Whose testimony can we trust? A widely held idea is that Christian beliefs arose over a long period of time through a mixture of gullibility and conspiracy. Early Christian records are held to be legend, myth or fabrication.
Who has the true message of Jesus? Probably the most popular idea in relation to the Bible is that books have been missed out or put in due to political pressure and various media have been full of talk about ‘other gospels’.
The four gospels and the other gospels compared. A popular idea is that the Bible has been corrupted, either by deliberate falsification or simply lost through passage of time. Such ideas are promoted in the British media.
We are being bombarded with false information about the Bible. It’s alleged that it has been corrupted by power-hungry Christians. They are charged with having omitted books they did not like, and changing the original message of Jesus
Next Conference
Northern IrelandDATE TO BE CONFIRMED
Belfast Bible College
Dr Simon Gathercole is Editor of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament. Having studied Classics and Theology at Cambridge University.
| Evidence of History. |
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Probably the most popular idea in relation to the Bible is that books have been missed out or put in due to political pressure and various media have been full of talk about ‘other gospels’. Some of the most famous ‘other gospels’ are the gospels of Thomas, Judas and Mary. Two facts about the very earliest Christians and their beliefs are:
On our DVDs Simon Gathercole shows how the ‘other gospels’ are less reliable than the canonical gospels both in their picture of history and in their picture of Jesus’ message. For real pictures of Jesus, based on eyewitness testimony, you need to read the New Testament. |
Who has the true message of Jesus?
It is found that while Matthew, Mark, Luke and John agree with these two Christian beliefs, the apocryphal gospels generally do not. They do not fit the pattern of earliest Christian belief precisely because they were written later.