This post continues the series we began earlier this week. Why do we believe that an ancient book has real relevance for today? Last time, we took a look at the witness of manuscript reliability. Today…
The witness of eyewitness credibility
Most biblical scholars agree that the NT documents were all written before the close of the first century. That means that the entire New Testament was completed in about 70 years.
So what? There were people around when the New Testament was being written who could have said, “That’s not true!” But we have no ancient documents written in the first century that contest the New Testament.
“The Biblical accounts of Jesus’ life were circulating within the lifetimes of hundreds who had been present at the events of His ministry… The New Testament documents could not say Jesus was crucified when thousands of people were still alive who knew whether He was or not. If there had not been appearances after His death, if there had not been an empty tomb, if He had not made these claims, and these public documents claimed they happened, Christianity would never have gotten off the ground. The hearers would have simply laughed at the accounts” (The Reason for God, by Tim Keller, pp. 101-102).
