ARE THE GOSPELS RELIABLE?
PART 5
(copied from
Y-Jesus.com)
Who needs Kinko's
The original writings of the apostles were
revered. Churches studied them, shared them
and carefully preserved them and stored
them away like buried treasure.
But, alas, Roman confiscations, the passage of
2,000 years and second law of thermodynamics,
have taken their toll. So, today, what do we
have of those original writings? Nothing. The
original manuscripts are all gone. (though
each week, Bible scholars, tune in to
Antiques Roadshow, hoping one
might emerge.
Yet the New Testament is not alone in
this fate. No other comparable document
from ancient history exists today either.
Historians are not troubled by the lack of
original manuscripts if they have reliable
copies to examine. But, are there ancient
copies of the New Testament available,
and if so, are they faithful to the originals?
As the number of churches multiplied,
hundreds of copies were carefully made
under the supervision of church leaders.
Every letter was meticulously penned in
ink on parchment or papyrus . And so,
today, scholars can study the surviving
copies (and the copies of copies and the
copies of copies of copies - you get it), to
determine authenticity and arrive at a
very close approximation of the original
documents.
In fact, scholars studying ancient literature,
have devised the science of textual criticism to
examine documents, such as The Odyssey,
comparing them with other ancient documents
to determine their accuracy. More recently
Military historian, Charles Sanders, augmented
textual criticism by devising a three-part test,
that looks at, not only the faithfulness of the
copy but also the credibility of the authors.
His tests are these:
. The bibliographical test
. The internal evidence test
. The external evidence test
Let's see what happens when we apply these
tests to the early New Testament manuscripts.
Bibliographical Test
This test compares a document with other
ancient history from the same period, it asks:
. How many copies of the original document
are in existence?
. How large of a time gap is there between the
writings and the earliest copies?
. How well does a document compare
with other ancient history?
Imagine if we had only
two or three of the
original New Testament
manuscripts, the
sampling would be so
small that we couldn't
possibly verify accuracy.
On the other hand,
if we had hundreds or
even thousands, we
could easily weed out the errors of poorly
transmitted documents.
So, how well does the New Testament compare
with other ancient writings, with regard to both
the number of copies and the time gap from the
originals? More than 5,000 manuscripts of the
New Testament exist today in the original Greek
language. Many of these manuscripts are merely
fragments, while others are virtually full books.
When counting translations into other languages,
the number is a staggering 24,000 - dated from
the 2nd to the 15th century.
Compare that with the second-best-documented
ancient historical manuscript, Homer's Iliad,
with 643 copies. And remember that most ancient
historical works have far fewer existing manuscripts than that one does (usually fewer
than 10) .
New Testament scholar, Bruce Metzger, remarked:
"In contrast with these figures (of other ancient
manuscripts) the textual critic of The New
Testament is embarrassed by the wealth of his
material."
next post 7th March
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
PART 92
(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)
Chapter nine
Decisions, Decisions.
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting.
It has been found difficult and left untried. -
G.K. Chesterton
Timothy McVeigh said something very
interesting before he died. His last words
were: "I am the master of my fate, I am the
captain of my soul."
He was quoting from the poem "Invictus, and
he was right in the sense that he got to make
the decision where he would be spending
eternity. But he was completely wrong if he
thought he was in control for all of eternity.
The God of the Bible is in control. However, He does allow you to decide who or what you will
worship. By the way what is your decision
going to be?
One of Frank Sinatra's most famous songs was
called "I did it my way." But my way, your
way - nobody's way, but God's way is going to
cut it on Judgment Day. Are you ready to do it
God's Way? We all walk to the edge of the
canyon of death. We all step off the edge. The
only question is : Do you have the right
parachute? Do you have the parachute that
will softly land you in heaven? Or will your
parachute not open, landing you in hell with
a thud?
Some people think they will live this life they
way they choose and then, when they are old,
they will get right with God. But here is
something to think about: Whether you are old
or young is not determined by your age, but by
when you die.
If you are 18 and you are going to die at age 80,
you have a lot of life left. So, relatively speaking
you are still a very young person. But if you are
18 and you are going to die a week from now,
then relative to your lifespan you are very old.
