by jimwalton » Sun Jan 22, 2017 5:29 am
No, the extrabiblical records we have put us within about 60 years. The Gospels are probably within 30-40 years, in other words, still during the lifetimes of eyewitnesses. It's like asking someone to talk about the Reagan Presidency. It's not that tough. Plenty of people are around who experienced it. There are even still plenty of Vietnam vets around to tell us about something that happened 50 years ago. That's not a long stretch.
Also, do you realize that we have nothing written during the reign of Nero? Everything we know about Nero comes from about 30 years later. Everything. Is it believable, then?
Do you realize that everything we know about Alexander the Great was written hundreds of years (200-400 years) after his death? We know NOTHING of Alexander from his own era. Do you throw that out? Be careful how quick you are to judge, or we end up tossing away a whole lot of what we consider to be history. Actually, the 30-60 years later for Jesus isn't out of the question at all, historically speaking. We have evidence that the Gospels were in place before the end of the century (within 60 years or less of Jesus' death). The Gospel writings are probably within 30-40 years of his death, if not earlier. Paul's writings (1 Corinthians 15, for example) is from within 25 years of his death, and the creed of 1 Cor. 15.3-6 has been analyzed by scholars to be within 5 years of Jesus' death. Historically speaking, we have a lot of credible information, far closer than the 400 years of your original post, and even quite a bit closer than your 90-year claim now..
Last bumped by Anonymous on Sun Jan 22, 2017 5:29 am.