February 14, 2010- Chapter 2 continued...

Ten people in class! That is truly a blessing guys. Thank you so much for coming and participating. I know we reviewed a lot this week, but I believe there were gaps that needed to be filled also. Let's keep momentum going!

Quick Review (see previous post)

• Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke)
• Interviewing Dr. Craig Blomberg
• Importance of Faith as we fact find
• Authoritative qualifications of the authors
• The Intention, Ability and Character Tests

Chapter 2 continued- The Consistency Test

• Are there inconsistencies in the Gospels that render them questionable or untrustworthy?
• Strobel poses two examples of apparent contradiction: Healing story in Matthew and Luke and the genealogies of Jesus listed in Matthew and Luke.
• The inconsistencies in the healing story are explained by matters of title or semantics.
• The genealogy inconsistency is explained by two possibilities: one is the lineage of Mary and the other of Joseph, or one lineage is Joseph's actual bloodline while the other is a legal lineage.
• What are other apparent contradicts in the New Testament you've heard or even been confronted with in discussion by a skeptic? (to be continued next week)

For more on contradictions confronted check out these websites:

101 Biblical Contradictions Cleared Up

The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry

February 7, 2010- Chapter 2

No class last week due to weather.


Quick Review

There were 4 people new to the current study, so we reviewed the overall premise and first chapter in a nutshell. We love new people and was more than glad to recap for them!

• Relationship of the Gospel's authors to Jesus (some eye witnesses)


• The Synoptic Gospels and Gospel of John


• Christian Apologetics


• Importance of Faith

Chapter 2-Testing the Eye Witness Evidence

• Strobel, still interviewing Dr. Blomberg, uses 8 different test to determine if the eye witness accounts concerning Jesus in the Gospels hold up.


• The eight test are: Intention Test, Ability Test, Character Test, Consistency Test, Bias Test, Cover-up Test, Corroboration Test and the Adverse-Witness Test.
  
  
• The Intention Test- Was it the intent of the Gospel writers to accurately preserve history? Dr. Blomberg points out the disclaimer at the beginning of Luke clearly states the authors intent to be accurate and precise. Coupled with the large percentage of material shared with Matthew and Mark, the intention of the three authors seems obviously clear. The straightforwardness of John combined with his statement in John 20:31 also point to John's intent.
  
  
• The Ability Test- Even if the intent of the authors was to accurately record the historical events surrounding the life of Christ, how accurate could each have been since so much time passed before the Gospels were written? The importance of passing knowledge and information via word of mouth was very important during these times. Also having shared the information in their ministries, the accounts of Jesus would have been repeated many times over.
  
  
• The Character Test- There is no historical evidence that points to any of the authors being considered of disreputable character. The integrity of all four are solid.

Question to consider as we go through this study: Can a person be intelligent and critical thinking and still hold to the belief the four Gospels were written as an actual account of the life of Jesus?

Next Week: Continue in Chapter 2