The historical claims of the New Testament--that Jesus performed
miracles, fulfilled prophecy, died and rose again, and ascended into
heaven--come to us as received tradition, and we receive them in faith,
trusting that the New Testament is indeed an inspired collection of
writings, that it indeed tells us the truth. Increasingly, the
reliability of not just the New Testament but really
any
document of history is called into question. If everyone writes from a
point of view and with an agenda, can we reasonably expect any
historical account to be objective--to tell us the truth? In this
newly revised edition of
Is the New Testament Reliable? Paul
Barnett defends the task of the historian and the concept of history. He
then addresses questions about the New Testament of importance to
people of faith and skeptics alike:
- How close in time are the New Testament documents to the life of Jesus?
- Why should we believe the writings of "biased" early Christians?
- Were any of the writers of the New Testament books eyewitnesses to the events it records?
- How can we know that what was originally written has not been altered through the centuries?
It is no small thing to trust ancient claims, but Barnett shows that
we can take confidence in the New Testament, for it tells us the truth.
Paul Barnett, PhD
Paperback, 197 pages
Level: Layman