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Category: New Testament Proofs

The Fixed New Testament Text – a Huge Problem for Trinitarianism!

The Fixed New Testament Text – a Huge Problem for Trinitarianism!

The fixed New testament Text has been a huge problem for Trinitarianism.

“Command certain people not to teach false doctrines”—1 Timothy 1:3 NIV

Since the Trinity Doctrine is said to be the main, or primary, teaching, of Christianity, why is it so disputed down to this day?

Accurate history tells us that:

(1) Various Trinities were taught and believed in many pagan religions prior to Jesus, going all the way back to ancient Babylon, 3,000 years before Christ!

(2) The Bible’s Old Testament canon closed about 400 BCE, saying nothing about any Trinity, or Trinitarian ideas.. read more

Anonymous Folklore, or Eyewitness Accounts, of Jesus?

Anonymous Folklore, or Eyewitness Accounts, of Jesus?

A popular myth is spread that the gospels, and the New Testament historical accounts, are simply anonymous folklore, embellished oral traditions and legends about a man named Jesus, who was likely a real, historical figure. As other articles on this site have shown, the entire New Testament was written within the lifetime of the Apostle John, who apparently lived on about 60-70 years after Jesus’ death. This is certainly believable since there are alive today a number of people who were living back during WWII, which ended in 1945. read more

Importance of Eyewitnesses of Jesus’ Death & Resurrection

Importance of Eyewitnesses of Jesus’ Death & Resurrection

Critics of the Bible often say there are no eyewitness accounts recorded in the Bible of Jesus’ death and resurrection. This article examines the facts of the issue of whether there are eyewitnesses of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

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. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus.” (Luke 1:1-3 NIV) read more

POOL OF SILOAM DISCOVERED IN 2004 CONFIRMS JOHN 9:7

POOL OF SILOAM DISCOVERED IN 2004 CONFIRMS JOHN 9:7

The actual location of the Biblical Pool of Siloam has been discovered, confirming the Bible’s authenticity.

“The living and enduring word of God. For, ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall off, but the word of the Lord endures forever'”—1 Peter 1:24,25 NIV

The more that time passes, the more proof emerges that the Bible is indeed, “the word of God”—1 Thessalonians 2:13 read more

Does the Gospel of Mark End at 16:20, or 16:8?

Does the Gospel of Mark End at 16:20, or 16:8?

snake handler
Where does the gospel of Mark end? Modern day snake handlers derive their practice from Mark 16:17-18 (KJV)

Where does the gospel of Mark end?

“I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book”—Revelation 22:18 NKJV

Promoters and believers in faith healing often use Mark 16:17,18 as Biblical support for their healing practices:

“They will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover” (NKJV).

Snake handling “Christians” love these last few verses of Mark because they say: read more

WHY AVOID THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY STORY?

WHY AVOID THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY STORY?

The woman caught in adultery story is well known today among Christians, and even in popular Western culture, but there are questions about it’s authenticity.

“Yahweh’s promises are promises unalloyed; natural silver which comes from the earth seven times refined”—-Psalm 12:6 NJB

“Every word of God is flawless . . . Do not add to his words or he will  rebuke you and prove you a liar”—Proverbs 30:5,6 NIV

“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City”—Revelation 22:18,19 NIV read more

The Early Acceptance of Revelation

The Early Acceptance of Revelation

 

The Book of Revelation is without doubt the most complicated, controversial, and esoteric of the entire Bible! Some even doubt that it should even be in the Bible at all, and assert that its place in the Bible Canon was controversial from the start. This is false. Why? The early acceptance of Revelation by the Christian Church is proof that the book is divinely inspired.

  • We have early, widespread and consistent reception of Revelation. Papias (c 125), Justin Martyr, Irenaus, the Muratorian Fragment, Hippolytus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Origen all accepted Revelation as authentic. That’s impressive! Every one of these accepted Revelation as inspired, on the basis that John, the apostle was the recorder. B W Bacon was so impressed with the initial widespread acceptance of Revelation, that he wrote: “There is no other book in the entire NT whose external attestation can compare with that of Revelation, in nearness, clearness, defintiteness, and positiveness of statement” (The Making of the New Testament, 190).
  • Objections to Revelation were later and limited. Gaius in the early 3rd century rejected Revelation, thinking it was a forgery of the apostate Cerinthus. This is the first real objection.
  • Objections to Revelation were not on any historical basis. Gaius rejected the literal millennnial reign of Christ, so he thought the reference in chapter 20 of such had to be a product of the apostate Cerinthus.
  • Any such objections were resolved early. It was accepted by the synods of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397), by Philastrius of Brescia (c 385), Rufinus of Aquuilia (c 404), Jerome ( c 414), and Augustine (c 426). They accepted Revelation as authentic because it was accepted by the early Christians as authentic.
  • There are many quotations from Revelation by early writers, who quoted it as being authentic.
  • The writings of the Apostles were viewed as authentic (Jude 17,18; 2 Peter 3:15,16).
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    Evidence of Early New Testament Canon by Circa 100 CE

