Dear Ike
What I have been pointing out is that they were not even from the same country and dialect was common to the areas anyway. Think of old England before TV and radio, accents effect language a great deal.
A world away from Luke's Greek, even if in Aramaic (which is not known, Hebrew or Aramaic) .
"The earliest quotation of Matthew is found in Ignatius who died around 115 A.D. Therefore, Matthew was in circulation well before Ignatius
Irenaeus was around 180 years AD, so he could only add his beliefs about the Gospels.
No, the Jews are experts at accurate story keeping, even today many Jews still practice it. It is a faithful duty to God and also a Testament to the accuracy of the Gospels as many of the earliest Christians were converted Jews. As Luke pointed out, many people wrote of Jesus and His life and that He too felt it was important that accurate records are kept.
The Dead Sea Scroll make reference to the 'Great Teacher'.
Not all people who wrote about Him were Christians ands some of the early records were written whilst some of the disciples were still alive.
Cornelius Tacitus (55-120 AD), "the greatest historian" of ancient Rome: Gaius Suetonius Tranquillas, chief secretary of Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD): Flavius Josephus (37-97 AD), court historian for Emperor Vespasian: Julius Africanus, writing around 221 AD, found a reference in the writings of Thallus, who wrote a history of the Eastern Mediterranean around 52 AD, which dealt with the darkness that covered the land during Jesus's crucifixion: Pliny the Younger, Roman governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor around 112 AD: Emperor Trajan, in reply to Pliny: Emporer Hadrian (117-138 AD), in a letter to Minucius Fundanus, the Asian proconsul: The Jewish Talmud, compiled between 70 and 200 AD: Lucian, a second century Greek satirist: Mara Bar-Serapion, of Syria, writing between 70 and 200 AD from prison to motivate his son to emulate wise teachers of the past:
GNOSTICS SOURCES The Gospel of Truth, probably by Valentius, around 135-160 AD: The Aprocryphon of John, probably by Saturninus, around 120-130 AD: The Gospel of Thomas, probably from 140-200 AD: The Treatise On Resurrection, by uncertain author of the late second century, to Rheginos:
LOST WORKS QUOTED IN OTHER SOURCES Acts of Pontius Pilate, reports sent from Pilate to Tiberius, referred to by Justin Martyr (150 AD): Phlegon, born about 80 AD, as reported by Origen (185-254 AD), mentioned that Jesus made certain predictions which had been fulfilled.
ANCIENT CHRISTIAN SOURCES (extra-biblical) Clement, elder of Rome, letter to the Corinthian church (95 AD): Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, letter to the Trallians (110-115 AD): Ignatius, letter to the Smyrneans (110-115 AD): Ignatius, letter to the Magnesians (110-115 AD): Quadratus, to Emperor Hadrian about 125 AD: (Pseudo-)Barnabas, written 130-138 AD: Justin Martyr, to Emperor Antoninus Pius about 150 AD: Justin Martyr, in Dialogue with Trypho, around 150 AD:
Also if you have not read it Psalm 22 and the book of Isaiah (this was before Christ's coming)
Rib Eye dinner last night with picsConsisted of marinated, grilled rib eye with sides. Rib eye steak was marinated in an Italian Vinagrette then grilled on high for 2 minutes to rare. Veggies were chopped asparagus with sliced...
I am glad that you find the subject interesting and challenging. No one could accuse Christianity of being boring and irrelevant :o) For or against the evidence, He certainly stokes a few fires.
Of course, Christians know the Gospels to be true by evidence of The Holy Spirit of God amongst them. Unless we accept Jesus into our lives we never have this experience. I heard an aged main stream minister preach at an evangelical meeting once who said that he didn't realise The Holy Spirit was real until he was baptised. Yet he had preached all his life, but had not received himself. He had never really known the full extent of Jesus' love until the constraints of his church and his sin had been stripped away from him. Peace.........
In Christ's love Carol T
