by jimwalton » Thu Jan 05, 2017 4:17 pm
Wow. We have a few things to talk about here. First of all, Jesus' historicity. He is mentioned by a plethora of ancient writers: Tacitus, Josephus, Suetonius, Thallus, Ignatius, Pliny the Younger, and Lucian. On the basis of historical sources, there is no reasonable doubt that Jesus existed as a man. There is no evidence from antiquity that the existence of Jesus was ever denied by those who opposed Christianity. It is also widely agreed as implausible that Christians invented him. Today nearly all historians, whether Christian or not, accept that Jesus existed.
Secondly, you have been misinformed about the 400 years. There is broad evidence of the Gospels by the end of the 2nd century (within 150 years of his life).
- Clement of Alexandria (AD 90) quotes from or alludes to the Gospels.
- Barnabas of Alexandria (AD 100) quotes from the NT Gospels twice
- The Didache (early 2nd c.) quotes from Matthew
- Hermas (early 2nd century) quotes from all four Gospels, and alludes to the existence of all four.
- Ignatius of Antioch (around AD 100) quotes from the Gospels about 4 times
- Tatian wrote a harmony of the 4 Gospels in about AD 175.
- Irenaeus (around AD 180) quotes heavily from all four Gospels.
Etc and etc, on an on it goes. The Gospels were clearly in place and recognized by AD 150. In addition...
- A piece of John's Gospel is in existence, dated to AD 125-150.
- We have a fragment of Matthew (P104) from AD 150
- We have another fragment of Matthew (P4) from the late 2nd century.
- We may have a piece of Mark from AD 90. It's a fairly new discovery.
- We have a manuscript of Mark from about AD 250.
- We have a piece of Luke (P75) from AD 175-225 and another one (P4) from late 2nd-early 3rd century
In other words, whoever told you the Bible wasn't written for 400 years after Jesus lived was greatly misinformed, and you have been misled as well.
Wow. We have a few things to talk about here. First of all, Jesus' historicity. He is mentioned by a plethora of ancient writers: Tacitus, Josephus, Suetonius, Thallus, Ignatius, Pliny the Younger, and Lucian. On the basis of historical sources, there is no reasonable doubt that Jesus existed as a man. There is no evidence from antiquity that the existence of Jesus was ever denied by those who opposed Christianity. It is also widely agreed as implausible that Christians invented him. Today nearly all historians, whether Christian or not, accept that Jesus existed.
Secondly, you have been misinformed about the 400 years. There is broad evidence of the Gospels by the end of the 2nd century (within 150 years of his life).
- Clement of Alexandria (AD 90) quotes from or alludes to the Gospels.
- Barnabas of Alexandria (AD 100) quotes from the NT Gospels twice
- The Didache (early 2nd c.) quotes from Matthew
- Hermas (early 2nd century) quotes from all four Gospels, and alludes to the existence of all four.
- Ignatius of Antioch (around AD 100) quotes from the Gospels about 4 times
- Tatian wrote a harmony of the 4 Gospels in about AD 175.
- Irenaeus (around AD 180) quotes heavily from all four Gospels.
Etc and etc, on an on it goes. The Gospels were clearly in place and recognized by AD 150. In addition...
- A piece of John's Gospel is in existence, dated to AD 125-150.
- We have a fragment of Matthew (P104) from AD 150
- We have another fragment of Matthew (P4) from the late 2nd century.
- We may have a piece of Mark from AD 90. It's a fairly new discovery.
- We have a manuscript of Mark from about AD 250.
- We have a piece of Luke (P75) from AD 175-225 and another one (P4) from late 2nd-early 3rd century
In other words, whoever told you the Bible wasn't written for 400 years after Jesus lived was greatly misinformed, and you have been misled as well.