The Accuracy of the Four Gospels

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Jul 17, 2009
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#21
They were written within the lifetime of the apostles and well they had pretty good memories back then so what they wrote down is pretty accurate.

Oral Tradition my friend. Oral Tradition. The scribes back in the day had to commit entire scrolls of scripture to memory and also the teachings of their Rabbis. That's was their M.O. Also, most people were illiterate so people passed info along Orally and it was a communal preservation. In other words, ten people witness an accident (for instance) and those ten people recount what they've seen from their perspectives (maybe one man was standing where he could see things the others did not and then as those in the community listened they would commit what they could to memory and retell the story in the company of the community wherein if anyone strayed from what was in the original reports, the community member that noticed the error would correct them.

Back in the day anything written down was pretty much considered suspicious because it was seen not unlike we view rumors in our culture because we have the opposite mind. We view what is written as being more valid than whatever gets pumped out the rumor mill.

Consider giving false testimony and the consequences (legally) of doing such a thing and also any social repercussions that come with lying or adding something that didn't have a valid source (like a person that actually witnessed the event being retold). If we had those standards today our journalists would be stoned. lol

Yoinks

Oh, and added to edit: There was talk at one time to change the four gospels into one gospel in order to erase the variances but they left well enough alone and knew that despite the "conflicting" reports that might sway a scientific eye that most of these stories were being told through a theological lens and the theology is solid.
 
Sep 27, 2009
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#22
No, the people in biblical times were most certainly NOT illiterate.

Deu 6 is the earliest recorded example of ANY society requiring literacy of man, woman, and child.

I leave it for others to decide how that affects the rest of your theory.
 
Jul 6, 2009
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#23
Moreover, the fact that the Gospels don't all line up proves that they were not simply concocted by a small group in an elaborate scheme to deceive. Each writer, for example, wrote the account of the discovery of the Resurrection in the manner which they either remembered it or their witnesses remembered it; it's a well known fact that two or more people can witness the same event and describe it in different ways.
 
Jul 17, 2009
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#24
No, the people in biblical times were most certainly NOT illiterate.

Deu 6 is the earliest recorded example of ANY society requiring literacy of man, woman, and child.

I leave it for others to decide how that affects the rest of your theory.

We're talking about the gospels which were probably written and then not widely read until the Gentile converts far outnumbered the Jews. I am sure the literacy rate of certain groups in certain regions were better depending upon the class of the convert but when the official canonization wasn't until the third century and the fact that most people learned scripture and the gospels via The Church (liturgy) you have to understand that it was community and liturgical practices that often preserved many of the teachings that eventually wound up being more accessible to common people.

I'm not talking about ancient Jews of course. But even there you know as well as I do (I think) the weight with which they placed on Oral Tradition and the manner in which they preserved their teachings.

Where in the Torah do we learn about Satan arguing over the body of Moses?

God bless
 
Feb 27, 2007
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#25
The word of God is timeless. It speaks to every generation & we can choose to listen or we can choose to reject it in stating that we are way more sophisticated now than humans before us and we have out grown God and now we are on to new things. Perhaps we could call these new things new age thinking. If its new its not true. I think we need to focus on the word of God & listening to the Holy Spirit in discernment of that word, but not if the "Spirit" is changing Gods word cause God is the same today as he was yesterday & we need to question if its actually the Spirit speaking to us in these things or the "flesh" not wanting to hear Gods word & accept it & thus modify our walk or our thinking about God.
 
Jan 31, 2009
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#26
Well, I do think that the Gospels were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but I also believe as times change, the Holy Spirit guides us to make changes, too. I don't think all of what is written in the Gospel was designed to carry on for so long, especially with the changes in social customes, and laws. I personally believe that women are called to God to speak and hold positions of authority in the church. Why would satan call a woman to preach? It doesn't make sense for him to want a woman to study the word of God and lead Christians in love and unity does it? The bible is an EXCELLENT tool to start your faith, to find out who Jesus is and to see what his great commandments are to us. My priest once told me, anything that doesn't go directly against the Nicene or the Apostles Creed is open to interpretation and change with the guidance and discernment of the Holy Spirit. Because the Bible is so old, so much context is missing when we read it, things we don'tunderstand because they aren't norms of our society. That's why God gave us the Holy Spirit, so we could follow what He was saying to us, and so we can listen to Him every day. God and Jesus aren't captured in the Bible, it's not some boundary that keeps all the rules and laws. God can change anything he wants, and he gave us a very powerful tool (the Holy Spirit) to hear what he wants changed.

There were two great commandments, Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor like you would yourself. If you follow those rules, I dont' think you can disobey Jesus.
sorry but the Holy Spirit is God also and will never go against God or His Word. Here is what Jesus said of the Holy Spirit know knoe Jesus our High Priest that all priest are to be under/ subject to. and if God / Jesus goes against the WORD. THEN WE HAVE JUST CLAIMED THAT GOD IS A LIAR.

Joh 14:26But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your REMEMBRANCE, whatsoever I have said unto you.
HE teaches us what Jesus taught us never against what Jesus has taught us
 
H

Harley_Angel

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#27
If the Holy Spirit IS God, which I believe it is, then it's not going against God for it to guide us through changes. God can't contradict Himself. I fully believe that we are guided through change by the Holy Spirit. It even says in your verse, He shall teach you ALL things, and bring ALL things to your remembrance. We can each interpret the same verse in very different ways. I'm not saying you are wrong, I'm saying I believe differently. I don't think God's teachings and wants for us are limited to what's in the Bible. He's a living God, and there is no reason why He wouldn't guide change in our lives, in our culture, and in our Churches. He's with us NOW, not just stuck way back then shouting to us from across the barrier of thousands of years.
 
Feb 27, 2007
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#28
If the Holy Spirit IS God, which I believe it is, then it's not going against God for it to guide us through changes. God can't contradict Himself. I fully believe that we are guided through change by the Holy Spirit. It even says in your verse, He shall teach you ALL things, and bring ALL things to your remembrance. We can each interpret the same verse in very different ways. I'm not saying you are wrong, I'm saying I believe differently. I don't think God's teachings and wants for us are limited to what's in the Bible. He's a living God, and there is no reason why He wouldn't guide change in our lives, in our culture, and in our Churches. He's with us NOW, not just stuck way back then shouting to us from across the barrier of thousands of years.

If you ground yourself in the word of God Harley Angel, you will be a truly powerful woman of God & influence many and lead them to Christ. We all need to be grounded in the word of God to know his will. Pray daily for discernment because honestly I think that priest planted a bit of a seed of deception, probably without meaning to... by saying that the word of God is no longer relevant to todays social situation. He is absolutely wrong.
 
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