top of page
John Price
Oct 8, 20185 min read

A User’s Guide to the New Testament (pt 1)



“If Christianity is untrue, then no honest man will want to believe it, however helpful it might be; if it is true, every honest man will want to believe it, even if it gives no help at all.”

– C. S. Lewis

 

For many of us, the Bible is old, boring, and confusing. It definitely fits in the category of #tldr and can be very daunting, especially when unnatural things happen within its pages like the sun standing still, water miraculously turning into wine, and some dude coming back to life after being publicly killed by the Roman government.


Yet, the Bible is the most important book in all of history. It will help you understand who you are and whose you are, why you are the way you are and how to start living your best today. In order to make more of a reality in all of our lives, the following article will focus on how to understand the New Testament portion of the Bible. This particular article will zero in on the importance of dates when it comes to our understanding of Scripture, the importance of corroborating eye-witness accounts, contemporary criticism, and the importance of understanding that the New Testament is not a legendary mythology.


Importance of Dates

Dating a book or document from antiquity is pivotal in anyone’s search for truth. Dates either help us trust the historical accuracy of a book or they show us that the book is probably not reporting historical facts. If a book was written relatively close to when the actual events took place, then it gives historians (and modern readers) the confidence they need in order to have faith in the accuracy of the book. Adversely, if a book was written hundreds of years after the events they claim to be reporting, then it rightly concerns historians and readers alike.

The reason why concerns ought to be raised when documents, or books, are removed by long periods of time from the actual events are because of three reasons:

  • Eyewitness Attestation

Eyewitnesses of the actual events are able to confirm and support the accuracy of the book or document. If the book is written hundreds of years after the fact, then those eyewitnesses are not able to confirm or deny the truthfulness of what the book is reporting.

Concerning the New Testament, we see the authors consistently claiming to be eyewitnesses to the events they are reporting:

This shows us that the New Testament authors were attesting to the fact that they were eyewitnesses and their reporting was historically accurate and not a figment of their imaginations.

  • Contemporary Correction

Contemporary critics are very important in dating a book or document because they assure us of the historical accuracy of that document. If a book or document is not historically accurate, then contemporary critics would love nothing more than to discredit or correct any wrong reporting. If hundreds of years had passed, then those contemporary critics would not be able to correct, affirm, or discredit the book or documents claims.

Concerning the New Testament, we do not see any contemporary critics, like religious or political leaders that were opposed to this new religious movement called Christianity, discrediting or correcting any testimony made from eyewitness reports. Instead, we see contemporary critics coming to believe the reports the original authors wrote: Ac. 26:26; Phil. 3:3-7; Acts 15. In addition to this, we also see extra-biblical contemporaries attesting to the events that the New Testament records like: the great Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, the anti-Christian Jewish Talmud, Celsus, and Tacitus. All of these extra-biblical sources paint a complete picture of the life of Jesus and the rise of Christianity. This shows us that the New Testament was supported as historically accurate by those who were alive during the actual events being reported.

  • Legendary or Mythological Elements

Another way to test the historical accuracy of any document is by examining its internal elements. Generally, when a book or document is written hundreds of years after the events they claim to report, then embellishments, like talking crosses extending far above the heavens (Gnostic Gospel of Peter) or Jesus being married and having children (Gnostic Gospel of Philip), are more likely to corrupt the book or document. It takes time for these types of internal elements to develop and when eyewitnesses and contemporary critics are present, then the development of these type of internal elements do not take place because stories tend to be exaggerated over time.

Concerning the New Testament, we do not see any legendary or mythological elements being criticized or discredited. Instead contemporaries, whether favorable or critical, accept every miraculous event that is reported in the New Testament. Even the great C. S. Lewis said that, “as a literary historian, I am perfectly convinced that whatever else the Gospels are they are not legends. I have read a great deal of legend, and I am quite clear that they are not the same sort of things.”1 If I may, C. S. Lewis’ statement also applies to the entirety of the New Testament since the other 23 books were based on the same criterion as the Gospel accounts.

New Testament Dates

So when questioning the Bible’s historical accuracy and trustworthiness, dates are obviously important. If a book or document was written relatively close to when the actual events took place, then we ought to give the benefit of the doubt to the author concerning the historical accuracy of their reporting and their credibility as an eyewitness of the events or at least having access to eyewitness testimony.

Therefore, if the books of the New Testament were written relatively close to the actual events that they are reporting, then their historical accuracy should not raise any concerns.

Below you will find an overview of all the 27 different books that construct our New Testament:




______________________________________The pictures on the right lay out all of the separate New Testament books, who their respective authors are, when the author wrote that book, and the supporting evidence that shows us why a particular book has been dated when it was. They are based upon information from the English Standard Version Study Bible.2

As we can see, no concerns can be raised because each book was written between 10 to 60 years from when the actual events took place. There were eyewitnesses and contemporary critics still alive when the books were being written and circulated, and no legendary or mythological elements could have corrupted the New Testament books because of how close they are to when the actual events they are reporting took place.


This was just an overview, but if you would like a more in-depth look at why a particular New Testament book is dated when it is, check out A User’s Guide to the New Testament: Dates (pt. 2) for more information next week.



Sources

1  C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 158.

2. English Standard Version Bible by Crossway Publishing is by far the best biblical translation available today. The ESV is a word-for-word (formal equivalence) translation that purposes to be as accurate as it can be to the Greek manuscripts we have today. While maintaining the poetic nature and readability that makes the Bible what it is.


Dig Deeper

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller is a helpful source to learn more about the red flags that older documents raise for historians.

Cold-Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace

The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel

The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel

Early Christian Writings – is a great resource that gives you access to many different early Church writers, as well as extra-biblibal sources, including anti-Christian sources

4 Truth website

One Minute Apologist – YouTube page

0 comments

Comments

bottom of page