words of Jesus Christ that lead to everlasting life.