Evidence for the Historical Jesus Quotes

“Son of Man is Jesus’ favorite self-designation in the gospels and at least twice, one of them in Mark 14, he basically paraphrases some of the vital elements of Daniel 7:13-14. Then he clearly identifies himself as that last person. The Jewish high priest asks Jesus, “Are you the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the Blessed One?” Notice Jesus’ response: Ego eimi, “I am.”
― Gary Habermas, Evidence for the Historical Jesus: Is the Jesus of History the Christ of Faith

“Paul did not invent the deity of Christ, either, as we sometimes hear. Lofty titles for Jesus do in fact appear all over Paul’s “authentic” epistles. But they are also found in the early sermon summaries in Acts, and perhaps most importantly, in the pre-Pauline creedal statements that are earlier than Paul’s epistles themselves, such as those found in Romans 1:3-4, 10:9, 1 Corinthians 8:6, or Philippians 2:6-11.”
― Gary Habermas, Evidence for the Historical Jesus: Is the Jesus of History the Christ of Faith

“Let me make this point again. 1 Corinthians predates the gospels, and 1 Corinthians 15 is the longest extended treatment of the resurrection before the four gospels. So really, on the timeline, the gospels were written later. So here we’ve got the chronological horse of Paul’s epistles in the right place, before the gospel cart.”
― Gary Habermas, Evidence for the Historical Jesus: Is the Jesus of History the Christ of Faith

“the four major Petrine sermon summaries in Acts 2-5, and finds most prominently the ideas of preaching the Messianic fulfillment in the dawning Kingdom of God, the ministry, Deity, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the resurrection as the chief indicator that Jesus is the exalted Lord.”
― Gary Habermas, Evidence for the Historical Jesus: Is the Jesus of History the Christ of Faith