Face book has been an exciting way to communicate and get to know new people. During the course of using Face book, I had the opportunity to strike up a conversation with friends holding differing religious views; including one in particular that the Jesus we know from Christianity is a mythical figure. Although there were a lot of questions and points made, there were a few key points that I wanted to take the opportunity to investigate and reply to in depth. These points are as follows:
- Jesus is a re-factored myth of Horus.
- Jesus is a Jewish myth constructed from Paul's mysticism and is an allegorical response to the destruction of the temple.
- Josephus is a forgery.
- Various attacks on historical reliability of the New Testament record.
- Finally, I will summarize and provide several historically verifiable facts which make a belief in Jesus not only reasonable but compelling.
Jesus is re-factored
Horus Myth.
Various forms of this have been refuted several times in the last hundred or so years since it was first introduced by Bruno Bauer in the 1800s. Bauer promoted the idea that Christianity was synergistic and mythical in its beginnings. These views were effectively refuted in the minds of most, by academics and church (Von Voorst 2000, pg 9). Specific to the Horus myth, upon scrutiny, all most all of the alleged parallels turn out to be false. See: http://www.kingdavid8.com/Copycat/JesusHorus.html
Additionally, after exhaustively researching the
"mystery religions, there is no known case of a mythical Deity in the
mystery religions where we have both clear and early evidence that a
resurrection was taught prior to the late second century" (Habermas, 1996,
pg 34). And finally, there is very little influence from the mystery religions
in first Century
Jesus is a Jewish myth is an allegorical response to the destruction of the temple, and constructed after the fact to answer for Paul's mysticism.
This comes from RG Price's work "Gospel of Mark as Reaction and Allegory." In his work, Price is attempting to make a case that Mark is an allegory, and the motive for the allegory is the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Mark was heavily influenced by Paul who manufactured Jesus (based on Old Testament allusions), and all further gospels are dependant upon Mark for content.
This is a clever argument, but doesn't stand up under scrutiny. I have 5 points which Price's theory doesn't account for.
· Main points of Christianity were established before Paul came on the scene.
Despite the dates of when the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles were written, these documents contain statements which can be dated much earlier. The following are a short list (not exhaustive) of verses which have been identified as Jewish Christian creeds and pre-date Paul:
o Philippians 2:6 speaks of Jesus human and divine natures (Habermas, 1996, pg 145).
o Romans 1:3-4 speaks of Jesus linage to David and his Devine Nature (Habermas, 1996, pg 145).
o 1 Cor 15:34 Christ died, was buried, raised on the third day. (Habermas, 1996, pg 145).
o Acts 2:22 and following. Peter's speech. Jesus was a man accredited by God to you by miracles (Habermas, 1996, page 150).
o 1 Tim 3:16 Jesus Ascension (Habermas, 1996, pg 150).
o Luke 24:34 Jesus appearance to Peter (Habermas, 1996,, pg 149).
o 1 Peter 3:28 Jesus' death for sins of mankind (Habermas, 1996,, pg 148).
Archeology confirms a pre-New
Testament tradition of Jesus crucifixion and confirms major New Testament
players were real people. A cave, found in the Mt of Olives (outside
· Matthew and Luke and contain independent early dated details of Jesus life before Mark was written.
Price overlooks the substantial amount of early (pre-Markian) material that is not from Mark, which corroborates Mark's gospel story and testifies to Jesus' life and teachings:
In Luke, there is a substantial amount of early information that is exclusive to Luke. Here is a very small list of examples:
Luke 3:10-14 preaching of John the Baptist
Luke 7:11-15 Jesus raises son of widow
Luke 10:39-42 dispute between Mary and Martha
Luke 14:2-5 healing on the Sabbath.
The previous were established by
Jewish-Christians in
In Mathew, there is also early teaching from Jesus that is exclusive to Matthew. Again a very small list of examples:
Mathew 10:23 reference to "Son of Man" title
Mathew 6:7-8 teaching on prayer
Mathew 18: 23-34 Parable of unmerciful servant (teaching forgiveness).
There is a strong argument for the
preceding selections which are dated 65-70 AD in the Jewish community of
Finally I want to call attention to the "Q" references. Q is category of verses that are in both Luke and Matthew, but are not in Mark. There is an argument that "Q" is a single source document. I'll not attempt to make a case for a Q source's existence; however I would just like to point out that this is category of verses which are in both Luke and Matthew that are independent and pre-date Mark, which is sufficient for my case that Mark could not have been written intentionally as a fictitious allegory.