We think that "old" people have walkers or
wheelchairs, but that is no necessarily the case.
In depends on when you die. That means you
don't know whether you are old or young, no
matter what age you are.
I have a simple question
for you: Can you
guarantee that you are
going to wake up
tomorrow morning ?
Of course you know you
cannot guarantee that.
The Bible says : For yourselves know
perfectly that the Day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night.
(1 Thessalonians 5:2)
Since you may not have tomorrow, make today
your day of salvation.
..... behold now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.
(2 Corinthians 6:2)
You shouldn't put your head on your pillow
tonight unless you know that heaven is your
eternal destination, after you take your last
breath.
next post 1st March
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
PART 91
(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)
God said He made mankind in His own
Image and likeness.
"And God said, 'let us make man in our
image, after our likeness: and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and
over all the earth and over every creeping
thing that creepeth upon the earth.' "
(Genesis 1:26)
Being made in the image of God, is something
you should not take lightly. Every soul is of
infinite value to God.
"For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou
hast covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise Thee: for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works
and that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from Thee, when
I was made in secret and curiously wrought in
the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being
imperfect; and in Thy book all my members
were written, which were in continuance
fashioned, when as yet there was none of them."
(Psalm 139:13-16)
You are fearfully and
wonderfully made
in the eyes of
Almighty God, no
matter what anyone
else may think or say.
During my conversation with Anakhanda, my
driver, I asked him the question: "When you
die, what do you think is out there when you
walk out of here?"
That opened up an amazing conversation. He
grew up half-Christian and half-Muslim. So we
had this great talk while we traveled across the
highways of L.A. When I got to the point of
mentioning repentance, he told me that he was
sick of his life and wanted a change, and he
knew it was time for it.
Later, as we talked, he called out to God and
repented of his sins, confessing his faith in
Jesus as his Savior. You could literally see the
transformation on his face as we prayed:
"Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner
that repenteth." (Luke 15:10)
He told me that he knew that God had sent me
to talk with him that day. Now think about that.
To meet this guy, I had to miss a plane flight,
go to a different airport and get the right driver
out of them all. That is called a divine appointment. It wasn't by chance, we were
supposed to meet because the God of this universe had set up this meeting.
Yes, God does that many times. Is it a divine
appointment that you are reading this book right
now? Truth has been laid before your eyes. Are
you ready to repent and commit your life to
Jesus?
Your appointment with God will come along
one day. Do you want to make sure that you are
right with Him before you meet Him? Before
you finish this book you will have the
opportunity. Are you ready to put your life in
God's hands and trust Him to do better for you
than you could possibly do for yourself? Are
you ready to turn from sin and get ready to go
to Him? If so, some amazing news awaits you.
The mystery of eternal truth is coming into
focus, and will be completely solved in the next
chapter.
next post 27th February
ARE THE GOSPELS RELIABLE?
PART 4
(Copied from
Y-Jesus.com)
NAVIGATION
Biblical archaeologist William Albright,
concluded on the basis of his research,
that all the New Testament Books were
written while most of the apostles were
still alive. He wrote:
"We can already say emphatically, that there
is now no longer any solid basis for dating
any Book after about 80 A.D., two full
generations before the date of between 130
and 150 A,D, given by the more radical New
Testament critics of today."
Elsewhere, Albright put the writing of the
entire New Testament at, very probably,
sometime between 50 A.D. and 75 A.D.
The notoriously skeptical
John A.T. Robinson
dates the New Testament
earlier than even most
conservative scholars. In
Re dating the New Testament, Robinson
asserts that most of the
New Testament was written between 40 and 65 A.D. That puts
its writing as early as seven years after
Christ lived. If that is true, any historical
errors would have been immediately exposed
by both eyewitnesses and the enemies of
Christianity.
So, let us take a look at the trail of clues
that takes us from the original documents to
our New Testament copies today.
next post 28th February
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
PART 90
(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)
Travelling and speaking is always an
adventure. I have spoken at the University
of Florida several times. There are usually
600-700 college students at the talks, which
always makes for a good time.
