We have been throwing out a lot of information lately. Why is archaeology so important to understanding the Bible as History?

“The role of modern archaeology since its inception in the middle of the nineteenth century has been very instrumental in lending credibility to the history of the Bible. But it can’t tell us everything. What limitation does archaeology have as it relates to the Bible? (more…)

Last week we learned that the people of the New Testament are historical figures, not fictional characters. But what about their actions? Are the events and the settings reported in the New Testament real events and real places? (more…)

The first place for us to look in determining whether the New Testament is history or mythology is its cast of characters. Are the people the Gospel writers refer to real people?

Take a second to read Luke 3:1-2. (more…)

Having come through the test for integrity with flying colors, the question now facing the New Testament is this: What if it’s just a novel? Let’s face it—if a huge cache of manuscripts for the Iliad was discovered today, giving us roughly the same amount of manuscript resources that we have with the New Testament, and allowing us to reproduce the text of the Iliad as accurately as the New Testament, it still wouldn’t change the fact that the Iliad is a story based in mythology. (more…)

We have looked at the first two questions in our three part test for integrity in ancient literature. If you missed them, they are located here and here.

Our final question might be the most difficult one to understand: How accurate are the handwritten copies of ancient manuscripts? (more…)

Having discussed the number of NT manuscripts that have been discovered, we now move the the second question in our test of integrity: How early are the manuscripts?

What we are asking with that question can be paraphrased: “How many years have passed from the original writing to the date of the manuscript?” How can you measure the date of a manuscript? (more…)

The first question in our three-part test for integrity in ancient literature is: “How many handwritten manuscripts have been found?” Another question about the nature of the manuscripts we are speaking about should be addressed here:

“Are the manuscripts that have been found for ancient writings all complete? (more…)

The material we are about to cover represents a major shift in the journey we’ve been on so far. Previously, we’ve been looking all over for answers to our questions: Does God exist? If He does, what is He like?

But now, having used the filter of “infinite and personal”, we have narrowed our focus to Christianity. Many religions either worship an infinite or personal god, but not a god that is both. Judaism and Islam worship a God that is both infinite and personal, but the information we have about God from their sources is based on the communication between God and a prophet. Also, the accounts of Judaism and Islam often contradict each other, further muddying the waters.

Christianity, however, possess the unique claim that God has participated in history in the person of Jesus Christ. The accounts of what Jesus said and did while he was present on Earth are mainly recorded in the Bible, in the New Testament. (more…)

As we mentioned in this space yesterday, three world religions claim to worship a god that is both infinite and personal: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Narrowing all of the world religions down to three is a good start, but what distinguishes each of these from the other?

Judaism and Islam both claim that God spoke to their respective prophets audibly, and that these prophets (Moses in Judaism and Muhammad in Islam) recorded God’s words into a document (the Torah in Judaism and the Qur’an in Islam). We run into problems because often these two documents contradict one another. Something has to give.

“Christianity is unique from Judaism and Islam in claiming that the personal and infinite God was born of a virgin 2,000 years ago (Luke 1:26-27), grew up physically as a human in a family of Palestine (Luke 2:52), had an adult ministry which included the performance of miracles (John 20:30-31), and was resurrected from the dead (Matthew 28:6-7)—all testified to by hundreds of eyewitnesses (1 Corinthians 15:5-8)—whose written records are contained in the New Testament.

Christianity is the only religion in the world that claims a God who is both infinite and personal, and whose personal presence in the physical world as a human can be historically documented (SBF, p.23),” (Surprised by Faith Study and Discussion Guide, ppg.16-17).

The document that claims to report the acts and words of Jesus Christ as an eyewitness account is the New Testament, specifically the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Can the New Testament be tested for historical reliability, accuracy, and integrity? If so, how? And more pertinently, what does that mean for us today?

We addressed the need for God to be infinite, but not only infinite, here.

The next step in developing what we might call our “God Hypothesis”, identifying the key characteristics needed for God to be God, is looking at personal communication. If we are to follow God’s rules and laws, we have to be able to communicate with Him. And He has to be able to communicate with us.

“In the cosmic sense, we cannot know whether there is any existence or reality other than what we experience from the cradle to the grave. In other words, unless there is an infinite and personal God who created the universe and us for a purpose—and who tells us that He did it and why, and where we are headed after death—our crisis remains. That’s why it’s important to know whether God exists and revealed Himself to us,” (Surprised by Faith Study and Discussion Guide, pg.15).

In a nutshell, having a personal but not an infinite god describes many of the early Western religions. If you take any time to read through Roman, Greek, Norse, or Celtic mythology, you will quickly discovery that many of their gods have more problems than the people who worship them! A god with these kinds of problems is no god at all.

If you look at all of the world religions, and filter them through our “God Hypothesis”, that God must be both personal and infinite, three stand alone: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Tomorrow we will look at the three to see if there is some unique quality that distinguishes one from the others, and also explore if there is a way to test whether or not God exists.