Luke 3:7-9,16,17 & Matt 3:7-12 John the Baptist prophecy of Christ
Luke 6:20-23, Math 5:3,4,6,11,12 Beatitudes
Luke 6:26-30, Math 5:44,39,40,42 Love enemies and turn cheek
Luke 17:23-24, Math 24:26-28 Coming of the Son of Man
These verses have dates ranging from 40 and 70 AD by Jewish Christians (Van Voorst 2000, pg 164).
In summary, if Mark's account was
intentionally a fictional allegory (written in
· John isn't as dependant on Mark as Price implies. Also John, as an eyewitness, confirms Mark's account by referencing it and not mentioning any discrepancies.
Regarding the Gospel of John, only a few passages are reliant on Mark. (e.g. Jesus clearing the temple, Jesus feeding five thousand, Jesus walking on water). There are indications that the gospel of John relied on Jewish-Christian oral or written creeds/tradition (independent from Mark) which are probably dated 65-70. For example:
John 2:1-3 Jesus changes water to wine
John 2:18-19 Jesus prophecy to rise after 3 days
John 5:2-8 Healing
John 18: 1-13 Jesus arrest
John 19 Jesus crucifixion and death
John 20 Empty tomb and appearances
(Van Voorst 2000, pg 164).
There is also still a substantial amount of information of which John is apparently the source. E.g. Most of John 14-17, and Peter's reinstatement in John 21.
· Contradicts eyewitness corroboration.
By saying the other gospel's depend on Mark, Price is implying copied without prejudice; however it is the testimony of these gospel writers, and others who are contemporary and able to vouch for these works as eyewitnesses accounts, that they are writing original authentic works or corroborating others. John and Matthew were disciples and eyewitnesses. They would not have accepted Mark if it were fiction.
Additionally, Luke's testimony about his gospel states he "carefully investigated" everything [in his gospel]. Luke 1 1-4; Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
· Contrary to early Church Fathers testimony about Mark.
Eusebius in his Church History mentions a statement made by Clement of Alexandria toward the end of the second century. Clement reported that those who heard Peter were so impressed with his oral discourses on the gospel of Jesus that they pleaded for Peter's companion to put his discourses into writing, so they could always recall them. This may have prompted Mark to write his gospel. (Christian Interconnect 2001)
Papias asserted that the content of Mark's gospel
contained the content of the gospel that Peter taught and preached. Mark's
gospel bears the stamp of Peter's presence and first hand experiences as an
eyewitness to what Jesus said and did. Jesus' calling of Peter to be a disciple
and apostle appears early in the first chapter (cf. Mark 1:16-18). Jesus'
activities and teaching in
Josephus a forgery?
There has been an ongoing debate among scholars as to the authenticity of the "Testimonium" in the Antiquites. Louis Fldman, the dean of Josephan scholars, counts more than eighty studies of this problem from 1937 to 1980. Part of the issue is the earliest manuscripts are copies from the eleventh century, making textual criticism ineffective (Van Voorst 2000, pg 88). We turn instead to historical criticism. Arguments for the authenticity include: The passage "wise man" is not one would expect from a Christian interpolation, because it is not at all a common Christian one. Same is true for "worker of amazing deeds." Christians would have avoided the word "pleasure" in "teacher of people who accept the truth with pleasure." Also "those who had first loved him did not cease" is characteristically Josephan in style." On the other hand statements like "if indeed it is right to call him a man" looks like a Christian scribe's correction and there are also problems with the phrase "the Christ." Also "for on the third day he appeared to them alive again" is filled with Christian content (VanVoorst 2000, pg 91). The doubts about wording, have led some interpreters to reject the entire passage as interpolation. However because of just as strong counter arguments that over half of the passage is authentic Josephan content, a neutral reconstruction is proposed which removes the suspicious content:
Around
this time lived Jesus, a wise man. For he was a worker of amazing deeds and was
a tacher of people who gladly accept the truth. He won over both many Jews and
many Greeks. Pilate, when he heard him accused by the leading men among us,
condemned him to the cross, those who had first loved him did not cease. To
this day the tribe of Christians named after him has not disappeared (Van Voorst
2000, pg 93).
There are several reasons that the neutral reconstruction is
accepted including a quote from Agapius's Universal history, a tenth century Christian
which suggests he knows a version of Josephus that contains the Testimonium in
a form that tends to resemble the neutral reconstruction. It is supported by a
roughly parallel presentation (held to be genuine), of John the Baptizer (
Various attacks on
historical reliability of the New Testament record.
