Thursday, September 30, 2010

Answering Supposed Biblical Contradictions Part 2

In our debate on 9-2-2010, our opponents claimed that the Bible isn't reliable because it's full of contradictions and historical and scientific errors. I will continue answering several of these below in some detail for the benefit of the Christians who read this blog. However, if I can link to sites that provide plenty of follow-up information I'll do that since there is no need re-inventing the wheel. My responses are in blue font.

10. Christ Myther Nonsense

@ 27:30ff - "Jesus Christ was not a real person . . . accounts of Jesus derive from hearsay accounts . . . there's no actual person who was an eyewitness to Jesus being alive. . . . we don't know who the gospels were written by. Jesus had a great multitude of followers but no one ever bothers to write down the existence of [His] person."

@ 28:15ff - "Johnny Rosenberg - The Christ; a Critical Review and Analysis of the evidence of his existence." Our atheist opponent went on to list the following names as those who mentioned nothing about Jesus: Josephus, Seneca, Pliny the Elder, Arian, Plotinus, Dyan [sp?], Protonius, Seutonius, Juval, Meridus, Perseus . . . none of these guys actually mentioned that Jesus existed as a person."

First, it's a given for the regenerate believer that since this contradicts the New Testament, it is false. Thus, my first and final defense is the historical documents that the Holy Spirit has given us in Holy Scripture.

Second, most contemporary scholars (including theological liberals) consider the Christ Myth theory the absolute **lunatic fringe** of historical Jesus scholarship. That ought to give our atheist friends cause for pause before making bare-naked assertions about the non-existence of Jesus. Second, there is plenty of historical evidence listed here to demonstrate what I said in the first sentence.

Third, it's an outright lie to say that Jesus isn't mentioned in any of the above writers for in fact he is specifically mentioned in Josephus and Seutonius. There are several non-Christian texts that mention Jesus:

Josephus

Lucian

Mara bar-Serapion

Pliny the Younger

Seutonius

Tacitus

The Talmud

Thallus -- just a discussion of some accessory objections; include a link to a more thorough treatment, and a comparison of views.

11. @ 28:55 ff Adam and Eve never existed.

First, this contradicts Scripture, hence, it's necessarily false.

Second, our opponent made a few general remarks about genetics that no creationist would even disagree with and then insinuates that this is evidence for particles to people evolution.

Third, this is a textbook example of the fallacy of equivocation since our opponent conflated one definition of evolution (genetic variation amongst the same general kinds of animals) with another (particles to people). Those two definitions of "evolution" are not the same. One has to do with genetic variation displayed among creatures that stay the same kind of creature, the other is a philosophical belief system that has no supporting scientific evidence whatsoever. See Mutations: Questions and Answers

@ 29:15ff "The evidence for evolution is overwhelming" (Question begging epithet designed to emotionally sway the audience). "There are seven completely different lines of evidence that prove that evolution exists . . . and these ideas prove that there never was an Adam and Eve." Our opponent's seven lines of evidence included:

1. Fossils - Answer: Refuting Evolution 2, Chapter 8 - Argument: The fossil record supports evolution.

2. Biogeography - Answer: Geology: Questions and Answers - look at bottom of webpage.

3. Vestigiality - Answer: Vestigial Organs Questions and Answers.

4. Geological succession - Answer: Geology: Questions and Answers - look at bottom of webpage.

5. Embryology - Answer: Fraud rediscovered. Also look at this article under the section titled "Embryo Similarities?"

6. Genetics - Genetics: Questions and Answers. Also consider the following notes I took from Dr. Georgia Purdom's presentation titled "Genetics, Evolution, and Creation" at Creation College 2003 last year regarding the common evolutionist argument that the fusion event at human chromosome 2 is evidence for evolution:

Q2: Does a human chromosome 2 fusion event support human-chimp ancestry?

It is true that human chromosome 2 may have resulted from the fusion of 2 chromosomes.

Evolutionists believe this proves chimp-human common ancestry. But this is the logical fallacy known as "affirming the consequent":

P1 - If chimps and humans share a common ancestor, then you'd expect to observe a fusion event at human chromosome 2.
P2 - We observe a fusion event at human chromosome 2.
C - Thus, chimps and humans share a common ancestor.

Problem: This shows that it could just as easily be explained as the work of a common designer.

Affirming the consequent explained in an easy to understand manner:

P1 - If it has rained, the grass will be wet.
P2 - the grass is wet.
C - Therefore, must have rained.

Problem: It could just as easily be explained by someone spraying the grass with a water hose or dew on the grass.

"Evidence for fusion in a human chromosome tells you little to nothing about whether humans share a common ancestor with living apes. The human chromosomal fusion argument focuses on a fusion event that is specific to the human line, and therefore provides a highly limited form of evidence for human/ape common ancestry." [i.e., even if human did diverge from a common ancestor with chimps, the fusion event happened after the supposed divergence! - Casey Luskin, Intelligent Design advocate]

Luskin goes on to say,

"All Miller has done is documented direct empirical evidence of a chromosomal fusion event in the human line. But evidence or a chromosomal fusion event is not evidence for when that event took place, nor is it evidence for the ancestry prior to that event." Casey Luskin, "And the Miller Told His Tale: Ken Miller's Cold (Chromosomal) Fusion (Updated)" IDEA Center, http://www.ideacenter.org/contentmgt/showdetails.phpfd/1392 [emphasis in the original]

Evolutionists who believed that humans are more genetically related to orangutans than chimps said this,

"Schwartz and Grehan contend . . that the clear physical similarities between humans and orangutans have long been overshadowed by molecular analyses that link humans to chimpanzees, but that those molecular comparisons are often flawed: There is no theory holding that molecular similarity necessarily implies an evolutionary relationship; . . . and molecular data that contradict the idea that genetic similarity denotes relation are often dismissed." Physorg.com, "Humans Related to Orangutans, not Chimps," http://www.physorg.com/news164508477.html [Just b/c molecularly similar, doesn't mean they have a common evolutionary ancestor]

[He never mentioned the 7th line of evidence].