    Evidence of Early New Testament Canon by Circa 100 CE

    Although it is popular to do so, we should not measure the existence of the New Testament (NT) canon (authoritative, or inspired, books) just by the existence of lists, which came into being somewhat later than the NT canon’s coming into existence. When we examine the way the NT books were viewed and used in the very early days of Christianity, we can determine the de facto existence of a functioning canon by about 100 CE.

    NT canon
    Did it take until the fifth century to finalize the NT canon?

    The views expressed here are admittedly a little different than the traditional, or orthodox, view of how the NT canon, in particular, and the Bible as a whole, came into acceptance. The views presented here actually stand in stark contrast to modern-day populist scholars, like the agnostic Bart Ehrman.

    “Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17). The NT canon was not revealed by humans, but by God.

    The books of the Bible did not become the Word of God because people decided it to be so. A book became canonical if it was inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:20,21). Inspiration by God, and not humanly contrived lists, determines canonization.

    “That by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit” (Ephesians 3:3-5). Canon (inspired books of the Bible), prophecy, and revelation were revealed by the holy Spirt, not man-made councils.

    The Roman Catholic Church (RCC) claims responsibility for the decision as to which books should be included in the Bible canon. However, the NT canon was settled long before then –  not by any council’s decision, but by the same holy Spirit that inspired the Bible in the first place (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20,21).

    “And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13) The NT canon was accepted as the word of God by the early church, shortly after each book was written, which was long before the RCC came into existence in the 4th century.

    There is no evidence that any book in our canon today gradually gained acceptance over time. There were no stages of acceptance for each individual canonical book.

    “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people ” (Jude 3). This body of truth, or faith, contained in the New Testament, was delivered “once for all” time, being completed prior to 100 CE, according to the evidence.

    “Just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which is ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:15,16). This gives scriptural status to all 14 of Paul’s letters, by placing them as having equal status with the Hebrew Scriptures. Why can we say this?

    Since Peter wrote to the “exiles scattered throughout [5] provinces” or regions (1 Peter 1:1), it is reasonable that Peter was referring to the entire collection of Paul’s letters available at the time. Peter probably knew all but possibly one or two of Paul’s letters that were available at the time. Not only would this mean that Peter was well aware of Paul’s writings, but as a leading apostle, he affirmed them. It’s obvious that Paul’s letters had a widespread reputation. From this we can infer that they were circulating possibly as a corpus, or body, in the 60’s. Ignatius of Antioch in the early 100’s, and Polycarp in the mid 100’s show familiarity with Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Hebrews – eleven of Paul’s letters! The Chester Beatty papyrus 46, dated to around 200 CE, is a collection of most of Paul’s letters, including Hebrews. The facts solidly prove that the Pauline corpus was circulating early, long before the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) councils of the latter part of the 4th century.

    From this platform of Paul’s 14 letters circulating as scripture from the 60’s on, we can verify the rest of 13 NT books.

    “For the Scripture says… ‘The worker deserves his wages.'” (1 Timothy 5:18) Paul apparently quotes from Luke 10:7, which says “…for the worker deserves his wages”, and also quotes Deuteronomy 25:4, calling both “Scripture”. This quote of 1 Timothy 5:18 gives scriptural status, or acknowledges the scriptural status, of Luke’s writings, namely volume 1 – Luke, and volume 2 – Acts.

    Since Luke and Acts comprise Volumes 1 and 2 of Luke’s history (“my former book” – Acts 1:1), we can conclude that they both were circulating as scripture in the 60’s. Polycarp cites some verses in Luke, in the mid-100’s.

    “Remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.” (Jude 17) The word of the apostles was authoritative. The New Testament was written by four apostles directly chosen by Jesus, namely, Matthew, John, Peter and Paul. Four other close associates of the apostles, namely, Mark, Luke, James, and Jude, wrote the rest of the New Testament.

