@kellyjay saidOf course that's true. And if you can't even be sure of the identity of the writer/alleged eye-witness, that must cast further doubt on the content of their account.
Spoken/written testimony is direct evidence we can also have expert opinion and things of that nature. Circumstantial is when we give explanation to things that may or may not have direct bearing in what we are talking about. So do we have reasons to believe or disbelieve testimony, are all the things said about the things in question valid? We can have trustworthy people giving explanations, that doesn’t always translate into they are right.
@avalanchethecat saidThese are not just one-off pieces of text; there were church fathers, disciples of the Apostles who also wrote things, other contemporaries of the time, some in and out of the faith who also wrote about these events. So many lived through them too, since these things were not done in secret but in the open. Along with the creeds that were written about to stop various twists of doctrine. If we were going to look the truth in them, we would have to see why they would lie and go to the grave knowing they were promoting a lie. Suppose we were going to say the text changed over time. In that case, that one is even less likely, considering the text was copied over and over sent around the world where it was also copied and copied into different languages. Having altered text would be easy to spot.
Of course that's true. And if you can't even be sure of the identity of the writer/alleged eye-witness, that must cast further doubt on the content of their account.
Make no mistake about it folks. There are thousands of copies or fragments of copies of the New Testament. THOUSANDS - more than any other book in ancient history.
Make no mistake, scholars agree that there are thousands of typos and differences in so many of these copies in all their languages.
The question is HOW MANY of these recognized differences which obviously DID occur - EFFECT any MAJOR tenet of the central teaching of the New Testament?
Major tenets-
Jesus Christ - the Son of God, lived, died, rose for man's redemption, can come as the Holy Spirit and live in His believers, gives the gift of eternal life and is Lord of all, coming again to establish His kingdom.
How many of your many NT typos and discrepancies significantly change these teachings?
Less than one or two percent, if that.
The vast amount of old copies of the New Testament and the variants is not as much a test to the New Testament as it is a TEST to us. How much effort are you going to put into rationalizing that you didn't get the point?
We have yet to find a copy of the Gospel of John in which one copy reads "I am the resurrection and the life" and another copy reads in the same place "Hey Peter pass me a piece of fish."
@kellyjay saidAuthorship is by no means as certain as you and Sonship seem to be suggesting. What non-scriptural evidence are you aware of which supports the miraculous events detailed in the Gospels?
These are not just one-off pieces of text; there were church fathers, disciples of the Apostles who also wrote things, other contemporaries of the time, some in and out of the faith who also wrote about these events. So many lived through them too, since these things were not done in secret but in the open. Along with the creeds that were written about to stop various twists ...[text shortened]... e it was also copied and copied into different languages. Having altered text would be easy to spot.
@avalanchethecat saidYou haven’t provided any credible reasons to doubt the Holy Bible, but since you seem to have a bizarre prejudice against it, yes, Jesus’ miracles are referenced in non-Biblical sources:
Authorship is by no means as certain as you and Sonship seem to be suggesting. What non-scriptural evidence are you aware of which supports the miraculous events detailed in the Gospels?
https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/is-there-any-evidence-for-jesus-outside-the-bible/
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@pb1022 saidOne of my favorite authors.
You haven’t provided any credible reasons to doubt the Holy Bible, but since you seem to have a bizarre prejudice against it, yes, Jesus’ miracles are referenced in non-Biblical sources:
https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/is-there-any-evidence-for-jesus-outside-the-bible/
@pb1022 saidTell you what, you post without being trying to troll, and I'll respond to your points.
You haven’t provided any credible reasons to doubt the Holy Bible, but since you seem to have a bizarre prejudice against it, yes, Jesus’ miracles are referenced in non-Biblical sources:
https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/is-there-any-evidence-for-jesus-outside-the-bible/
@avalanchethecat saidI don’t concede scripture in it’s own right is not evidence enough. Considering all the powers against it, I am amazed we have the wealth of text we do. I will look up a few for you however since you ask.
Authorship is by no means as certain as you and Sonship seem to be suggesting. What non-scriptural evidence are you aware of which supports the miraculous events detailed in the Gospels?
@avalanchethecat saidI honestly don’t care if you respond to my points or not.
Tell you what, you post without being trying to troll, and I'll respond to your points.
And I’m not trolling.
Authorship is by no means as certain as you and Sonship seem to be suggesting. What non-scriptural evidence are you aware of which supports the miraculous events detailed in the Gospels?
If the authorship were 100% certain would you then ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart to be the Lord of your life ?
@sonship saidWhy would you assume that I have not already done so?
@avalanchethecat
Authorship is by no means as certain as you and Sonship seem to be suggesting. What non-scriptural evidence are you aware of which supports the miraculous events detailed in the Gospels?
If the authorship were 100% certain would you then ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart to be the Lord of your life ?
@avalanchethecat saidI said I don’t care if you respond to my points. You’re not the only one in this forum.
Well if you're not trying to be deliberately antagonistic, and you're not interested in discussing your points, what IS your purpose for posting? Are you just trying to impress somebody?
And it seems kind of silly for someone who’s anonymous to be trying to impress someone.