"These all disprove Adam and Eve."

No it doesn't, it just proves that our atheist friend isn't acquainted with the easily accessible online material that Ph.D. level creationists have provided for years to answer these supposed lines of evidence. Regarding the existence of Adam and Eve, if you want to know about the certain existence of any historical person you need a historical document produced by the One who knows everything and who never lies (Titus 1:2). God has provided such information in the Bible and contrary to your assertions, the Bible is indeed a reliable guide for faith and practice for the Christian.

12. If Evolution Happened, Adam & Eve Didn't Exist.

@ 29:44 - "If this [Darwinian evolution and non-existence of Adam and Eve] happened, there's no such thing as original sin."

I agree! And atheist Richard Bozarth agrees with us too:

Christianity has fought, still fights, and will continue to fight science to the desperate end over evolution, because evolution destroys utterly and finally the very reason Jesus’ earthly life was supposedly made necessary. Destroy Adam and Eve and the original sin, and in the rubble you will find the sorry remains of the Son of God. If Jesus was not the redeemer who died for our sins, and this is what evolution means, then Christianity is nothing. [G. Richard Bozarth, ‘The Meaning of Evolution’, American Atheist, p. 30. 20 September 1979.]

This is why we think theistic evolution is bogus. As a matter of fact, for those who are interested, here's the entire series of articles against theistic evolution from our beloved friends at Creation Ministries International:

Theistic Evolution

Why is evolution so dangerous for Christians to believe?

Did God use evolution to create the world?

How has theistic evolution harmed the faith of scientists and others who professed Christianity?

Posted by Dusman at 9/30/2010 08:55:00 AM Links to this post
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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Fruits of True Repentance

Note: What follows is a list of what characterizes true repentance. May it be a blessing to your soul.

A real hatred of sin

  • Real hatred of sin doesn’t involve one specific type of sin, but of the root of sin itself, which is self-will.
  • He who once regarded a particular behavior appealing, now detests it and has purposed to forsake it forever and take pains to avoid the things that cause it. This is the change of mind that God requires.
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations.” Ezek. 14:6

“There you will remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the evil things that you have done.” Ezek. 20:43

“From Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.” Psalm 119:104

A deep sorrow for sin

  • The non-saving, worldly sorrow that so many religious people experience is primarily the result of a temporary distress and anguish that one develops because of the consequences of one’s actions and/or only a fear of divine wrath.
  • God-wrought repentance produces deep grief from a sense of having offended the infinitely excellent, glorious, and holy being of God, especially Christ, whose life was given out of love for the sinner.
  • Worldly sorrow is the result of being temporarily ashamed for what one has done whereas God-granted repentance comes from seeing how good God is and how bad you are, realizing that you smeared the name of the One who died for the very sins that you have committed.
  • The former makes a person regretful, looking at a life that has been misspent and wasted whereas the latter is cut to the heart because he realizes that they have disregarded and opposed the High King of Heaven.
  • The person with worldly sorrow isn’t heartbroken over his ingratitude and rebellion against God, whereas the one afflicted with God-given repentance is terribly bothered by their sinning against the Savior.
“I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” 2 Corinthians 7:9-10

“And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, "Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.” Matthew 26:75
  • Godly sorrow (true repentance) is produced in the heart by the Holy Spirit and has God for its object. It is a grief produced by having despised God, rebelled against His authority, and been indifferent to His glory and more concerned with your own glory.
  • Godly sorrow caused Peter to weep bitterly after denying his Lord three times.
  • A person who has not grieved over his sin but takes pleasure in committing it is a stranger to true repentance.
  • Only genuine godly sorrow will cause a person to put to crucify “the flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5:24


A confessing of sin

“He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.” Proverbs 28:13

  • It is second nature for the sinner to deny his sins, whether directly or indirectly. It is second nature for the sinner to minimize or make excuses for his sins. Such was the case with Adam when he attempted to blame God and his wife for his sin (Gen. 3:12).
  • But when the Holy Spirit works in any soul, his sins are brought to light, and he, in turn, acknowledges them to God. There is no relief for the stricken heart until he does so; for David says, “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.” Psalm 32:3-5
  • An upfront, open, and brokenhearted owning up to our sins is essential if the sinner wants to have peace of mind and peace with God.
  • This is the change of attitude that God requires.


An actual turning from sin


Listen to Spurgeon,

“Surely there is no one here so stupefied with the laudanum[1] of hellish indifference as to imagine that he can revel in his lusts as afterward wear the white robes of the redeemed in Paradise. If you imagine you can be partakers of the blood of Christ, and yet drink the cup of Belial; if you imagine you can be members of Satan and members of Christ at the same time, ye have less sense than one would give you credit for. No, you know that rights hands must be cut off and right eyes plucked out – that the most darling sins must be renounced – if you would enter the kingdom of God” (Spurgeon on Luke 13:24)


John the Baptist told the Pharisees who came to see him baptize, “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance . . .” Matthew 3:8


Paul says in Acts 26:19-20, “So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.”


  • The NT presents three different phases of repentance. First, there is a “change of mind” (Mat. 3:2; Mk. 1:15, etc. – metanoeo). Second, a “change of heart” (Mt. 21:29; Heb. 7:21 – metamelomai). Third a “change of course or life” (Mt. 3:8; 9:13, Acts 20:21). All three must go together for a genuine repentance. Many experience a change of mind: they are instructed and know better, but they continue to defy God. Some experience a move on their heart and conscience, yet they continue in sin. Some change their ways, yet not from love to God and hatred of sin, but mere life transformation. Some are informed in mind and uneasy in heart, yet they never reform their lives. Again, all three must go together.
  • He who does not have a change of mind and heart and a change of life has not repented. If I really hate my sin won’t I abandon it? Pay strict attention to phrases like “in which you formerly walked” (Eph. 2:2) and “we also once were” (Titus 3:3) and “Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:7) This is the wholesale change the God requires.