    In the 60’s, when Jude wrote his letter, the apostles and their very close associates’ writings were considered authoritative. Papias and Justin Martyr referred to Matthew and Mark’s books, with Mark named as Peter’s secretary.

    “The church in Babylon, also chosen, sends you greetings, as does Mark, my son” (1 Peter 5:13). Mark was a very close associate of Peter, apparently his secretary, writing the book of Mark. So Mark’s book had apostolic authority.

    Polycarp and Justin Martyr in the mid-100’s referred to 1 John and John, respectively. Ignatius of Antioch, who was martyred c. 110 CE, makes clear references to John’s writings.

    The Muratorian fragment of c. 170 CE named 23 of the 27 NT books as authentic. Only Hebrews, James and Peter’s 2 letters were omitted. This proves widespread circulation and approval of, and for, the 23 books some time prior to this. Since the Muratorian document is fragmentary – omission from it does not imply non-acceptance.

    John and Peter’s status as prominent apostles gave them outstanding authority, and their writings would have been received as such.

  • 1 Corinthians 15:7 – “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” Jesus appeared to James, his half-brother.
  • Acts 15:13 – “James spoke…”
  • Acts 15:19 – “It is my judgment…”
  • Acts 15:22 – “Then the apostles and elders… decided….” James, Jesus’ half-brother, was the spokesman.
  • Acts 21:18 – “Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present.” James was the leader of the important Jerusalem church.
  • Galalatians 1:19 – “I saw none of the other apostles – only James, the Lord’s brother.”
  • Galatians 2:9 – “James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars.”
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    Titles of the Gospels – Are They Genuine?

    Titles of the Gospels – Are They Genuine?

    The Titles of the Gospels

    History says Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote the books with those titles. People seem to have a highly variable standard in their assessment of what ancient writings are genuine, especially the Bible. What do we mean? Here is an example:

    Titles of the Gospels
    Did Matthew, Mark, Luke and John really write the Gospels, or were these names attributed later?

    Most people accept Alexander the Great as a real historical figure. Yet, the two earliest biographies of Alexander the Great were written by Arrian and Plutarch more than 400 years after the Great One’s death 323 BCE. Legends about him developed centuries after these two writers. Yet, Alexander’s true, accurate history is viewed as being preserved for hundreds of years prior to these legends. read more

    Notes on the Origin of the New Testament Canon

    Notes on the Origin of the New Testament Canon

    The New Testament canon was established early, by Holy Spirit

    New Testament Canon
    The New Testament canon was established early, by Holy Spirit

    The New Testament canon was established in the first century by Holy Spirit. Let’s examine some notes on the scriptures which confirm this fact:

    2 Peter 1:16-21 – Peter affirms Old Testament prophets wrote God’s word. He puts himself and other apostles in the same category.

    2 Peter 3:15-16 – Paul’s letters were on the same level as all the “rest of the scriptures.” That is, inspired of God. Early Greek manuscripts show Paul writing 14 letters.

    2 Timothy 3:16-17 – The rest of the scriptures (the Old Testament) are inspired of God. We can broaden this now, and apply the principle to all 66 canonical books as shown below:

    1 Timothy 5:18 – Paul quotes Luke 10:7 as scripture, placing it on an equal status with Deuteronomy 25:4.

    Therefore, we can reason that if the book of Luke is scripture, then so is Luke’s second volume, Acts. Here’s how:

    Luke 1:1-4 – He writes to Theophilus.

    Acts 1:1-3 – “In my former book, Theophilus…” (NIV) So he implies Acts is the second volume.

    Jude 17 – “But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said.” Jude was apparently referring to Acts 20:29; 1 Timothy 4:1-2; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 2 Peter 2:1-3; 2 John 7. Apostolic authority carried great weight. The apostles’ writings apparently were considered scripture.

    Galatians 1:17-20 – Paul put his own apostleship in the same category as the original twelve apostles. Jesus’ brother James was considered an apostle by this time, and likely their brother Jude was also.

    So books by Matthew, John, Paul, Peter, James (Jesus’ brother) and Jude were considered scripture. Mark wrote for Peter. Luke wrote for Paul and interviewed many eyewitnesses.

    Increase in the knowledge of God

    The Old Testament predicted an increase in the knowledge of God when Christ comes with the new covenant:

  • “They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9)
  • “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.” (Jeremiah 24:7)
  • “‘This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the Lord. ‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.'” (Jeremiah 31:33-34)
  • “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14)
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