Regarding your November 7th post, you post a direct quote from Jim Walker which makes several statements about not having artifacts or direct evidence, contemporary evidence, that the evidence we have is based on fraud, interpolations, or stating the evidence we have for Jesus is based on hearsay. http://www.nobeliefs.com/exist.htm
This statement simply isn’t true and he makes several
mistakes in chronology--specifically regarding the dating of the documents.
By addressing the "late dating" this effectively refutes many of the issues regarding "hearsay." Additionally, there are number of notable exceptions to the hearsay rule including contemporaneous writing, emotional utterances, business documents, and witness unavailability. I will leave it to the reader to further investigate these exceptions http://www.courts.state.nh.us/rules/evid/evid-804.htm. Where there are exceptions to the hearsay rule, we have allowances for the jury to come to their own conclusions about the reliability of the evidence after cross-examination. For example, investigative reporting is by its very nature, "hearsay evidence." So are research papers and books. In fact we could call Price's entire book "hearsay" and just be done? However, I would be ridiculous. We take the credibility of the source from which we receive the information. For example, in Paul's statement in 1 Cor 15, he restates an early creed (likely from < 40 CE), that was constructed from eyewitness accounts, he provides a list of the many eyewitness themselves (to site his sources, so to speak) and then goes on to point out, that at the time of his writing, many of the witnesses were still alive, and available for cross examination. This is not hearsay!!! This is a reliable and credible reporting of the events which happened, with a well established list of sources which any reader of 1 Corinthians of the era could have double checked the sources for validity. In fact, this is the stated intention of Luke, to personally validate and double check the earlier teachings "so that you may know the certainty of what you have been taught." (Luke 1:4).
Regarding the statement, "no one has the slightest
physical evidence to support a historical Jesus; no artifacts, dwelling, works
of carpentry, or self-written manuscripts." I "beg to differ." We have a number of items. According to
gospel accounts, Jesus lived with Peter for a time in
The "alleged" house where Mary lived is also enshrined: http://www.tourism.gov.il/Tourism_Eng/Tourist+Information/Christian+Themes/Details/The+Basilica+of+Annunciation++chr.htm
The synagogue in
http://www.biblewalks.com/sites/SynagogueChurch.html
Also, the jury is still out on the shroud of
http://www.shroudstory.com/faq/index.htm
And it is also still to be determined the authenticity of a sample of Jesus blood.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudarium_of_Oviedo
Albeit some of these items are controversial the jury is
still "out", so it is very much a stretch to say we have not the
"slightest physical evidence." Additionally, we don’t have any
reports from Pilot's hand during his administration over
Textual Reliability in general:
At this time, I want to address what I perceive to be an "a priori" (that is being without examination or analysis) rejection of the New Testament documents. The New Testament documents are relevant to our discussion precisely because they are the closest reference to our topic available, and their authors knew the subject matter best. Moreover, the New Testament is a set of a set of ancient documents which can be subjected to historical scrutiny like any other accounts from antiquity (Strobel, 2007 pg113).
"More than five thousand Greek copies of the original manuscripts have been found, the earliest which date to somewhere between one hundred and one hundred fifty AD, which places it between twenty and one hundred years later than the original. Manuscripts in other languages, including Latin, Ethiopian, Slavic, and Armenian, bring the total to about twenty-four thousand manuscripts (Strobel 1998, 79-81). These copies also contain only a few minor discrepancies. These are so rare and minor that scholars Norman Geisler and William Nix concluded that 'The New Testament, then, has not only survived in more manuscripts than any other book from antiquity, but it has survived in a purer form than any other great book - a form that is 99.5 percent pure (Stobel 1998, pg 85).' 'The textual evidence decisively shows that the Gospels were written and circulated during the lifetime of those who witnessed the events. Since there are so many specific names and places mentioned, eyewitnesses could have easily discredited the writings. The New Testament would have never survived had the facts been inaccurate (Zukeran)." (quote Taken from Minich).
So, it is astonishing that while Greco-Roman historians have been growing in confidence, the twentieth century study of the gospel narratives, starting from no less promising material, has taken so gloomy a turn in the development of form-criticism…that the historical Christ is unknowable and the history of his mission cannot be written . This seems very curious (AN Sherwin-White, 187) (Note: quote taken from Habermas, 1996, p52).