Accompanied by restitution where this is necessary and possible


  • God given repentance is accompanied by a change in life. The prayer of a genuinely repentant person is similar to David’s prayer, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)
  • When one really desire to be right with God, he desire to be right with his fellow man too.
  • One who has wronged someone else and does not make a determined effort to do everything in his power to right that wrong, certainly has not repented!


True fruits of repentance are permanent


  • True repentance is ongoing in the life of a believer because she has understood the excellency and loveliness of God’s forgiveness and mercy in light of the exceeding wickedness of her own sin.
  • When one understands the glorious nature of God’s love and hatred for sin, he learns to love what God loves and hate what God hates.
  • When we grow in the grace and knowledge of God, our repentance deepens, and we judge ourselves more accurately in light of God’s word and become more and more humble before him (John 3:30). We don’t seek to justify our sin and point fingers at others, but we own up to our sin and repent of it.
  • The more the heart desires a closer walk with God, the more it will put away everything that hinders this.


Repentance is never perfect in this life


  • Because we live on in the flesh in this life, we will be assailed by temptations, doubts, and opportunities for sin. Thus, repentance is a life-long habit with the overall pattern of a person’s life being one of gradual spiritual progress. Christians are repenting-repenters.


What must be done?


  • Be reconciled to God and others through repentance.
  • Exhibit a change of mind/heart, and a change of life.
  • Confess your sins to God and one-another as necessary (James 5:16).
  • Exhibit that change by making amends with those whom you’ve hurt or offended.

Abide in Christ’s forgiveness and love, depending upon the Spirit and the word to direct and enable you to live for God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

[1] Laudanum – a solution of opium and alcohol that was used for pain relief.

Posted by Dusman at 9/29/2010 12:21:00 PM Links to this post
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Monday, September 27, 2010

Christian Service: Paul Finishes Well

Our Deacons take an early part of Shepherd's Fellowship worship service on the Lord's day to to encourage New Covenant Worship by Christian Service. What follows is Deacon Brian Wilson's Deacon Minute;

Please take your Bibles and turn to Acts 24 starting in verse 16. Luke gives us the account of Paul’s last missionary journey.
For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. 17From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. 18And when they had come to him, he said to them,
“You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, 19serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; 20how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 22“And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. 24“But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.
25“And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. 26“Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27“For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. 28“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31“Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. 32“And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33“I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. 34“You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. 35“In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
36When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, 38grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship.
In this passage, Paul has a good idea of what is going to happen to him, and he wants to communicate with the elders of the Epehesian church regarding their service and care of the body before he is imprisoned. He uses his own behavior as the example, and what an example it is!
He states in verse 24 that he doesn’t “consider [his] life of any account as dear to [himself].” Now that is complete service to Jesus. Then in verse 26, in reference to his duty as an elder he states that he is “innocent of the blood of all men.” And why is he able to say that? Because in verse 27 he states “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.” May God help each of us to be able to say that we have not considered our own life of any account but that we are innocent of accusations because we did NOT shrink from our service to God and to his body!

There are opportunities to serve this body, are you willing to serve? Eager to serve? Ready to serve? If so, please let the deacons know, we have plenty to do. There are things that need to be done in this facility, but we need people, mostly men, to organize them, and see that they are completed.

You will soon be contacted with an opportunity to help one of our families as they move. This is a great opportunity to care for other’s belongings, and I pray that you would do so, not as if they were YOUR most precious belongings, BUT as if they were the belongings of Jesus.

I pray that we will each serve one another for the glory of God!
Posted by Sterling VanDerwerker at 9/27/2010 09:34:00 AM Links to this post
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Saturday, September 25, 2010

Answering Supposed Biblical Contradictions Part 1

In our debate on 9-2-2010, our opponents claimed that the Bible isn't reliable because it's full of contradictions and historical and scientific errors. I will answer several of these below in some detail for the benefit of the Christians who read this blog. However, if I can link to sites that provide plenty of follow-up information I'll do that since there is no need re-inventing the wheel. My responses are in blue font.

1. @ 25:40 "The Bible says the earth is flat" and @ 25:44 "The Bible says the earth is stationary and on pillars."

No it doesn't. The biblical writers are doing two things (1) using phenomenological language just like we do today [i.e., sunrise tomorrow will be at 6:32 a.m.] and (2) using poetic language to beautifully depict creation.

The Bible teaches the correct shape of the earth. Isaiah 40:22 says that God "sits above the circle of the earth". The Hebrew word translated "circle" can also carry with it the idea of sphericity. Also, Luke 17:34-36 depicts Christ's second coming as happening while some are asleep at night and others are working at daytime in a field. Such language indicates an implicit knowledge that the earth was spherical and rotating.

See the following articles as well: 2. @ 25:46 "The Bible says that the moon produces light"

No it doesn't, it says that it "gives light". "Giving" light does not necessarily entail producing it. Let's look at Genesis 1:14-17,
Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. 16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. 17 God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth . . .
The text of Genesis 1:14-17 doesn't tell us how the "lesser light" gives light to the earth, only that it does. We know through scientific experimentation that the moon gives light via reflection of light from the sun. As I said earlier, "giving" does not necessarily entail producing. I can give food to my child, but it doesn't follow that because I gave her food that I also produced it. One one-light bearer produces and gives (sun) whereas the other only gives (moon). Our atheist friend is reading into the text something that's not in the text in order to criticize the text. This is a form of literary straw man.

3. @ 25:52 - "Bible says things about water cycle that aren't true."

This was a bare-naked assertion. No more information was provided to say how this is the case; so, I can't respond to an argument that wasn't given. However, I can say this, the Bible does speak clearly and accurately of hydrology in the following passages:
  • The hydrologic cycle - Ecclesiastes 1:7; Isaiah 55:10
  • Evaporation - Psalm 135:7; Jeremiah 10:13
  • Condensation - Job 26:8; 37:11, 16
  • Precipitation - Job 36:26-28
  • Run-off - Job 28:10
  • Oceanic Reservoir - Psalm 33:7
  • Snow - Job 38:22; Psalm 147:16
  • Hydrologic balance - Job 28:24-26
  • Springs in the sea - Job 38:16
4. @ 25:54 - "The story of the Tower of Babel is completely false"

This too is a bare-naked assertion with no historical evidence to substantiate it. Our atheist friend is obviously not familiar with Bill Cooper's work titled After the Flood where he documents that all the people groups of the world descend from the Table of Nations in Genesis 10. He then focuses on how the earliest Europeans meticulously recorded their descent from Noah through Japheth, that they knew all about creation and the Flood, and that they had encounters with creatures we would now call dinosaurs.

