Remember, we are talking about a group of men who assume Jesus is not deity. Regarding the gospel of John, for instance, the core issue with many of these modern scholars is, the straightforward and repeated claims about who Jesus is – and what one’s response to Him should be. It is not a matter of the synoptic problem, a question of dating, evidence or literary structure – not in many cases. In order to do all this, they must reject the integrity of the New Testament. McDowell uses the term “Anti-supernaturalism” meaning “.disbelief either in God’s existence or His intervention in the natural order of the universe.” So, these men begin with their long ingrained intellectual assumptions those assumptions determine and shape their methods - they invent their own Jesus, and He becomes an advocate of their worldview. However, in reality, the conclusions are the result of a subjective world view.” (p.#3). Many, McDowell observes, “.are led astray because of conclusions that are allegedly based upon objective historical or literary investigation and method. Josh McDowell deals with this in a chapter titled: “The Presupposition of Anti-supernaturalism,”.
These men (Jesus Seminar operatives and their fans) began with certain assumptions. However, it has a negative side: an a priori assumption made without question on the basis that no analysis or study is necessary, can be mental laziness when the reality is not so certain. It is assumed the sun will come up tomorrow. from Latin, an assumption that is true without further proof or need to prove it. This is the backdrop of questioning the New Testament.Ī priori assumption (ah pree ory) n. This is an example of why the whole subject of biblical criticism and the integrity of the New Testament requires apologetic attention (Phil. These men have "voted out" the book of John. More recently and in our time there is The Jesus Seminar a group of purported New Testament scholars who met first in 1985, and have worked together periodically since then using the tools and methods of modernism to call into question almost everything the New Testament says about the Lord, and continue the unjustified attack on the New Testament and the gospels in particular, with direct negative attention to the book of John. Regarding the gospel of John, for example, Horne said: “Its authenticity has been questioned by Erasmus, Calvin, Beza, Grotius, Le Clerc, Wetstein, Semler, Schulze, Morus, Haenlein, Paulus, Schmidt, and various other writers who are mentioned by Wolfius, and by Koecher.”. Part of this “Enlightenment” was to question the integrity of the Bible, and in particular to raise questions about the New Testament writings, the account of Jesus & the epistles. During this period various attitudes regarding the Bible and religion developed which we would today identify with modernism and humanism. The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries marked by a celebration of the powers of human reason, a keen interest in science, the promotion of permissive religious tolerance and an attitude of dogmatic unbelief in the supernatural. What made this necessary? In what historical context did the objections arise? And, what can the reader take away from all this in terms of confidence and valuable action for today? First, where much of this debate came from… The editors believe these men have not only offered sound propositional evidence, but they have also destroyed arguments “and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God,” with the common aim to “take every thought captive to obey Christ,” (2 Cor.
Integrity in the bible series#
Near the end of the year we are planning to publish these twelve articles in book form (Kindle, Nook and old fashioned print and ink).Įxpository Files writers who contributed to this series have well stated the case for the integrity of the New Testament.
We wish this series to help everyone understand the process of the Bible's history as a document and why we can have confidence in its message. This is especially so given the climate of society today and its attitudes toward the Bible. Can the New Testament be trusted? Has it been corrupted through time? Can we know what God has said? It should be obvious how important this topic is. The 2013 series is called "The Integrity of the New Testament" and deals with textual criticism. [From The Editors: This article is the final of a series we are running this year. The Integrity of the New Testament - Special 2013 Series