The Gospels History or Myth?

Question

What are Your thoughts?
If you want to add.
Does History recognized the people in the gospels?

All comments Welcome--any facts appreciated.

Answer 1

Good question, but, all you will get is opinion here.

I'd suggest reading books by skeptical types of people and get the gist of all the work they did to come to some hard worked for conclusions. A good starting point is CS Lewis and "Mere Christianity". In terms of the question of a creator, "The Case for a Creator", by Lee Strobel was excellent (he was an ex-atheist, highly awarded reported for the Chicago Tribune). He looks at evolution, cosmology, consciousness, physics, etc. and talks to the experts and reports what he learns.

My opinion, well, here are a couple of examples:

“Do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years, as one day.” – 2 Peter 3:8

The fundies may say that the earth is 6,000 years old per the genesis account, but, the same bilble states the above, so I'll make up my own mind. By the way, here is another account of creation, that better aligns with physics, my opinion:

“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was even an earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth; while as yet He had not made the earth or the fields, or the primal dust of the world.

When He prepared the heavens, I was there, when He drew a circle on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he assigned the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside Him as a Master Craftsman.” -- Proverbs 8:22-30

How would anyone back then know that the Earth had a beginning? Until the “Big Bang” was accepted, most people believed in an eternal universe, even St. Thomas Aquinas did.

How would anyone back then know that the mountains arose and were not created when the Earth was created? I do not think this took one day. The primal dust sounds like atomic particles. Who else in 4,000 BC spoke of this? How long did it take to prepare the heavens? Again, it does not sound like one day.

Figuring out how to set limits on the waters and the foundations of earth sounds like a powerful science, and maybe even some trial and error. Science is finding our universe is highly designed.

Who was the Master Craftsman? A Master Craftsman designs and builds.

I like these following statements, they summarize my thinking precisely:

“The Church says that the Earth is flat, but I know it is round. For I have seen the shadow on the moon, and I have more faith in Shadow than in the Church.” – Ferdinand Magellan, explorer

“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect had intended us to forgo their use.” -- Galileo Galilei

Basically, the historical record is the Bible. One more opinion. When Moses wrote about the exodus, he wrote contemporaneously. He shared with his peers. If he had created this as a fable, he would have lost his exalted leadership position. However, was any of what he wrote changed over time, this no one will ever know. This are the limits of knowledge and the decisions each has to make on what makes sense or not.

Answer 2

Here is some extra-biblical evidence... Jim

Do the Christian gospels record actual events during the First Century A.D./ C.E., or are they the ecstatic visions of a small religious group?

There are no surviving Roman records of the First Century that refer to, nor are there any Jewish records that support the accounts in the Christian gospels --- except one.

In Rome, in the year 93, Josephus published his lengthy history of the Jews. While discussing the period in which the Jews of Judaea were governed by the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate, Josephus included the following account:


About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.

- Jewish Antiquities, 18.3.3 §63
(Based on the translation of Louis H. Feldman, The Loeb Classical Library.)

Answer 3

Simon Greenleaf, one of the founders of the Harvard Law School, attempted to discredit the accounts of the Gospels. After doing much research, he became convinced. He stated that the testimony contained in the Gospels would stand up to scrutiny in a court of law.

That is hardly the stuff of myths.

As to content and accuracy, there is no larger ancient body of manuscript evidence in the history of mankind, than the papyri and parchment manuscripts of the New Testament. With over five thousand actual Greek manuscripts, and numerous other manuscripts in four other languages, there are about twenty-four thousand available manuscript texts for the New Testament.

Even if we didn't have these documents, we could almost have a complete New Testament from extra-biblical sources, such as ancient lectionaries, church fathers' records/sermons/writings, etc.

No other body of ancient work comes close. No one really disputes Julius Caesar's The Gallic Wars (10 manuscripts remain, with the earliest one dating to 1,000 years after the original autograph). No one really disputes Pliny the Younger's Natural History (7 manuscripts; 750 years elapsed). Or Thucydides' History (8 manuscripts; 1,300 years elapsed). No one disputes Herodotus' History (8 manuscripts; 1,350 years elapsed). No one really disputes Plato (7 manuscripts; 1,300 years elapsed). No one really disputes Tacitus' Annals (20 manuscripts; 1,000 years elapsed.) Homer's Iliad, the most renowned book of ancient Greece, is the second best-preserved literary work of all antiquity, with 643 copies of manuscript support discovered to date. In those copies, there are 764 disputed lines of text, as compared to 40 lines in all the New Testament manuscripts.