See also here: The Tower of Babel account affirmed by linguistics

5. @ 25:58 - The Flood of Noah is false.

The above assertion is false. See Evidence for the Worldwide Flood.

6. @ 26:00 - "The destruction of Damascus that's prophesied in Daniel [didn't happen]." I.e., the idea is that Daniel made a false prophecy and can't be trusted.

I did a word search for "Damascus" in the premier Bible software program known as BibleWorks, and after examining many translations (including the ancient language texts), the biblical book of Daniel doesn't even have the word "Damascus" in it. I wonder if our opponent simply misspoke or if he simply doesn't know what he's talking about?

7. @ 26:04 - "Nile river will dry up".

The verse our opponent was referring to is Zechariah 10:11, "And they will pass through the sea of distress And He will strike the waves in the sea, So that all the depths of the Nile will dry up; And the pride of Assyria will be brought down And the scepter of Egypt will depart." The problem is, this verse is in a section that has to do with the future millennial kingdom, a period of time that is inaugurated after the second coming of Jesus. Thus, this objection is moot.

8. @ 26:10 - "The Bible promises that the unclean and uncircumcised will never enter Jerusalem again . . . but that prophecy has failed since Jerusalem is the center for 3 religions."

Our atheist friend is referring to Isaiah 52:1, "Awake, awake, Clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion; Clothe yourself in your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; For the uncircumcised and the unclean Will no longer come into you."

John Gill best sums up our position on this verse when he says,
for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean; this shows that the prophecy cannot be understood of Jerusalem literally, nor of the times of the Babylonish captivity, and deliverance from it, since after this the uncircumcised and the unclean did enter into it, Antiochus Epiphanes, Pompey, and the Romans; but of the mystical Jerusalem, the church of Christ, in the latter day, the spiritual reign of Christ; when the Gentiles, the Papists, meant by the uncircumcised and the unclean, shall no more "come against" them, as the words {f} may be rendered, and persecute them; and when there will be no more a mixture of Papists and Protestants, of heretics and orthodox, of hypocrites and saints; and when there will be few or none under a profession but will have the truth of grace in them; when every pot and vessel in Jerusalem will be holiness to the Lord, and the Heathen will be perished out of the land, Zec 14:21, and especially this will be true in the personal reign of Christ, in the New Jerusalem church state, into which nothing shall enter that defiles, or makes an abomination, and a lie, Re 21:27.
9. @ 26:45ff - "Egypt will be uninhabitable for forty years; this has never happened!"
So I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated lands. And her cities, in the midst of cities that are laid waste, will be desolate forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands. Ezekiel 29:12 NAU
This event did happen and is mentioned briefly in ancient secular history. Again, our trusted old scholar John Gill gives us much help here. He notes in his commentary on Ezekiel 29:12, "Berosus makes mention of this captivity of the Egyptians under Nebuchadnezzar the son, which no other writer does." Who is this Berosus? Gill gives as his reference Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, Book 10, Chapter 11, section 1. Reading in my copy of Josephus (trans. by Wm. Whiston), he documents the Egyptian captivity under Nebuchadnezzar by quoting from Berosus' third book on Chaldean history. Berosus was an ancient 3rd century B.C writer (now commonly referred to as Berossus) and his Chaldean history comes down to us only through what was quoted by secular and Christian writers of antiquity. So, while we have no extant copies of Berossus, we do have quotes of him from Josephus (1st cent. A.D.) and other writers thereafter. However, Josephus quotes from his Chaldean history in regards to the forty year Egyptian captivity and this provides one non-biblical witness from the ancient world testifying to the veracity of Ezekiel 29:12.

However, what do we do when we don't have any secular or extra-biblical writings from the ancient world to corroborate an ancient historical event mentioned in Scripture? I think Dr. Ralph H. Alexander in his commentary on Ezekiel 29:11 in the Expositor's Bible Commentary says it best when we are faced with these types of situations,
Though no specific data is available from Egypt's ancient literature concerning this dispersion, such a scattering most certainly took place at the hands of the Babylonians . . . . If Egypt fell to the Babylonians about 568 B.D., as implied in the chronicles of the Babylonian kings, then a forty-year "captivity" of Egypt would end under the Persians. . . . Sources for Egyptian and Babylonian history of this period are sparse. In addition, kings of the ancient Near East did not normally admit failure. Just because there is no direct statement in ancient history concerning this dispersion does not mean that it did not occur. God's word is more valid than our conjectures or ignorance. [Expositor's Bible Commentary, Vol. 6, 891.]
Amen Dr. Alexander!
Posted by Dusman at 9/25/2010 10:29:00 AM Links to this post
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Friday, September 24, 2010

Does the Bible depict the same God in the Old and New Testaments?