Summary of Historically Verifiable Facts
There are a number of facts that are listed in the New Testament that can be historically validated which can make a case for the resurrection (Habermas, 1996,, pg 161). For the sake of brevity, I will examine 6 of which make a strong case. For each I will list out the New Testament evidence, extra-biblical Christian and/or Jewish evidence, evidence from secular historians, and finally any corroborating archeological evidence.
1) Jesus death due to crucifixion
a) New Testament Creeds
Phil 2:8 pre-Pauline creed (Habermas, 1996,, pg 145)
…and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.
Acts 2:23 pre-Pauline creed (Habermas, 1996,, pg 150)
…put him to death on a cross
b) Gospel sources
Mark 14:21-37 (gospel dated 65 – 70AD) (Habermas, 1996, pg 42).
…And they crucified him.
Matt 27:32-50 parallels Mark.
…When they had crucified him…
Luke 23:26-45 parallels Mark
…and put the cross on him [Simon
from
John 19:19 (gospel's Jewish-Christian source dated to 66-80 AD) Van Voorst 2000,, pg 153, 154).
Pilot had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross.
c) Early Christian writings
Trallians: "was truly crucified" (dated 110-115 AD) (Habermas, 1996,, pg 231)
Barnabus "suffer on a tree" (dated 126-155AD). (Habermas, 1996,, pg 234)
d) Jewish writings
b. Sanhedrin 43a "hanged him before Passover" (400-700AD)
(Van Voorst 2000,, pg 114)
Josehpus' Antiquites "condemned him to the Cross" (93 AD)(Van Voorst 2000,, pg 93)
e) Secular Writings:
Tactius' Annals "suffered the extreme penalty" (116 AD) (Van Voorst 2000,, pg 41)
Thallus (quoted by Julius Africanus in ca 220) describes darkness of the sun at time of Jesus death. Dated 55AD (Van Voorst 2000,, pg 20).
f) Archeology
Skeletal remains of a Crucified Man from Giv'at ha-Vivtar corroborates crucifixion was a method of execution in 1st Centry Palestine
http://www.joezias.com/CrucifixionAntiquity.html
Crosses found inscribed in cave
outside of
http://www.bib-arch.org/bar/article.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=36&Issue=1&ArticleID=12
Another cave-- with crosses
inscribed in headstones-- places the tradition of Jesus crucifixion to
http://www.leaderu.com/theology/burialcave.html
Pilot inscription dated 26-37 AD.
Confirms Pilot was in charge of
http://www.bible-history.com/archaeology/israel/pilate-inscription.html
Caiaphas ossuary corroborates New Testaments claim he was high priest at time of Jesus' Crucifixion
http://www.formerthings.com/caiaphas.htm
The "Nazareth Inscription"
is an imperial edict found in
http://www.formerthings.com/nazareth_inscription.htm
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Hill outside http://www.wcg.org/lit/jesus/golgotha.htm |
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-church-of-holy-sepulchre |
Jesus Tomb, at a minimum corroborates 1st century tombs in the correct place.
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Garden tomb. http://www.wcg.org/lit/jesus/golgotha.htm |
The tomb (which is the more likely one) located at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-church-of-holy-sepulchre.
Note the "Authenticity" article on this page. |
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For
further reading, see http://www.bib-arch.org/online-exclusives/easter-06.asp
In summary, direct references to Jesus
crucifixion can be dated to the earliest of Christian traditions within less
than 10 years of the actual event and can be traced back directly to the Jewish
Christian community in
2) The Disciples had experiences which they believed to be appearances by Jesus
New Testament Creeds
1 Cor 15:4 (creed dated mid 30 AD) (Habermas 1996,, pg 154) (1 Cor dated 53-57 AD)
…that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day…he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living.
Acts 2:24 pre-Pauline creed (Habermas 1996,, pg 150)
(Peter's speech) "But God raised him from the dead"…
Acts 2:31-32 pre-Pauline creed (Habermas 1996, pg 151)
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.
2 Timothy 2:8 pre-Pauline creed (Habermas 1996, pg 149).
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.
Romans 1:3-4 pre-Pauline creed (Habermas 1996,, pg 149).
…by his resurrection from the dead.
Gospel sources
Luke 24:34 (creed dated mid 30 AD) (Habermas 1996, pg 150). (Luke dated )
"It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon [Peter]"
Luke 24:39 (Jewish-Christian source dated 40-60 AD) (Van Voorst 2000, pg 139)
"Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."
