Homer Versus the Gospel Writers
In the last post, we discussed the literary accuracy of the Gospels (the New Testament, in fact) as we know it today.
The main question we answered was whether the text or its meaning had been distorted to where we could not actually conclude that we are reading what was written all those centuries ago. We concluded, using the science of manuscripts, that the Gospels have in fact, been incredibly well preserved. With over 5800 manuscripts of the original text found, the New Testament easily is the most well-documented literary work. The only ancient work to even come close is Homer's The Iliad with 1800 manuscripts.
Ok fine, you might say. But the Iliad is just a story with made-up Greek gods, and no one really knows who Homer actually was. Couldn't the same be true of the Gospel? Just because it's well-preserved doesn't mean it's true or that we can confirm the identities of the the writers, much less Jesus.
But consider The Iliad. It was written around 700 BC about the Trojan War, which is estimated to have occurred around 1200 BC. Even though it was written 500 years after the events (and the first manuscripts discovered over 300 years later) people STILL take for granted that at least part of this epic is historical fact.
That's what we're going to talk about today. Could the Gospels be historically accurate? Or at the very least, eyewitness accounts of what people experienced as opposed to just "fairy tales" made up on a whim? Remember that the Gospels were written within the lifetimes of the people who were eyewitnesses to these events, and the first manuscripts discovered less than 100 years later. Compare this to the above about The Iliad, which we take for granted as based on an actual, historical war waged by the Greeks on a city that no longer exists.
Let's consider two things. First, there are outside sources that corroborate the events described in the Gospels, from the existence of John the Baptist to Herod the Great and when he ruled, to Caesar Augustus, who ruled during the time of Jesus, to Nero, who ruled during the time of Acts and when the Gospels are thought to have been written, to Pontius Pilate himself, who allowed Jesus to be crucified. I believe in doing your own research in order to decide for yourself, but to get started, check out some main points from historian Josephus. He has some disagreements with the Gospel writers, but that is not the point.
The point is whether we are reading eyewitness accounts of an historical event, or a fictional tale.
As an aside, it is interesting to note that there is little written or known about the apostles themselves, because their writing focused mainly on Jesus and His message, not on their own personal lives. What WAS known was passed down through word of mouth at first before it was recorded by historians in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Look up Eusebius and Schumacher, to name just a couple.
This leads to our second point.
To understand the nature and truth of the Gospels, we should consider the absence of ANY writings in the early first century contradicting, or denying, the accounts of the Gospels.
The early church faced incredible persecution. The Jewish leaders were incensed that this new movement had begun and grown massively despite their having crucified Jesus. We will go further into this in a future post.
What I want to point out, however, that while they accused Christians of blasphemy, no one ever came forward and said that they were LYING, or making it up. Jesus had appeared to hundreds of people after His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:6) and the apostles had performed thousands of healing miracles (Acts). Not one of their contemporaries could explain it. They could condemn it, but not explain it. There is not a single record of anyone coming forward and exposing them as liars. But there are thousands of original handwritten copies of the Gospels.
Just something to chew on.
Of course, a lot of this takes quite a bit of thought and mulling over. And...letting go of a narrative that may be getting in the way of seeing things clearly. Please reach out by commenting below or message our Facebook or Twitter, if you are searching for answers and want to talk more. We are happy to help.
Until next time!
The main question we answered was whether the text or its meaning had been distorted to where we could not actually conclude that we are reading what was written all those centuries ago. We concluded, using the science of manuscripts, that the Gospels have in fact, been incredibly well preserved. With over 5800 manuscripts of the original text found, the New Testament easily is the most well-documented literary work. The only ancient work to even come close is Homer's The Iliad with 1800 manuscripts.
Ok fine, you might say. But the Iliad is just a story with made-up Greek gods, and no one really knows who Homer actually was. Couldn't the same be true of the Gospel? Just because it's well-preserved doesn't mean it's true or that we can confirm the identities of the the writers, much less Jesus.
But consider The Iliad. It was written around 700 BC about the Trojan War, which is estimated to have occurred around 1200 BC. Even though it was written 500 years after the events (and the first manuscripts discovered over 300 years later) people STILL take for granted that at least part of this epic is historical fact.
That's what we're going to talk about today. Could the Gospels be historically accurate? Or at the very least, eyewitness accounts of what people experienced as opposed to just "fairy tales" made up on a whim? Remember that the Gospels were written within the lifetimes of the people who were eyewitnesses to these events, and the first manuscripts discovered less than 100 years later. Compare this to the above about The Iliad, which we take for granted as based on an actual, historical war waged by the Greeks on a city that no longer exists.
Let's consider two things. First, there are outside sources that corroborate the events described in the Gospels, from the existence of John the Baptist to Herod the Great and when he ruled, to Caesar Augustus, who ruled during the time of Jesus, to Nero, who ruled during the time of Acts and when the Gospels are thought to have been written, to Pontius Pilate himself, who allowed Jesus to be crucified. I believe in doing your own research in order to decide for yourself, but to get started, check out some main points from historian Josephus. He has some disagreements with the Gospel writers, but that is not the point.
The point is whether we are reading eyewitness accounts of an historical event, or a fictional tale.
As an aside, it is interesting to note that there is little written or known about the apostles themselves, because their writing focused mainly on Jesus and His message, not on their own personal lives. What WAS known was passed down through word of mouth at first before it was recorded by historians in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Look up Eusebius and Schumacher, to name just a couple.
This leads to our second point.
To understand the nature and truth of the Gospels, we should consider the absence of ANY writings in the early first century contradicting, or denying, the accounts of the Gospels.
The early church faced incredible persecution. The Jewish leaders were incensed that this new movement had begun and grown massively despite their having crucified Jesus. We will go further into this in a future post.
What I want to point out, however, that while they accused Christians of blasphemy, no one ever came forward and said that they were LYING, or making it up. Jesus had appeared to hundreds of people after His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:6) and the apostles had performed thousands of healing miracles (Acts). Not one of their contemporaries could explain it. They could condemn it, but not explain it. There is not a single record of anyone coming forward and exposing them as liars. But there are thousands of original handwritten copies of the Gospels.
Just something to chew on.
Of course, a lot of this takes quite a bit of thought and mulling over. And...letting go of a narrative that may be getting in the way of seeing things clearly. Please reach out by commenting below or message our Facebook or Twitter, if you are searching for answers and want to talk more. We are happy to help.
Until next time!
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