Liberal-critical and evangelical-critical scholarship have recently attempted to identify the Gospels with the ancient style of writing known as Greco-Roman biography. The author has already established this position as highly tenuous, reflecting a cycle in New Testament studies that often seeks novelty in interpretation (cf. Acts 17:21, καινότερον—“new,” “unique,” “novel”). A close examination of the nascent church fathers, especially as found in the first great church historian, Eusebius, reveals that the early church decidedly rejected the Greco-Roman historiographic tradition. Prominent early fathers deprecated the quality of historians like Thucydides and Plutarch who are now identified with the Gospel tradition in New Testament scholarship. Instead, the early fathers identified the historiography of the Gospels with the Hebrew tradition as evidenced in the Old Testament, reflecting the historical genre of Old Testament promise, now seeing the fulfilment of those promises. They also affirmed the absolute trustworthiness and accuracy of the canonical Gospels as produced of the Holy Spirit of Truth. Once again, critical scholarship, being influenced by the Enlightenment, has chosen to disregard the voice of the early church as the nature of the Gospels.
We are pleased to present a two-part interview between Dr. Phil Fernandes and Dr. Lydia McGrew on the topic of the robust reliability of reporting in the gospel accounts. Part 1: https://youtu.be/SLn75s6WriwDoes the Bible Contain Errors? An interview With Lydia McGrew Part 1 Part 2: https://youtu.be/-8FKBaXrHqQDoes the Bible Contain Errors? An interview With Lydia McGrew Part 2 Part II of the interview mentions Lydia’s review of...
Because scholars don’t possess the original writings of the New Testament (known as autographs), we must ask: How accurate are the manuscript copies (apographs)? For if the copies do not reflect the original writings of Scripture, we would have no idea what the original texts said. Because there were no copy machines available in ancient times, the tedious trans- mission process had to be accomplished by the scribe’s own hand.
“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…” 1 Ti. 6:12 ESV Norman Leo Geisler (July 21, 1932 – July 1, 2019) certainly fought the good fight of faith. Norm gives new meaning to that phrase. He earned a reputation for destroying “strongholds, arguments, and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). And he was arguably...
by Dr. F. David Farnell Professor of New Testament at The Master’s Seminary Are the gospels reliable? The answer to this question is an unqualified, firm YES! The gospels are the very unique treasure bequeathed as an enduring testimony from the first-century church to the rest of mankind leaving an unfailing historical record that God loved the whole world and demonstrated His love by sending his Son to save mankind from...
A Review of The Harvest Handbook™ of Apologetics Joseph M. Holden, General Editor Release Date: February 2019 Page Count: 528 Size: 6 x 9 Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7369-7428-8 Harvest House | Amazon.com | ChristianBook.com To begin with, The Harvest Handbook™ of Apologetics feels good in the hand. It’s big–but not too big. “Now that’s a real book!” said one of the elders of my church as I presented...