One time, I was leaving Florida for Los
Angeles, the morning after my talk. I had to
get there for a live T.V. show. As I got to the
airport in Florida, everything seemed fine.
However, I soon learned that the fog had
something to say about the situation!
The plane I needed to get on would't land
because it was just too foggy. Due to the delay,
I arrived late in Atlanta, where I needed to
change planes for L.A. and you guessed it, I arrived at the gate just as my plane was pulling
away!
I was not happy!
After talking with the agents, I learned that I
could still get to L.A. on time, but I would have
to land at a different airport. Now unless you
know L.A. airport locations and traffic, that may
not mean much to you. But after landing, I would
have to get all the way across L.A. during rush
hour to make it in time for the show.
So I called the show's
producers and asked
them if they wanted me to cancel. They said to
give it a shot and they would get me on at the end of the show. As we landed in L.A. a driver
from the studio picked me up and began to drive
me toward the shoot location. His name was
Anakhanda. He was from the Bahamas. I began
to chat with him. As he drove, I asked him:
"who was the rudest person you have ever driven
around before?" He told me that he could't say.
But he eventually did and it was a very famous\celebrity.
One of the things he told me was that he was not
allowed to talk to the client first. The client must
make the first statement. He stated that many
people did not say a word to him. To me that is
a sad commentary on the way we live our lives
with those around us because we do not see the
value of each person we see.
Think about it. What is a soul worth?
God's answer to Jeremiah was:
"Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew
thee, and before thou camest forth out of
the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained
thee a prophet unto the nations."
(Jeremiah 1:5)
That was God's answer to Jeremiah, and God's
answer to you about the worth of your soul as well. It is just as loving and just as important.
Before God formed you in your mother's womb
He knew you ! That's how He knew to make
your body a proper reflection of your soul and
a proper vehicle for His plan for your life.
You are incredibly valuable to Him.
next post 25th February
MY FAVOURITE PSALMS
PART 94
Sing praises to the Lord
Who dwells in Zion
Declare among the people
His deeds
He does not forget the cry
of the afflicted
The Lord is King, forever
and ever
O, Lord, Thou hast heard
the cry of the humble
Thou wilt strengthen their
heart
Thou wilt incline Thine
ear.
In the Lord, I take refuge
The Lord is in His holy temple
The Lord's throne is in heaven
His eyes behold, His eyelids test
the sons of men
The Lord tests the righteous
and the wicked.
The Lord is righteous
He loves righteousness
The upright will behold
His face
The Words of the Lord
are pure words
as silver tried in the
furnace of the earth
refined seven times
Thou, O Lord, will
keep them
Thou wilt preserve him
from this generation forever.
I have trusted in Thy
loving kindness
My heart will rejoice in
Thy salvation.
next post 2nd March
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
PART 89
(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)
My high-school buddies look at my life now
and tell me my life is so different now, they
hardly know me.
They can see changes on the outside, because
of what has changed on the inside of me - my
heart and my mind. I changed my thoughts
toward God and He has been changing me
to what He wants me to be.
There are two distinct changes to repentance.
Let me illustrate it this way: You're sitting on
your camel, baking in the sweltering heat,
surrounded by the hot desert sand, the rest of
the caravan is stretched out behind you, wondering why you have stopped.
As you scan the horizon, you come to the inescapable conclusion that this is not the direction you need to go. That's the first
stage. Next, in stage two, you turn your mount around and make your way back through the muttering crowd .... repentance is not complete until you turn your mount around.
Charles Spurgeon
said: "A man may
hate sin as much as
a murderer hates the
gallows, but this does
not prove repentance.
If I hate sin because of the punishment, I have not repented of sin. I
merely regret that God is just. But if I can see
sin as an offence against Jesus Christ, and loathe
myself because I have wounded Him, then I have
a true brokenness of heart.
Consequences alone, should not cause
repentance. Offending God should make
me want to make drastic changes in my life.
We should want to leave that sinful life behind
us.
Do you?
Do you want a changed life that will
glorify God?
Do you want all your sins to be
forgiven?
Do you want God to start preparing
you for a life in heaven for eternity?