John 20:19 (gospel's Jewish-Christian source dated to 66-80 AD) Van Voorst 2000,, pg 153, 154)
Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.
Synoptics: Mark 16:14 (65-70AD), Matt (28:18, Luke 24:10)
Other New Testament sources
1 Peter 1:3 (Epistle attributed to Peter, dated sometime before 64 AD).
…through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
1 John (Epistle attributed to John, dated approx 87 AD)
…which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched…
In
summary, direct references to the disciple's experience of Jesus resurrection
can be dated to the earliest of Christian traditions starting within 4-8 years
of the actual events and traced back to Jewish Christian sources in
3) Transformation of Disciples
New Testament references
Act 2:14 pre-Paulean creed
Peter begins preaching
Acts 4:7f
Peter defends his faith to Caiaphas and other Jewish leaders
Acts 7
Stephen's speech and stoning
Acts 12: 2
And [Herod] killed James the brother of John with the sword.
Acts 13
Barnabus preaches with Paul
Early Christian Writings
Hippolytus:
Andrew preached to the Scythians [modern day
Bartholomew, again, preached to the Indians, to whom he also gave the Gospel according to Matthew, and was crucified with his head downward, and was buried in Allanum, a town of the great Armenia [modern day southern Georgia]. (Ichthus, pg. na).
And James the son of Alphaeus, when preaching in
James, [John's] brother, when preaching in
Matthew wrote the Gospel in the Hebrew tongue, and published it at
Peter preached the Gospel in
Eusebius
About that time, Pantaenus, a man
highly distinguished for his learning, had charge of the school of the faithful
in
Peter likewise was crucified under Nero.
Jewish Writings
Josephus:
He assembled the Sanhedrin of the judges, and brought before it the brother of Jesus called Christ, whose name was James, and some others. When he had accused them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned (Van Voorst 2000,, pg 83).
Archaeology or Relics
Martyriam of Phillip
A memorial built to commemorate the
Apostle Phillip in
http://www.turizm.net/cities/hierapolis/stphilipmartyrium.html
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Tomb of Luke in "the scientific world is now 99.9 per cent convinced that the remains, venerated for centuries, are those of the evangelist St Luke, the author of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles" |
Tomb of John
The Apostle John is believed to
have been buried in
http://www.hellokusadasi.com/the-basilica-of-st.-john,11.html
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James' ossuary James', brother of Jesus, ossuary. The "jury is still
out," however scholarly proponents still advocate for its authenticity.
In fact, despite http://www.bib-arch.org/news/forgery-trial-news.asp |
In summary, the disciples are people of history. The disciples were men of varied positions (fisherman, tax collector), that were not particularly famous, noteworthy or learned personalities. After their experiences-- in which they claimed to be with Jesus and to see Him after the resurrection-- they faced a certain future of extreme persecution, and likely death, in order to pass on their message. They left their homes, culture and customs to spread their new message all across their known world.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjthi/1248042345/
Conversion of skeptic Paul
In what can only be described as autobiographical narrative, Saul of Tarsus – now going by a new name "Paul," describes how prior to his conversion, he had a prestigious, respected and powerful position as a Pharisee.
Philippians 3:4b-7
If anyone else thinks he has
reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth
day, of the people of
Paul was more than just a skeptic. He was actively seeking to put down the Christian movement. Again in his own words, he states the following from Gal 1:13
For you have heard of my previous
way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the
Paul has a religious experience which results in his conversion. Giving up his previous way of life, he becomes a Christian and he takes up preaching and building up the Church which he previously attacked.
Gal 1:23b "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
During the rest of his life, Paul
travels to many countries throughout the northern and western
http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/corinthians/journeys.stm
During the course of his ministry, he was persecuted repeatedly for his Christian faith.
2 Corinthians 11:23b-25
I have been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned…
Ultimately, Paul's preaching
results in his execution in
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Picture taken from National Geographic 2006 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061211-saint-paul.html Latest archealogical findings (June 2009) indicate that the tomb is authentic.
http://www.zenit.org/article-26323?l=english Picture copied under "fair use" doctrine. |
Dramatic growth of the
The following is a non exhaustive list of resources which documents or indicates the presence of the Christian Church in the first to early second century.