In our 9-2-2010 debate, the following assertion was made at @ 25:23 minutes,
The God of the OT is not the same as the God of the NT. One is wrathful, venge-filled, killing people, destroying civilizations. The other one is merciful, kind, forgiving . . . these aren't the same persons.
A simple look at a concordance proves the above assertion untrue. Consider the following passages from the OT:
Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations. Exodus 34:6-7 NAU

The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.' 19 "Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now." 20 So the LORD said, "I have pardoned them according to your word; 21 but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD. Numbers 14:18-21 NAU

Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 10 but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. 11 "Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them. 12 "Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers. 13 "He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you. 14 "You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle. 15 "The LORD will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you. Deuteronomy 7:9-15 NAU

He said, "O LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart . . ." 1Kings 8:23 NAU

The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. 9 The LORD is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works. Psa 145:8-9 NAU

[Jonah] prayed to the LORD and said, "Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. 3 "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life." 4 The LORD said, "Do you have good reason to be angry?" 5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. 6 So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. 7 But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered. 8 When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, "Death is better to me than life." 9 Then God said to Jonah, "Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "I have good reason to be angry, even to death." 10 Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. 11 "Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?" Jonah 4:2-11 NAU
Notice that these OT passages show that God's lovingkindness is shown to the following:
  1. His covenant people, Israel.
  2. Wicked people.
  3. Unbelievers in general.
  4. Young children.
  5. His entire creation, including animals.
Consider the following NT passages:
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Matthew 5:22 NAU

If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 "If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell. Matthew 5:29-30 NAU

I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 8:11-12 NAU

Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28 NAU

If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell. Matthew 18:9 NAU

You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? Matthew 23:33 NAU

The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:41-42 NAU

So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:49-50 NAU

and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And the man was speechless. 13 "Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 14 "For many are called, but few are chosen. Matthew 22:12-14 NAU

and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 24:51 NAU

"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels . . . 46 "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Matthew 25:41-46 NAU

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, Mark 9:43 NAU

But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! Luke 12:5 NAU

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness . . . Rom 1:18 NAU

But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: Romans 2:5-6 NAU

Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." Revelation 14:9-11 NAU

After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; 2 BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER." 3 And a second time they said, "Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER." 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!" Revelation 19:1-4 NAU

And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, "Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great." 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. Revelation 19:11-21 NAU

And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:10-15 NAU
I have neither the space nor the time to list all of the relevant verses from both Testaments, but it sounds like the same God to me!
Posted by Dusman at 9/24/2010 03:56:00 PM Links to this post
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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Worldview Night: The First of a Quarterly Meeting

Shepherd's Fellowship desires two things in our "Worldview Nights":

1) Equip Christians at Shepherd's Fellowship to,

"15 , . . . sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; 16and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame." 1 Peter 3:15-15

2) Expose Shepherd's Fellowship to our community.

Scheduled quarterly, the "Worldview Nights" accomplish these two objectives as we invite people to present either their worldview or a specific doctrine to those assembled. We compare the invitee's worldview or doctrine to the orthodox Christian Worldview and then take questions, providing answers to the audience both proximate and distant, . . (we broadcast these events on the web).

Our first Worldview Night answered questions that were posited during the debate with the UNCG Atheists Agnostics and Skeptics held on September 2, 2010. That debate involved answering the question "Does the Christian God Exist?" and did not permit time or venue to answer questions about the reliability of the Bible.

Pastor Dustin S. Segers made a 40 minute presentation with handouts and Keynote presentation. We took a brief break and then took questions concerning the topic: "The Reliability of the Bible Text". Pastor Dustin then fielded questions from those in attendance (we can take questions from the net broadcast, see our link here.

Audio from the first Worldview Night will be podcast from our podcast feed in the next few days, . . Likely in several segments. So, those who were providentially hindered, . . you will not miss out. Next the question; "When are the worldview nights held and where?" Location; 12J Wendy Court, Greensboro, NC 27409, 6:30-8:00PM. Worldview Nights will be held quarterly with the subject for the evening published here on our blog at least one month in advance. We would appreciate any cooperative links and consider your referrals to us both locally and on the web a great blessing.
Posted by Sterling VanDerwerker at 9/23/2010 08:31:00 PM Links to this post
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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Oral Tradition in the New Testament and a Memorizing Culture

“The Jesus of the gospels is an imaginative theological construct, into which has been woven traces of that enigmatic sage from Nazareth – traces that cry out for recognition and liberation from the firm grip of those whose faith overpowered their memories. The search for the authentic Jesus is a search for the forgotten Jesus.”[1]

Introductory Questions

  • How do we know the gospel writers got it right?
  • Why was the writing of the gospels delayed for decades?
  • What happened in the meantime?
  • Isn’t it possible that the gospel writers simply forgot most of the details about what Jesus said and did by the time they put pen to papyrus?
  • How do we know that the faith of the gospel writers didn’t get in the way of accurate historical reporting?
  • Since they were writing to specific communities, how do we know that they didn’t radically rework the material to meet the needs of their audiences?

We are going to unpack each of these questions in detail and show that the gospel writers gave us credible, accurate, historical accounts of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.

Defining Terms

Synoptic gospels: Synoptic refers to the those works that take a similar point of view and report similar details. The synoptic gospels are the three gospels (Mt., Mk, Lk) that look at Jesus in generally the same way. There are some differences in the three, but there is a lot of overlap of material. John is not synoptic because it is estimated that 90% of the material is unique to that gospel while less than 10% of Mark is unique to his gospel when compared to Matthew and Luke.

Source criticism: This has to do with the written sources the evangelists used when writing their gospels. “Criticism” has to do with doing research and making critical assessments, not having a critical attitude. Most scholars consider two things when they talk about source criticism (1) that there is a literary relationship between Mt, Mk, and Lk, i.e., they borrowed material from each other to a certain extent[2] [cf. Lk 1:1-4]. Each evangelist however, made his own contribution to his gospel by selecting, arranging, and editing the material to suit his recipients. The scholarly examination of such editing is called redaction criticism. (2) Most scholars believe in Markan priority; that is, that Mk was the first gospel written and then Mt and Lk independently used Mk for their own gospels. A minority of scholars hold to Matthean priority. Those who hold to Markan priority usually hold to the four-source hypothesis. Basically, this means that Mt and Lk used four different sources to write their gospels. These four sources are as follows:

  • The gospel of Mark
  • Q – which is the German word quelle which means “source”. Q is said to be either a written source that no longer exists or oral tradition (i.e., the passing on of the life and teachings of Jesus through the spoken word rather than the written text) or a mixture of both.
  • M: Material unique to Matthew. Some scholars think this material was written, some think oral, whereas others think it was the evangelists own material that he gathered as an eyewitness to the ministry of Jesus.
  • L: Material unique to Luke. Because Luke’s gospel was not written by an eyewitness [see Lk 1:1-4], this has to be from sources other than the evangelist himself.

