Why Do We Believe The Bible Part 2

Why Do We Believe The Bible Part 2

Thesis: How Were the Stories Passed Down?

1a What the skeptics claim:

“[The Gospels] were written thirty-five to sixty-five years after Jesus’ death ... not by people who were eyewitnesses, but by people living later.”

1b What history actually tells us?

• Yes and no.
• The Gospels were probably written between thirty-five and sixty-five years after the death of Jesus.
• Historical evidence strongly suggests that the sources of the New Testament Gospels were eyewitnesses of the events of Jesus’ life.

2a. What skeptics claim:
“Stories based on eyewitness accounts are not necessarily reliable, and the same is true a hundredfold for accounts
that . . . have been in oral circulation long after the fact.”

2b. What history actually tells us?
*In a culture that passed on information orally—such as the biblical world—it was possible for oral histories to remain reliable for remarkably long periods of time.

• People in today’s world—surrounded by high levels of literacy and easy access to writing materials—are accustomed to recording important information in written form.

Several more to follow