Historical Reliability of the Gospels

1. Historical Reliability of the Gospels 6/16/12

2. C.S. Lewis "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

3. The Case for a First Century New Testament • External Evidence

4. External Evidence • Thallus, Greek historian in the 1st century, references the darkness that occurred at the time of the crucifixion • Pliny the Younger, Roman legate, wrote to the emperor Trajan in the early 2nd century asking for advice on how to deal with Christians who refused to reverence Caesar’s image. He refers to them meeting regularly and singing hymns “to Christ as if to a god” • Tacitus, Roman historian in the early 2nd century, describes Christians as those who followed “Christ who had been executed by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius” • Suetonius, Roman historian in early 2nd century, refers to the expulsion of Jews from Rome during the reign of Claudius (AD 41-54) due to rioting “at the instigation of Chrestus” • Lucian, a 2nd century satirist, ridicules Christians for worshipping a man • Mara bar Serapion, a 2nd century Syrian, writes to his son urging him to imitate wise teachers, mentioning twice a “wise King” who was executed by the Jews • Celsus, a pagan apologist reference by Origen in the early 3rd century, disparages Jesus’ lineage, calls his mother an adulteress, attribute miraculous powers to sorcery, and falsely claimed divinity

5. External Evidence • Jesus described by non-Christian sources: • Jesus was a Jew who lived in Israel during the first third of the first century • Unusual birth, out of wedlock • Life intersected ministry of John the Baptist • Attracted great crowds and following • Performed unusual, perhaps miraculous, works • Had a group of followers called disciples (five are named) • Recognized as a sage • Recognized as a king • Instigator of controversy • Crucified during the time of Pontius Pilate • Followers worshipped him

6. The Case for a First Century New Testament • External Evidence • Historical Congruence

7. Historical Congruence Gospels are full of proper names, dates, cultural details, historical events, geographical sites, and customs and opinions of the time • Pontius Pilate. Plaque with his inscription discovered in 1961. • Lysaniustetrarch of Abilene. Inscription dating to time of Tiberius recently found. • John accurately references Cana, Capernaum, Jacob’s Well, Mount Gerazim, The Sheep Gate, Tiberius, Bethany, Ephraim, Kidron Brook, The Praetorium and the garden tomb

8. Historical Congruence Gospels demonstrate accurate knowledge of Jerusalem prior to 70 AD • Pool of Bethesda. Until the 19th century, there was no evidence of or reference to its existence. • Pool of Siloam. Also discovered in the 19th century. • Pilate passed judgment on Jesus at a location known as a “stone pavement”. Recently discovered. • Golgotha was said to be just outside the city walls in John 19. The walls of the city were extended to include Golgotha only a decade after Jesus’ death. • John 2:13-16 correctly records names of locations in the temple complex

9. The Case for a First Century New Testament • External Evidence • Historical Congruence • Embarrassment

10. Embarrassment • Mark and Luke as authors of gospels • Jesus coming from Nazareth • Jesus’ baptism • Apocalyptical material in Matthew 24 • Details about Jesus’ human weakness • Jesus being buried by Joseph of Arimathea (a Sanhedrist) • Disciples’ faults • Appeared to women • “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

11. The Case for a First Century New Testament • External Evidence • Historical Congruence • Embarrassment • Multiple Attestation

12. Multiple Attestation A passage is more likely to be authentic if it is included in two or more independent sources (e.g. Mark, Q, John, Paul, Josephus, etc.) • Last Supper (Mark, John, Paul) • Jesus meeting with John the Baptist (Mark and John) • Jesus’ miracles • Jesus’ “Son of Man” sayings • Empty tomb

13. The Case for a First Century New Testament • External Evidence • Historical Congruence • Embarrassment • Multiple Attestation • Semitic Traces

14. Semitic Traces The New Testament was obviously written in Greek, but there are several sayings from Jesus that would only be worded the way they were if spoken in Aramaic (transliterations, parallelisms, order of words, redundant pronouns, etc.) Example: • Matthew 23:24 – “straining out the gnat (galma) and swallowing the camel (gamla).”

15. The Case for a First Century New Testament • External Evidence • Historical Congruence • Embarrassment • Multiple Attestation • Semitic Traces • Dissimilarity

16. Dissimilarity Sayings that appear to be distinct from later Christian theology or prior Judaism are likely to be authentic first century passages. • Christians would have likely included material in the Jesus tradition about Christian controversies like circumcision, spiritual gifts, role of women, meat sacrificed to idols, etc. • Improbability of early church developing story based on Zechariah 9:9

17. The Case for a First Century New Testament • External Evidence • Historical Congruence • Embarrassment • Multiple Attestation • Semitic Traces • Dissimilarity • Lack of Legendary Elements

18. Lack of Legendary Development • Historically, legendary elements do not appear in accounts until at least a century after the events • Gospel of Peter’s resurrection: gigantic figure with head reaching above the clouds, supported by angels, followed by a talking cross, and witness by a great multitude of spectators

19. The Case for a First Century New Testament • External Evidence • Historical Congruence • Embarrassment • Multiple Attestation • Semitic Traces • Dissimilarity • Lack of Legendary Elements • Dating Indicators

20. Dating Indicators • From the writings of Suetonis, Juvenal, Pliny the Younger, Martial, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, it seems clear that Christians were dying for their faith within 31 years of Jesus’ death • Acts ends with Paul still alive, although he was killed in Nero’s courts in AD 63-64. Acts was the second part of a two-volume work, the first being Luke. Luke appears to have used Mark as a resource. Mark’s date, therefore, is likely no later than the late-50s. • Paul’s letters were primarily written in the 50s. Philippians 2, Colossians 1, and 1Corinthians 15 all contain “creeds”, likely with Aramaic roots, meaning these were circulating in Christian circles prior to Paul’s letters. These creeds refer to both the deity and the resurrection of Christ. Paul’s letters themselves also contain a well-developed Christology and an obvious belief in the resurrection. • Dating of early manuscripts

21. If written in the mid-first century… Either the gospels are authentic accounts or the writers deliberately deceived, in which case we would need to account for… • Motivation

22. Motivation • “Would men in such circumstances pretend to have seen what they never saw; assert facts which they had no knowledge of; go about lying to teach virtue; and, though not only convinced of Christ’s being an imposter, but having seen the success of his imposture in his crucifixion, yet persist in carrying on; and so persist, as to bring upon themselves, for nothing, and with full knowledge of the consequences, enmity and hatred, danger and death?” William Paley • They had absolutely nothing to gain • They had been raised in a religion vastly different from the one they preached

23. If written in the mid-first century… Either authentic accounts or the writers deliberately deceived, in which case we would need to account for… • Motivation • Martyrdom • Effect

24. Effect • Needed explanation for the incredible early growth of Christianity, especially in Palestine • Needed explanation of certain beliefs arose, such as the deity of Christ

25. Conclusion • Multiple lines of evidence point to most of the New Testament being written in the mid-first century, drawing upon even earlier traditions • If such traditions about Jesus were around at such an early date, they could have easily been disproven if false • The early dates do not allow for legendary development • The only reason to doubt that the gospels are authentic is that they contain supernatural events.