Now, all of this can get pretty complicated, so let’s think of an example. Most people don’t know that most modern Bible translations are revisions of the 1611 KJV. The 1881 English Revised (ERV) version is an updated version of the KJV with a better textual basis and the American Standard Version (ASV) of 1901 is the American English equivalent of the 1881 ERV. Then, the Revised Standard Version (RSV) of 1951 was produced, which was supposed to be an update of the 1901 ASV. The New American Standard Version (NASB) was the update of the 1901 ASV and the 1995 update of the NASB and the 1991 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) gets rid of the archaic “thees” and “thous” of the old ASV, NASB, and RSV. Detecting the relationship between these translations is source criticism.

To go further with the analogy, first, the modern translations have interpretive differences. Whereas the KJV mistranslated or misinterpreted a Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic phrase, modern translations take into consideration updated scholarship regarding the meaning of words in the original languages that wasn’t available in 1611. Second, there are textual differences. In other words, the original language texts behind modern translations are much older, more numerous, and better attested than those behind the 1611 KJV. Thus, even though most modern translations have literary dependence upon the KJV, it’s not a wholesale dependence. However, you get the same doctrine from each translation; nothing essential is lost, changed, deleted, or destroyed.

Seeing the parallels between the synoptic gospels and Bible translations can help you understand the importance of source criticism, redaction criticism, and literary dependence when it comes to studying the gospels.

Some skeptics who think that the faith of the early Christians somehow corrupted their memory of Jesus and made him into something he really wasn’t. If this is true, then this transformation took place at an astounding speed and then that false message spread like wildfire throughout the Roman Empire. However, the skeptics have been sufficiently answered[3]. In this paper, I merely want to touch on this question: Did the gospel writers get it right when it came to accurately portraying the historical Jesus? This means that we have to get to the sources behind the gospels; i.e., we have to talk about oral tradition. We’ll also look at what scholars call the criteria of authenticity. But again, we need to keep this question in the forefront of our minds: Did the gospel writers accurately record what Jesus said and did?

Why Wait? The Delay of the Written Gospels

The gospels were written decades after Jesus lived. Some skeptics claim that this presents a huge problem for the claims of Christianity since the message could have been significantly changed in that period of time between the death of Christ and the writing of the first gospel. Skeptic Earl Doherty says, “When one looks behind the Gospel curtain, the mosaic of Jesus of Nazareth very quickly disintegrates into component pieces and unrecognizable antecedents.” [4] And remember our direct quote at the beginning of this paper from the Jesus Seminar, “The Jesus of the gospels is an imaginative theological construct, into which has been woven traces of that enigmatic sage from Nazareth – traces that cry out for recognition and liberation from the firm grip of those whose faith overpowered their memories. The search for the authentic Jesus is a search for the forgotten Jesus.”[5] So again, what happened in the decades between the time Jesus lived and the writing of the gospels? This is concerned with two questions: (1) Why was there such a delay in writing the gospels? And (2) what happened in the interval between the ministry of Jesus and the writing of the gospels?

The Initial Emphasis on Oral Proclamation

Actually, the better question to ask is this: Why were there any written gospels at all? The question of delay assumes that the evangelists had written documents in mind to begin with, but that was not the case at all, their concern was oral proclamation. They wanted to proclaim the gospel as quickly as possible, and starting in Jerusalem, then Judea, and Samaria, they eventually reached the entire then-known world (Acts 17:16). The book of Acts tells us that the word was spreading rapidly and the result was that the church was growing fast too (Acts 2:47; 6:7; 9:31; 12:24; 13:49; 16:5; 19:20; 28:31). Paul commends the Thessalonian church for proclaiming the gospel he preached to them (1 Thess. 1:8-10) and he tells the Roman church that their faith is being “proclaimed throughout the whole world” (Rom. 1:8). We see also in other NT epistles the quick spread of the gospel (James 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1; Jude 3). That means this: the apostles and early church leaders were concerned with spreading the gospel through oral proclamation. There was no need to think about a written gospel at that time. The fact that the gospel had spread throughout the then known world by the mid first century A.D. shows the effectiveness of the apostle’s oral proclamation.

The Catalyst for Writing the Gospels

Scholars suggest two reasons why the gospels were written: (1) the apostles started to die off and (2) the Lord was not going to return a few decades after his ascension. Most scholars think Mark was written @ 55 A.D. If Jesus died @ A.D. 30, then Mark, the first gospel, would have been written within three to four decades after the death of Jesus. There would have been plenty of eyewitnesses to confirm that what he wrote was true[6]. So, if Luke used Mark’s gospel as most scholars believe, and that combined with the fact that evidence shows that Luke wrote his two-volume corpus (Luke-Acts) in the early 60s’, then it follows that Mark was written very early, probably in the mid to late 50s. Also the destruction of Jerusalem that occurred in 70 A.D. was prophesied in Mark 13, Matthew 24, and Luke 21. What all this means is that Matthew and Luke were all written before 70 A.D since (1) Luke is the first volume in Luke-Acts and Acts was probably written in the early 60s per current evidence and (2) the argument that the gospels must be written after 70 A.D. because predictive prophecy is impossible backfires in the Olivet discourse in the synoptics since that prophecy was a dual-fulfillment prophecy; i.e., some of it was fulfilled typologically in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and some of it remains to be fulfilled at the return of Christ.

Disagreements over Oral Tradition

A basic disagreement in scholarly circles concerns the role that oral tradition played in the propagation of accurate information about the ministry of Jesus. The liberal Jesus Seminar argues that the oral tradition behind the gospels was faulty and unreliable,

Scholars of the gospels are faced with a similar problem: Much of the lore recorded in the gospels and elsewhere in the Bible is folklore, which means that it is wrapped in memories that have been edited, deleted, augmented, and combined many times over many years.[7]

This type of radical skepticism simply won’t hold up to close scrutiny. The interval between the death of Jesus and the writing of the first gospel wasn’t a time of inactivity. Quite the contrary, the gospel had been spread to the entire Roman Empire by A.D. 55! The apostles and other eyewitnesses and apostolic assistants (like Silas, Barnabas, Timothy, Titus, etc.) traveled all over the Empire preaching the gospel of Christ. This happened in both public and private settings because people were hungry to learn about the Lord Jesus and the stories and teachings of Jesus would have been repeated hundreds or thousands of times over and over again in their communities before the first gospel was ever written.