Charles Spurgeon said:
"To hate sin because it caused the brow of Christ
to be girt with the thorn crown, and the face of
Christ to be dishonored with the spittle, and the
hands of Christ to be pierced with the nail - this is repentance - not because I am afraid of hell, not
because sins brings pains and penalties with it,
but because it made Jesus to suffer for me such pangs unutterable. "
next post 25th February
ARE THE GOSPELS RELIABLE
PART 3
(copied from
Y-Jesus.com)
But is it true?
In books, magazines and TV documentaries
the Jesus Seminar suggests the Gospels were
written as late as A.D. 130 to 150 by unknown
authors. If those later dates are correct, there
would be a gap of approximately 100 years
from Christ's death (scholars put Jesus' death
between A.D.30 and 33). And since all of the
eyewitnesses would have been dead, the
Gospels could only have been written by
unknown, fraudulent authors.
So what evidence do we have, concerning
when the Gospel accounts of Jesus were really written? The consensus
of most scholars is that
the Gospels were written
by the apostles
during the first century.
They cite several
reasons which we will
review later in this
article. For now, however, note that three
primary forms of evidence appear to build a
solid case for their conclusions.
. early documents from heretics such
as Marcion, and the school of Valentinus
citing New Testament Books, themes and
passages (see Mona Lisa's Smirk).
. Numerous writings of early Christian
sources, such as Clement of Rome,
Ignatious and Polycarp.
. discovered copies of Gospel fragments,
carbon-dated as early as 117 A.D.
next post 28th February
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
PART 88
(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)
So, why did He (Jesus) choose "repent."
"The Lord is not slack concerning His
promise, as some men count slackness, but
is longsuffering to usward, not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come
to repentance."
(2nd Peter: 3:9)
"Repent therefore and be converted, that
your sins may be blotted out, when the times
of refreshing shall come from the presence
of the Lord."
(Acts 3:19)
"But shewed first unto them of Damascus
and at Bethlehem, and throughout all the
coasts of Judea and then to the Gentiles
that they should repent and turn to God,
and do works meet for repentance."
(Acts 26:20)
And the times of this ignorance God winked
at, but now commandeth all men everywhere
to repent."
(Acts 17:20)
In meekness, instructing those that oppose
themselves, if God, peradventure will give
them repentance to the acknowledging of
the truth."
(2nd Timothy 2:25)
"Now I rejoice, not that you are made sorry,
but that you sorrowed to repentance: for you
were made sorry after a godly manner, that
you may receive damage by us in nothing.
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to
salvation, not to be repented of : But the
sorrow of the world worketh death/"
(2 Corinthians 7:9-10)
Being sorry that you
got caught at something is not repentance.
"Repentance," in Greek,
which is what the New
Testament is written in,
carries a strong indication of change. A change of heart and mind.
A change in what you want to do.
Salvation is not : Drink beer, use drugs, have
illicit sex, cheat on tests, disobey your parents.
When you repent there is a visible change in
your life. Your rethinking and regretting and
reconsidering result in a change in the way
that you think and behave, because when Jesus
moves into a life, that life changes.
Once you are saved, you may still struggle
with temptations, but with Jesus there to help
you, you will overcome the temptations. So
there will be changes in your life. You will
avoid the things that used to separate you from
God. You will want a different life.
next post 22nd February
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
PART 87
(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)
And this is how we are saved from being
declared "guilty," As we repent and believe
we become new creatures, born into God's
family and we are no longer under the
condemnation of the Law.
Let us see what else the Bible says about this:
"I tell you Nay: but except ye repent, ye shall
all likewise perish."
(Luke 13:3)
"I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be
in heaven, over one sinner that repenteth,
more than ninety and nine just persons,
which need no repentance. "
(Luke 15:7)
"I came, not to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance."
(Luke 5:32)
"And I gave her space to repent of her
fornication: and she repented not.
Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and
them who commit adultery with her
into great tribulation, except they repent
of their deeds."