New Testament
Acts 3:14,41 – Fellow Jews and all
of you who live in
Acts 11::19-22 – and they sent
Barnabus to
Acts 13:4,5 and sailed from there
to
Early Christian Writings:
Hippolytus:
Matthew wrote the Gospel in the
Hebrew tongue, and published it at
Classical Writings:
Lucian of Samosata: …associated himself with the priests and scribes of the Christians in Palestine.(Van Voorst, 59 )
Other secular writings:
One of the earliest centers of Christianity in
Archeaology
1st Century
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Early Jewish Christian Church Symbol |
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Burial cave of first
Chirstians. Dated 1st Century AD |
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Church of the house of St Peter. A Byzantine martyrium church, enshrines the 1st Centry
dweling. http://www.bib-arch.org/bar/article.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=35&Issue=04&ArticleID=15&Page=5&UserID=0 |
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Cave of Dated 40-50 AD http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/antioch-cave-church-of-peter Picture copied under
"fair use" doctrine. |
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The Coptic Church is based on the
teachings of Saint Mark
who brought Christianity to
Early Christian Writings:
Eusebius of Caesarea, the author of Ecclesiastical History in the fourth century, states that St. Mark came to Egypt in the first or third year of the reign of Emperor Claudius, i.e. 41 or 43 A.D. "Two Thousand years of Coptic Christianity" Otto F.A. Meinardus p28.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_Orthodox_Church_of_Alexandria
Archaeology:
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Fragment of John's gospel c
125-150 AD Found in http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/specialcollections/collections/stjohnfragment/ |
![[Fragment of St. John's gospel]](Jesus%20Myth%20rebuttal_files/image040.jpg)
Acts 14:1 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke.. a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.
Acts
18:18 Paul stayed on in
Acts
19:1 Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at
Early Christian Writings:
Hippolytus:
John, again, in Asia, was banished
by Domitian the king to the isle of Patmos, in which also he wrote his Gospel
and saw the apocalyptic vision; and in
Trajan's time he fell asleep at
Philip
preached in Phrygia, and was crucified in
Jude, who is also called Lebbaeus,
preached to the people of
New Testament:
Act
28:1 …we found out that the island was
Acts
28:14 And so we came to
Early Christian Writings:
while
Peter and Paul were preaching at
Classical writings:
Pliny the Younger. "They had met regularly before dawn… and sung antiphonally a hymn to Christ as if to a god. (Van Voorst, pg 25 )
Suetonius
(dated 49 AD). …expelled the Jews from
Tacitus,
(places Christians in
Archaeology
Dated 2nd thru the 5th Century
Copied under fair use doctrine.
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-catacombs
Early Christian Writings:
Hippolytus:
Andrew preached to the Scythians
[modern day
Early Christian Writings:
Hippolytus and Eusebius:
Bartholomew, again, preached to the Indians. (Ichthus, pg. na).
Church tradition teaches that Thomas
preached to the Parthians, Medes, Persians, Hyrcanians, Bactrians, and
Margians, and was thrust through in the
four members of his body with a pine spear at Calamene, the city of
http://www.ntcanon.org/mapsmall.shtml
In summary, the Christian movement exploded within the
lifetimes of the original disciples. Its epicenter was in
Appendix 1
Matthew authorship:
A few textual references that indicate Matthew wrote this gospel are based on Matthew: 9:11.. "As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office ( note the reference to Matthew instead of Levi and the reference to the tax office)…
Matthew 10:3.. Matthew the tax collector" is named among the twelve apostles. (Tenny a , p 123) Notice the extra description and the non use of Levi.
We also have the testimony of the early church fathers:
From the earliest times the ancient Church has been clear, consistent and unanimous in attributing the first gospel to the Apostle Matthew. During those days there was no evidence at all that any other author ever claimed to have written the book nor was it ever attributed to anyone except Matthew (Tenny a , p 123).
We also have statements from the early church fathers which testify to the manner in which Matthew is written.
Irenaeus writes: "Matthew also published a book of the
Gospel among the Hebrews, in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were
preaching the Gospel in
Origen states that "the first gospel was written by Matthew, who was once a tax collector, but who was afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, and it was prepared for the converts from Judaism, and published in the Hebrew tongue" (Eccl. His., VI. 14,5). (Tenny a , p 123)
Euseibus in his famous Church history (III, 39,36) quotes Papias who says: Matthew compiled the logia in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could. (Tenny , p 123)
Appendix 2
Gospel Dating Resouces
Tenny, Merrill C. 1976 The Zondervan Pitcorial Encyclopedia of the Bible
Drane, Introducing New Testament
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