But we have ancient manuscripts of the New Testament that are written within a generation of Christ's resurrection, (For example, a papyrus fragment of John's Gospel dated at the turn of the century.) and people have the audacity to say it's been tampered with!

Answer 4

Mostly History. We can prove the existence of most of the disciples. Their letters to the Ephesians, Phillipians, etc., is reflective of the time at which they lived, naming cities, kings, traditions, etc. Therefore, taking account that lots of things have been distorted and lost in translation over centuries, most of what lies in the New Testament is history. The real conundrum that most people tie themselves up in is the dogma of the Old Testament which is mostly rooted in Allegory and verbal traditions. People who take the Old Testament word for word are fools who need to remember that God is timeless and boundless... That statement should solve most people's "creation" dilemmas right there...

Answer 5

The Gospels are traditionally viewed as historical accounts of the life of Jesus Christ, as recorded by the Evangelists. Literally they exist as the [text]. They correspond {in some places} with other [texts] such as records of the CENSUS imposed by Augustus. The existence of an actual organism (called Jesus) is broadly mainstream belief. His divinity is a question of faith.

Answer 6

A lot of the people in the Gospels are regonized in history, there are a lot of kings and queens and such...But you have to remember...history is written by the winner...a lot of the stories were written 100's of years after the people dies...Such as the story of Jesus...so a lot of the facts are skewed and there is a lot of 'story telling' like fables to make these people seem larger than life

And notice that the Christians cannot even answer this question...they only know to copy and paste somone elses answers....I would get their answers deleted

Answer 7

The bible is the number one selling book in america and has been for years.The reason why is because it is true. The four gospels are true and all of the people in them are recorded in history.You cannot prove it is a myth.

Answer 8

Jesus Christ existed of course! He was a preacher. He claimed he was the son of God. Mind you, since the Gospels were written, over 300 million people have claimed the same thing.
The New Testiment is the most famous example of "Chinese Whispers." i.e. a story that is re-told so many times, it becomes grossly exaggerated.
Maybe 2000 years from now Billy Graham will be worshipped in the same way Jesus is today!!!

Answer 9

The Gospels contain historical events but the main thrust of the Gospels is the ministry of Jesus Christ as he reveals the true nature of God, his father, to redeem mankind from their sinful nature.

Answer 10

I would like to present to you the true Gospel Of Jesus christ.

There was a time on earth, when in the book of Heaven; an old account was standing for sins yet unforgiven. I had broken Gods law (Ten Commandments) lied, stolen, looked with lust, used Gods name in vain. I was always sinning and never tried to pay, but when I looked ahead, and saw such pain and woe, that God has declared ever idle word a man speaks he will give an account there of and That I would stand before a Holy God on Judgment day guilty and perish in hell, I fell at the feet of Jesus, the one who suffered and died on the cross for the penalty of our sins. I repented and put my faith and trust in Jesus as my Lord and savior. And my record is clear today, because Jesus forgave me and washed my sins away.

Have you ever lied (even once--fibs, white lies, etc.)? Ever stolen (anything--the value is irrelevant)? Jesus said, "Whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery already with her in his heart." Have you ever looked with lust? If you have said "Yes" to these three questions, by your own admission, you are a lying, thieving, adulterer at heart; and we’ve only looked at three of the Ten Commandments.
What a shock! God didn’t see me as the “nice guy” I imagined myself to be… and he doesn’t see you that way either. Nothing you’ve ever done is hid from His holy eyes. Will you be innocent or guilty on the Day of Judgment? Listen to your conscience. You know that you will be guilty, and therefore end up in Hell. That’s not God’s will. He provided a way for you and I to be forgiven.
He sent His Son to take our punishment: "God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." He was bruised for our iniquities. Jesus then rose from the dead and defeated death.
Your own so-called “goodness” can’t get you into heaven any more than mine could. Jesus is the only way to Heaven. He is the "Door," the only "mediator." There is salvation in no other name, so pray something like this: "Dear God, I repent of all of my sins (confess them). This day I put my trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Please forgive me and grant me your gift of everlasting life. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen."