Friends, welcome to Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. Word on Fire is an

apostolate dedicated to the mission of evangelization using media both old and

new to share the faith on every continent and to facilitate an encounter with

Christ and His Church. The efforts of Word on Fire engage the culture and bring

the transformative power of God's Word where it is most needed. Today we invite

you to join Bishop Robert Barron as he preaches the gospel and shares the

warmth and light of Christ with each one of us.

Peace be with you. Friends, a couple years ago there was a poll done in Great

Britain that revealed the majority of people in that country feel that Jesus

was not a real historical figure. He was more of a mythic character. Mind you,

this is in the land of Edward the Confessor and Thomas Moore and John Fisher,

Edmund Campion, John Henry Newman and GK Chesterton, all of whom I guarantee you

are rolling their eyes in heaven at this finding because the historicity of

Jesus, that's the technical term, the fact that he was a real historical figure,

is of central importance to Christianity. There are all kinds of spiritual

systems that trade in mythic language that are kind of legendary, that use

certain literary texts that bear a spiritual truth. And as Jerry Seinfeld would

say, you know, there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, I like the myths. I like

legends that carry a spiritual truth. I like poetry that conveys timeless

spiritual insights. Great, great. But that's not what Christianity is. Almost

uniquely among the great religious of the world, it depends upon certain clear

historical claims. Now, I get it. This has been true, especially the last two

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