(Revelation 2:21-22)
"And the rest of the
men who were not
killed by these
plagues, yet repented
not of the works of their hands, that they
should not worship
devils, and idols of
gold and silver, and brass and stone, and of wood: which neither
can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Neither repented they of their murders,
nor of their sorceries, nor of their
fornication, nor of their thefts. "
(Revelation 9: 20-21)
"And from that time, Jesus began to
preach and to say, Repent: for the
Kingdom of God is at hand. '
(Matthew 4:17)
Jesus had all of eternity to think about what
His first words would be when His ministry
began. You know how important it is to say
the right thing at the start. That is why Jesus'
first words in His public ministry were:
".........repent ye, and believe the Gospel"
(Mark 1:15)
So, why did He choose "repent."
next post 20th February
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
PART 86
(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)
Chapter 8
The next step
Sin and Hell are married
unless repentance
proclaims the divorce.
Charles Spurgeon
Let's see where we stand. The evidence is
overwhelming. We have each broken the
Commandments of Almighty God. I will be
guilty on Judgment Day. You will be guilty
on Judgment Day.
So, what is the next step for you and me to
get right with God? There is a word that we
do not use much in every day English
anymore, and that's the word "repent." It represents an essential concept in human life,
and the Bible mentions it more than one
hundred times.
What does "repent" mean? In English and
the Latin, from which much of it comes, "re"
means again and "pent" means think again.
So, "re-pent" means "think again" or to
"rethink" something. In the Hebrew of the
Old Testament, the word translated "repent"
means to "return," with the implication that
it means "return to God." In the Greek of the
New Testament, the words translated
"repent" mean "regret" and "reconsider."
So when we repent,
we turn away from
our sins and toward God, rethinking or
reconsidering what
we have been thinking
and doing in the light
of what He wants us
to think and do. We are sorry for having
offended Him, and we have an intention to
change our ways, with His help. At the same
time that we repent, we have an urge to cast
away everything in our lives that invites us
to do the things we're repenting of, and we determine, with God's help, not to return to
that mess. God likens a return to sin, after repentance and receiving God's cleansing forgiveness, to returning to vomit or to a pig's
sty:
But is happened to them according to the
true proverb, the dog is turned to his own
vomit again; and the sow that was washed
to her wallowing in the mire.
(2 Peter 2:22)
Simultaneously we are placing our faith and
trust in Jesus as our Saviour. In other words,
repentance and faith go hand in hand.
And this is how we are saved from being
declared "guilty," : As we repent and believe,
we become new creatures, born into God's
family, and we are no longer under the
condemnation of the Law.
next post 19th Feb
PRAISING GOD
PART 13
The Lord lives, blessed be my
Rock
and exalted be the God of my
Salvation
It is God that avenges me and
subdues the people under me
He delivers me from my enemies
He lifts me up above those who
rise up against me.
You have delivered me from
the violent man
Therefore I will give thanks
to You, O Lord, among the
heathen
and I will sing praises to Your
Name.
The Law of the Lord
is perfect converting the soul
the testimony of the
Lord is sure
making wise the
simple
The statues of the
Lord are right
rejoicing the heart
The commandments of the Lord are pure
enlightening the eyes
The fear of the Lord is clean enduring
forever
The judgments of the are true and righteous altogether
More to be desired than gold
Yes, than much fine gold
Sweeter also than honey and honey from
the honeycomb
Moreover, by them is Your servant warned
and in keeping them there is great reward.
next post 24th February
MY FAVOURITE PSALMS
PART 93
Thou hast made him (man) to
rule over the work of Thy hands
Thou dost put all things under
his feet
all sheep and oxen and also
the beasts of the field
the birds in the heavens the
fish in the sea
and whatsoever passes through
the paths of the sea.
O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Thy Name
in all the earth
I will give thanks to the Lord
with all my heart
I will tell of all Thy wonders
I will be glad and rejoice in
Thee
I will sing praises to the Name
of the Lord Most High
The Lord abides forever,
He has established
His throne for judgment
And He will judge the
world in righteousness
He will execute judgment
for the peoples with equity
The Lord will also be a
stronghold for the oppressed.
A stronghold in times of
trouble
and all who know Thy Name
will put their trust in Thee
For Thou, O Lord, hast not
forsaken those who seek Thee.
next post 23rd February
ARE THE GOSPELS RELIABLE?
two or three of the 