The period of oral proclamation has clear implications for the accuracy of the written gospels. If the earliest preaching about Jesus was altered in later years, then first generation Christians[8] Also, once the gospel spread rapidly outside of Jerusalem, there was no longer a way to control the content of the message. This is important because it means that the apostles wouldn’t then be able to alter it without notice. Peter preached the gospel to thousands on the Day of Pentecost per Acts 2:9-11, so if there was any alteration of the gospel, it had to be before the Day of Pentecost. Of course this is a silly suggestion since (1) it is inconceivable that the apostles could have forgotten so much essential information about Jesus within fifty days after his crucifixion such that their faith in him overpowered their real memories about him. (2) They weren’t the only eyewitnesses to Christ’s resurrection. Hundreds of other followers knew of Jesus, had seen his miracles, and had heard his preaching, and seen him resurrected. Thus, no one really believes such a silly view. would know about these changes and object to them.

This means one of two things happened (1) the gospel changed drastically over several years or (2) it remained stable through apostolic preaching and oral tradition until it was written down. The first alternative is improbable, as Vincent Taylor recognized back in 1933,

It is on this question of eyewitnesses that Form-Criticism presents a very vulnerable front. If the Form-Critics are right, the disciples must have been translated to heaven immediately after the Resurrection. As Bultmann sees it, the primitive community exists in vacuo [in isolation], cut off from it’s founders by the walls of an inexplicable ignorance. Like Robinson Crusoe it must do the best it can. Unable to turn to any one for information, it must invent situations for the words of Jesus, and put into His lips sayings which personal memory cannot check. All this is absurd . . . . However disturbing to the smooth working of theories the influence of eyewitnesses on the formation of the tradition cannot possibly be ignored. The one hundred and twenty at Pentecost did not go into permanent retreat; for at least a generation they moved among the young Palestinian communities, and through preaching and fellowship their recollections were at the disposal of those who sought information. . . . But when all qualifications have been made, the presence of personal testimony is an element in the formative process which it is folly to ignore.[9]

Please remember that those words were written in 1933. The Jesus Seminar, sixty years later proclaimed that the apostles’ faith in Jesus overpowered their memories of Jesus such that the real Jesus had been forgotten – the very points that Taylor refuted! Taylor’s argument has been repeated and then expanded with evidence for decades and more arguments have been added. His fundamental point has never been answered and never will be by the likes of the Jesus Seminar. Thus, we are left with this one alternative: The early preaching of the gospel in that first generation of Christians had a stable core that was reproduced in public and private settings and confirmed by living eyewitnesses. Next, we will turn to how accurately oral tradition preserved the truth about Jesus’ ministry.

Taking a Stroll Down Memory Lane: Oral Tradition and a Memorizing Culture

Skeptic John Dominic Crossan said, “. . . memory is as much or more creative reconstruction as accurate recollection.”[10] Opinions vary as to how much the apostles and disciples accurately remembered and transmitted about the life of Jesus in their preaching. Those who argue that they simply forgot and then embellished details (Crossan) or that their faith overpowered their memories (Jesus Seminar) have many hurdles that they need to jump over before they can make those theories work.

Ancient, first century culture didn’t have individual memories, but collective ones which were confirmed by other eyewitnesses testimony and subsequently burned into their minds through repetition that occurred through telling and retelling the old, old story. The repetition of the stories about Christ and the eyewitness confirmation providentially served as a sort of check and balance system to prevent embellishments, accretions, and inaccuracy in essential details. Thus, memory in community is an absolute deathblow to the idea that the disciples simply forgot who the real Jesus was. We must remember that the disciples talked to each other after Jesus’ messages and miracles, and that this burned in their minds the historical truth and accuracy of the events. Also remember that the disciples were eyewitnesses to the events, which in itself is a deathblow to Crossan’s suggestion that they just forgot. Interestingly, the Jesus Seminar (of which Crossan was a member) realizes that faulty memory theory doesn’t work and so they opted for their “faith trumped memory” theory. But as we’ve already seen, suggesting such involves a conspiracy theory that doesn’t make sense out of a preaching Peter in Acts 2, the 120 in the upper room, and the 500 witnesses of the resurrection of Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:6.

It is true that it is an overstatement to say that the apostles always quote Jesus verbatim. The problem with the verbatim idea is that it doesn’t square with the evidence in the gospels. Many scholars point out that ancient historians were not so much concerned with always quoting the words of a person verbatim but instead they were very concerned with getting the gist of what he had to say. This is the case with the gospel writers too. The gospels don’t record the words of Jesus (or others) in exactly the same way even when some sayings could only have been uttered on one occasion (such as the voice heard from heaven at Jesus’ baptism, Jesus’ cries from the cross, etc.). All of the objections that are raised by the “they forgot” theorists fail to take into consideration that almost all of their illustrations of poor memory in modern people is based upon them hearing something said rather than communities or groups of individuals who were eyewitnesses to the events.

How Did They Remember It Rightly?

