Post Author: Bill Pratt In this series of posts, we have shown that the NT writers claimed to be eyewitnesses or associates of eyewitnesses; we have shown that we have multiple witnesses, and we have shown that the eyewitnesses were trustworthy. How? They included embarrassing details about themselves and difficult details about their subject of … Continue reading Did the New Testament Writers Record Fact or Fiction? Part 8
Post Author: Bill Pratt Continuing from part 6, we will examine more evidence for the trustworthiness of the NT writers. A fourth question about the NT writers’ integrity: are any of the historical facts they mention corroborated by other sources? Here the NT writers really shine. During the first and second centuries, there were many historians … Continue reading Did the New Testament Writers Record Fact or Fiction? Part 7
Post Author: Bill Pratt From part 5, we are still examining whether the eyewitnesses who wrote the books of the NT are trustworthy. Previously we noted that the eyewitnesses recorded embarrassing details about Jesus’ disciples. We concluded that embarrassing details would not be included in a fictional work meant to emphasize the greatness of the first … Continue reading Did the New Testament Writers Record Fact or Fiction? Part 6
Post Author: Bill Pratt Continuing from part 4, we will now ask further questions of the writers of the New Testament (NT ) documents. Question 2: Do we have multiple witnesses or just one? The more witnesses, the better, because one person could make a mistake, but if several people are saying the same thing, … Continue reading Did the New Testament Writers Record Fact or Fiction? Part 5
Post Author: Bill Pratt Based on the previous post, we know that the NT documents were written soon enough after the events of Jesus’ life to prevent anyone claiming that they are largely tainted by myth or legend. This fact was very important to establish, but we are still left with a nagging question. Just because … Continue reading Did the New Testament Writers Record Fact or Fiction? Part 4
Post Author: Bill Pratt In the previous post, we started arguing for early dates for several NT books, but we didn’t finish the discussion. So this post picks up where we left off! It is generally agreed upon by scholars that the gospel of Luke was written before the book of Acts. Dr. Luke wrote … Continue reading Did the New Testament Writers Record Fact or Fiction? Part 3
Post Author: Bill Pratt Continuing from part 1, let’s examine the evidence for dating the books of the NT, especially the books of the NT which contain substantial historical facts about Jesus and his followers. First we should note that three leaders of the early church – Clement of Rome, Ignatius, and Polycarp – quoted … Continue reading Did the New Testament Writers Record Fact or Fiction? Part 2
Post Author: Bill Pratt In two previous posts, Darrell argued that the Greek New Testament (NT) that we have today is almost identical to the twenty-seven books that were originally written. These two posts can be found here and here. In this post and following posts, I want to establish an answer to the obvious next question. … Continue reading Did the New Testament Writers Record Fact or Fiction? Part 1
James A. Brooks, in [amazon_textlink asin=’B005X4D8A2′ text=’Mark, vol. 23, The New American Commentary‘ template=’ProductLink’ store=’toughquest_plugin-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’2097c5ef-17e0-11e7-ad5c-4b4eeeb331a9′], provides additional thoughts: [T]he trial may have involved illegalities. Illegal trials and perversions of justice have occurred throughout human history in all societies (including ‘Christian’), and this trial may well have been such an instance. No injustice … Continue reading Is Mark’s Account of Jesus’ Trial a Fictional Invention? Part 2
Some Bible scholars believe that the Book of Jonah is a fictional tale written purely for teaching purposes by its original author. They argue that the original author never meant for the story to be taken as real history. While it may be impossible to know just based on the contents of the book itself, … Continue reading #2 Post of 2016 – Is the Story of Jonah Fictional?