A Mountain of Evidence

 

August 2023

Dear Friends

When I wrote to you in July I encouraged you to drag out a garden chair (not knowing how much rain we were going to get!) and read an eyewitness account of the man of truth, Jesus.  But what evidence is there that these short biographies (aka Gospels) are indeed eyewitness accounts and not bad history with little connection to real events?

Firstly, we can have confidence that the Gospels available to us are reliable copies and translations of the originals.  Compared to other ancient writings (that are widely accepted as genuine) we have in existence today far more – thousands more – ancient copies of the New Testament books.  This mountain of copies of whole Bible books and fragments are far closer in time to the originals than for any other ancient text.  The oldest surviving New Testament fragment is on display at the John Rylands Library in Manchester and is believed to date from the 2^nd Century.

Secondly, we have copies of many letters, sermons and other writings of early church leaders from the first few centuries AD.  Between them they tell us that

• The Gospels of Matthew and John were written by those two members of the original 12 disciples
• Mark (who was not one of the 12) accompanied Peter on his extensive travels and recorded what Peter was teaching from his personal knowledge of Jesus.
• Luke, the doctor, used eyewitnesses as his sources (See Luke 1:1-4)

So, their claim is that the four Gospels are all, in one way or another, eye-witness accounts of the things that Jesus said and did.

It is these eyewitnesses who claimed that Jesus had no deceit in him at all, and who heard Jesus say that those who hold to his teaching “will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

I still have some free Gospels left so I’ll repeat my offer – just send me a text or email and I’ll be delighted to deliver one to you.  I’m sure that summer is not over yet and that there will be some sunny days for you to sit and read and allow the authentic Jesus to appear before your mind’s eye.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows