Jesus And The Road Argument

Why do Timing Arguments Matter?

Timing arguments matter because they show God's perfect knowledge and intelligience. If God really did visit the earth in human form it would be prudent for him to choose an efficient timing to appear to us. In order to act most efficiently with free humans, he would have to appear in the perfect timing to get his message across, if Jesus passes this test, that serves as evidence for Jesus being God. 

Roman Roads

              If God wanted to spread his message most effectively, he would most likely pick a time period in where his followers could travel from city to city on a system that allowed them to do just that. It would have been very difficult for Jesus’ followers to spread the gospel if they had to traverse by foot through mountains, due to a lack of roads.

              5000 BCE - 500 BCE: This period of time led to the creation of the wheel. The wheel allowed for carts to be pulled first in two wheeled carts by donkeys as early as 3000 BCE. Later, the wheel allowed for four wheeled carts which were used for farming in 2500 BCE. Finally, the wheel allowed for chariots to be produced around 2000 BCE. These developments led to the ability to move materials more easily, as well as to some minor social travel in the region. Most roads at the time were no more than cleared pathways which were very ineffective, especially when weather changes occurred or war. Had Jesus appeared at this time, his message would not have travelled far from where he lived.

              500 BCE - 400 BCE: In this time period some significant roads were being developed. The Royal Road was created in 500 BCE connecting Susa (Iran) to Sardis (turkey) reducing a ninety day travel from foot to nine days by horse back. However, most roads were still too difficult for any kind of major travel, especially by wheel. If Jesus had come at this time he and his followers would have been faced with difficult road transportation and his message would not have traveled easily.

              400 BCE - 100 BCE: During this period the Roman Empire established nearly 250,000 miles of road throughout their empire, because of their growing military needs. These roads were well paved and protected by the Roman Military. They built major roads such as the “queen of roads”, and when growing close to the end of the era they had improved their engineering abilities and were able to create better bridges and tunnels.

              The Roman roads provided the ability for fairly efficient travel throughout the Roman Empire. This allowed for Jesus and his followers to extend his ministry with more ease and efficiency, making it a good time to come down to give his message to humanity. We can see this as evidence that this around the time of Jesus' life, giving evidence for the incarnation.