I have recently been looking at some of the claims by
some uniformed skeptics and biased scholars that the New Testament cannon is
result of a late (i.e. 4-5th century) compilation by the medieval church. Their arguments are tiring but are widely
published and as a result need to be refuted from time to time.
One of the best illustrations I can use to demonstrate
that the New Testament writers were who they claim to be is a comparison to the
attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001.
Stay with me and I’ll tell you why this makes sense.
The writers of the New Testament claim to be primarily
all eyewitnesses; eyewitnesses to the ministry of Jesus Christ and others as
well to the early and powerful witness of the Holy Spirit in the early
church.
One example is Luke. This is what the Apostle Luke has to
say at the beginning of the Gospel that bears his name:
"In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God."
Bible scholars (but not the skeptics) date the writings
of Luke to be somewhere between 58 and 65 AD primarily because Luke doesn’t
mention the death of neither the Apostle Paul (around 65 AD) nor the Apostle
Peter (around 68 AD).
Just after the deaths of Paul and Peter, a Roman general
named Titus, who would soon become the Roman Emperor, came with his army and
sieged Jerusalem. The siege of
Jerusalem, beginning in April, A.D. 70 is a well-documented historical
fact. General Titus brought three
legions against the Holy City. In August
of A.D. the same day when the King of Babylon burned the Temple in 586 B.C.,
the Temple in Jerusalem was burned again by Titus and his Roman soldiers.
Along with the Temple, all of Jerusalem was
destroyed, just as prophesied by Jesus
and recorded by Luke (Luke 19:41-45)
In the New Testament the Temple is mentioned by name106
times; Jerusalem is referenced 141 times.
Now, back to the 9/11 illustration, imagine someone is
writing about the United States and 106 times the World Trade Center is
mentioned and New York City is mentioned 141 times. What is the likelihood that the terrorist
attack and the destruction of the World Trace Center would not be mentioned if
the writing is AFTER 9/11/2001? Since
none of the four gospels, nor any of the 27 books of the New Testament that we
refer to as the scripture mention the destruction of the temple nor Jerusalem
in 70 AD the likelihood that they were written, edited or modified after 70 AD
is very remote.
The writings and letters of these Apostles and other
authors were widely circulated while other eyewitnesses were still alive. Any falsehood or exaggeration regarding the
miracles and the works of the Holy Spirit in the establishment of the early
church would have been easily refuted.
Ultimately, the Church recognized the New Testament canon of 27 books
based upon their apostolic authority, internal constancy, conformity to
orthodoxy, and widespread acceptance.
