What are the origins of the Bible? It is easy for skeptics, who have not fully researched the history, to formulate a case based on half-truths; however, when searching for God, rest assured, God can be found. God's wisdom from first-hand creation goes beyond the genius of men. A quick example is Proverbs 6: 6-8 "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest."
What is striking about this verse? For me this is important because in the 1590's Zacharius Jansen and his father, Hans Jansen began constructing the first microscope capable of magnifying 3 x the actual size. This is, at best, insufficient for determining the sex of an ant. The author of creation knows His design. When inspiring the writers of the Old Testament, God gave them the knowledge that worker ants are females. God's wisdom is millennia beyond man's knowledge. Through science we discover God's creation, laws, and design.
In AD 393 the council of the early church met in Carthage not to decide, but to acknowledge what was already known. They needed to put an end to the heresies and agonistics emerging and trying to change and deny the genuine divinity and humanity of Christ, so the church collected manuscripts and letters than had already been circulating through the church since Christ's resurrection. Matthew's gospel was recorded and circulated among the early church in AD 30-60. Mark's letters began circulating between AD 50-54, Luke's letters began circulation between AD 50-60 with 53 different geographical locations that have all been verified. Both Peter and Paul were put on trial by Caesar Nero and executed. Their letters to Theophilus, the different churches in Rome, Corinth Galatia, Epiphus, Philippi, Colossae, Thessalonica, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, and other missionaries of the early church were in circulation between AD 30-60. John, the youngest of the disciples, when in exile on Patmos completed letters in 97 AD.
The point is that these manuscripts were written on papyrus and circulated long before skeptics claim, often saying it was in the 4th century thereby giving leniency for discrepancy to be written by chauvinistic men, but that argument falls apart with the simple records of women's influence in the new testament, which I’ll elaborate on in future posts.
The fact that Cornelius Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, and Thallus, and other atheists site the influence of Christianity and attempt to delegitimize the darkness during Christ's crucifixion, gives even more validity to the accuracy of truth concealed in the New Testament. Saying the darkness of the crucifixion was an eclipse, though an eclipse would have been impossible during a full moon on Passover, when Christ was crucified, was the best attempt they could make to explain away the reality of God coming to earth in the flesh.
I'll have more on apologetics in future blogs, but i'll also be posting on the facebook page about missions and book updates. Presently i'm working on the second book, inserting apologetics into the storyline so it is ultimately easier to understand and learn while reading the exciting novel.
May God bless you all. Pray for our nation and for Isreal and our family being persecuted.
~wes