The first thing to emphasize regarding oral tradition is that the oral tradition before the written gospels was what was known as “informal controlled oral tradition”. In other words, there was some flexibility in the retelling of stories in an ancient oral culture like ancient Palestine, but that a stable core tradition was repeated exactly the same. In his book Jesus Remembered, James D. G. Dunn says,

The crucial question, of course, is whether such an understanding of oral tradition provides an explanatory model for the Jesus tradition, and in particular, whether we can find the marks of such “informal, controlled oral tradition” in the Synoptic tradition itself. I believe it does and I think we can.[11]

Darrell Bock, research professor of NT at Dallas Theological Seminary affirms this too when he says, “each evangelist retells the living and powerful words of Jesus in a fresh way for his readers, while faithfully and accurately presenting the ‘gist’ of what Jesus said. I call this approach one that recognizes the Jesus tradition as ‘live’ in its dynamic and quality.” [12]

Again, the apostles, eyewitness, and apostolic associates would have told and retold the stories of Jesus and that combined with eyewitness verification from the first generation of Christians ensured that the tradition was preserved accurate and intact. The repetition by multiple witnesses ensured quality control over the oral tradition that was passed on. Birger Gerhardsson has delivered a massive amount of data showing that the ancient Jewish world was deeply entrenched with memory devices that involved collective, community efforts. He notes,

A well-known saying of Hillel is reproduced in b. Hag. 9b (bar.): “The man who repeats his chapter . . . one hundred times is not to be compared with the man who repeats it one hundred and one times.” And when the question of the Rabbis’ repetition for their pupils is taken up, it is the tireless Rabbi who is praised. Thus R. Perida is treated as exemplary; he used to repeat every passage “four hundred times” for a dull pupil, and once when the pupil in question had still not absorbed the passage, R. Perida proceeded to repeat it “four hundred times” more. This hyperbolical description gives us a most eloquent picture of the simple, yet effective, methods used by teachers when they wished to pass on doctrinal passages to their pupils.[13]

However, he goes on to say,

In the tradition of western culture it is only in our own day that the memory has been effectively unloaded into books. Not until our own day have we learned to accept a form of education which to a great extent consists of being able to find the material which is required in the right books, without needed to carry it all in the memory. Not until our day had the pedagogical revolution taken place which has been called “the dethronement of memory.”[14]

That is a extremely important point to emphasize for those who want to say that the disciples simply forgot about Jesus. Dunn says it like this,

One of the most striking flaws in the quest of the historical Jesus results from the fact that it was undertaken in the age of the printed word. Gutenberg and Caxton had instituted a revolution in human perspective in sixteenth-century Europe much more significant in its outworkings than the revolution associated with the names of Copernicus and Galileo. . . . Consequently, we in the West simply take it for granted that the basis of a sound education is the ability to read and write. . . . In a word, we are all children of Gutenberg.[15]

There are three major shifts in Western society that led to the deterioration of memory: (1) the pre-printing press era, (2) printing press to personal computer, and (3) personal computer and ease of internet access. Memorization in education has been de-emphasized for so long due to the availability of the printed page and now is worsened with easy internet access.

Second, since oral tradition and community memorization was so important in ancient Jewish culture, it would have been especially important in early Christian communities since getting the good news right was of premium importance.

Third, Jesus’ teachings were often, if not usually uttered in a rhythmic pattern that made his teachings more memorable. Paul Barnett notes, “Much of his teaching is cast in poetic form, employing alliteration [repetition of same sounds or letters], paronomasia [puns, word-plays], assonance [resemblance of sound], parallelism, and rhyme. According to R. Reisner, 80 percent of Jesus’ teaching is cast in poetic form.”[16] Such evidence strongly suggests that Jesus expected his disciples to learn well from him, not only content of his teachings, but the form as well.

Fourth, there is a possibility that some of Jesus’ disciples may well have taken notes during his ministry and some of those notes became part of what scholars call “Q”. Matthew, the former tax collector could write in at least three languages (Latin, Greek, Aramaic) and so taking notes would not have been impossible during the ministry of Jesus. However, there is no evidence either way.

In conclusion, the ancient Jewish culture with its strong emphasis upon memory in community, the testimony of multiple eyewitnesses, and the repetition of the stories of Jesus with the checks and balances of eyewitnesses to His ministry and resurrection served to preserve a strong, intact, accurate oral tradition from the very beginning of the early church. Though the strong emphasis on memory in community was present, this does not suggest that the gospel writers always wrote down verbatim what Jesus said, but they certainly got the gist of his teachings right; which was of utmost importance in ancient reporting.

[1] Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels, (San Francisco, CA: Harper Collins, 1993), 4.

[2] Today we would call this plagiarism, but there was nothing wrong with this in the 1st century A.D. because plagiarism is a modern concept.

[3] See the extensive bibliography in footnote # 1 on page 264-265 of Reinventing Jesus by Komoszewski, Sawyer, and Wallace, Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2006.

[4] Earl Doherty, The Jesus Puzzle: Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ? (Ottawa: Age of Reason, 1999), 229.

[5] Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels, (San Francisco, CA: Harper Collins, 1993), 4.

[6] Cf. 1 Corinthians 15:3-6, written @ A.D. 55 where Paul says that most of the 500 witnesses to Christ’s resurrection were still alive and could confirm it via eyewitness testimony.

[7] Robert W. Funk and the Jesus Seminar, The Acts of Jesus: The Search for the Authentic Deeds of Jesus (San Francisco: Harper SanFrancisco, 1998), 6.

[8] See footnote 6 above.

[9] Vincent Taylor, The Formation of the Gospel Tradition (London: Macmillan, 1933), 41-43 as quoted in Reinventing Jesus, 30-31.

[10] John Dominic Crossan, The Birth of Christianity (HarperSanFrancisco, 1998), 59.

[11] James D.G. Dunn, Jesus Remembered, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 206-10.

[12] Darrrell L. Bock, “The Words of Jesus in the Gospels: Live, Jive, or Memorex?” in Jesus Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents the Historical Jesus, ed. Michael J. Wilkins and J.P. Moreland (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995), 77.

[13] Birger Gerhardsson, Memory and Manuscript: Oral Tradition and Written Transmission in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity, with Tradition and Transmission in Early Christianity (both volumes now under one cover), rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998), 134-135.

[14] Ibid, 123.

[15] James D. G. Dunn, A New Perspective on Jesus: What the Quest for the Historical Jesus Missed, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2005), 35-36.

[16] Paul Barnett, The Birth of Christianity: The First Twenty Years (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005), 113-114. See also Gerhardsson, Memory and Manuscript, 136-56.

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