Case Study: The Gospel Authors

Teabing smiled. “And everything you need to know about the Bible can be summed up by the great canon doctor Martyn Percy.” Teabing cleared his throat and declared, “The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven." “I beg your pardon?” “The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book.”

“Fortunately for historians,” Teabing said, “some of the gospels that Constantine attempted to eradicate managed to survive. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the 1950’s hidden in a cave near Qumran in the Judean desert. And, of course, the Coptic Scrolls in 1945 at Nag Hammadi. In addition to telling the true Grail story, these documents speak of Christ’s ministry in very human terms. Of course, the Vatican, in keeping with their tradition of misinformation, tried very hard to suppress the release of these scrolls, And why wouldn’t they? The scrolls highlight glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications, clearly confirming that the modern Bible was compiled and edited by men, who possessed a political agenda—to promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ and use His influence to solidify their own power base.” (The Da Vinci Code 234)

“What I mean,” Teabing countered, “is that almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false.” (The Da Vinci Code 235)

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty (2 Pet 1.16)

Deity of Christ Lord Liar Lunatic Apostolic Witness Deceivers Dupes Direct witnesses

Were the Gospel authors trying to write history? Luke 1.1–4 Compare Luke 1.1–4; Acts 1.1–3 with Josephus’ Against Apion 1.1; 2.1 John The style of writing Sober and responsible Accurate details No blatant mythologizing

“As a literary historian, I am perfectly convinced that whatever else the Gospels are they are not legends. I have read a great deal of legend, and I am quite clear that they are not the same sort of things.” —C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock

Were they able to do what they intended? Thirty or more years after the fact Oral teaching and memorization Memorization was more flexible then Incidental details were allowed to change (10–40%) Fixed points that made the story what it was were unalterable Differences between Matthew, Mark and Luke range between 10 and 40 percent

Are the Gospel authors trustworthy? Nothing to indicate otherwise

“Every document, apparently ancient, coming from the proper repository or custody, and bearing on it face no evident marks of forgery, the law presumes to be genuine, and devolves on the opposing party the burden of proving it to be otherwise. “In the absence of circumstances which generate suspicion, every witness is to be presumed credible, until the contrary is shown; the burden of impeaching his credibility lying on the objector.” (Simon Greenleaf, The Testimony of the Evangelists)

Are the Gospel authors trustworthy? Nothing to indicate otherwise Reporting the words of a man who taught integrity Lived out their beliefs—to death

Weren’t the Gospels’ Authors prejudiced in regard to what they wrote? Seeking to honor someone does not indicate lying Nothing to gain by lying

Did the authors hide any details that they should have left in? Hard sayings of Jesus (e.g., Bread of Life discourse) Surprising sayings of Jesus (e.g., Mark 6.5; 13.2) The Apostles themselves Women at the resurrection

Do the contemporaries of the Gospels cry foul? They had every reason to do so if they could Enemies of Jesus didn’t deny His miracles Leaders of the Jews didn’t deny the empty tomb There are no attacks on the Gospels for being falsehoods or distortions at the time of their writing

“When evaluated by the same criteria critical historians typically use to evaluate ancient documents, the Gospels give us many reasons to conclude that the image of Jesus they present is historically reliable.” —Boyd and Eddy, Lord or Legend