The Bible…Why Trust It?
KEITH CAMPBELL, PH.D.
DKEITHCAMBPELL@YAHOO.COM
Review/Preview
Review
Oct. 26: Four Sources of Authority
Preview
Scripture
Nov. 2: “The Bible…Where did it Come From”
Today: “The Bible…Why Trust It?”
Nov. 30: “The Bible…How to Read It?”
Tradition
Reason
Experience
For full schedule of Dinner Lectures and for PPT’s visit
http://shanghaifellowship.org/resources/sunday-lectures/
Introduction
 For many: there difficult-to-believe parts of the Bible
 No time to discuss every issues
 Our focus: 2 most important NT claims about Jesus:
 Deity (God of the OT)
 (Mostly) Resurrection
Introduction:
Tonight’s Focus
 Why these two claims? Because if Jesus is God and if he
resurrected from 3-days dead, then…



Other biblical miracles believable, possible, and (perhaps) expected
His trust in, authoritative usage of, and claimed fulfillment of the OT
Scriptures is significant (Matt 5:17; Luke 24:44)
If NT writers are trustworthy about Jesus, then more likely
trustworthy about other things
 We don’t have time to discuss:


Bible’s complete infallibility and trustworthiness of (see resources at
PPT’s end)
Potential Bible contradictions
 Today: a minimalist approach
Introduction:
My Argument
 My (simple) argument: I trust what the NT writers
said about Jesus’ deity (as OT God) resurrection.
This lends (although not complete) validity to other
biblical issues.
 I’m not arguing/suggesting:
 Belief in a resurrected Jesus comes easy for all people
 You’re stupid if you disagree
Introduction:
Discussion Plan
 Who claimed Jesus was God and rose from dead?
 When claims made?
 Claims hearsay/rumor eyewitness testimony?
 Why trust claims?
 Common Rebuttals/Counterarguments
 Questions/Discussion
* A word about this PPT: I Left lengthy for use as a later reference
Who Claimed that Jesus was God
and that He Rose from the Dead?
Who Claimed that Jesus was God and that he
Rose from the Dead?
 Matthew (Matthew 1:23…28:20)
 Mark (Mark 2:5-11; 16:1–8)
 Luke (Luke 5:20-24; 24:1–53; Acts 3:15: “Author of life”)

Acts 13:31: Seen by many people over “many days”
 John (John 10:30; 20:1–31)
 Paul (Philippians 2:5–6; 1 Corinthians 15:3–6)

1 Cor.: Records that over 500 people claimed the same thing
 Peter (1 Peter 1:3; 3:21)
 More generally. All these writers call Jesus “Lord” (a
term reserved for their OT God) and worship him (an act
only reserved for their OT God).
 And later, 2nd Century, writers (Early Church Fathers)
A Quick Note about NT Authorship
 Debate in NT studies whether Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
wrote the Gospels (but few argue that Paul didn’t write at least 6
letters)

Example: Bart Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian
Writings (2011).
 I argue that they did

See Andreas J. Köstenberger, The Cradle, The Cross, and The Crown (2009), and D.
A. Carson and Douglas J. Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament (2005).
 But, let’s assume I’m wrong. I suggest minimally that
 Historically unlikely: every document written by someone else.
 Historically unlikely: most content, especially big claims like resurrections, did
not derive from the original apostles (eyewitnesses).
 Richard Bauckham (Senior Scholar, Cambridge) in Jesus and the Eyewitnesses:
Mark, Luke, and John represent multiple eyewitness testimonies though
someone else wrote them.

Strengthens my case: implies more eyewitnesses than even I suggest.
Who Claimed that Jesus Rose from the Dead?
An Example:
 Paul (mid A.D. 50’s): “3For what I received I passed
on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for
our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was
buried, that he was raised on the third day according
to the Scriptures…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
 All historical claims deserve investigation.
 The remainder of this presentation focuses on these claims.
When were These
Claims Made?
When did they write these claims?
 Paul (1 Corinthians: 55–56 A.D.)
 Mark (late 50’s–60’s A.D.)
 Matthew and Luke (prior to 70 A.D.)
 Peter (prior to 64–65 A.D.)
 John (late 80’s/early 90’s A.D.)
 Jesus died about 33 A.D.
 My point: Wrote in same generation of JC’s death.
* Arguments for these dates: Köstenberger, The Cradle, The Cross, and The Crown (2009), Carson
and Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament (2005). Contrast with Ehrman, The New
Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings (2011).
Were These Claims
Hearsay/Rumor?
These Writers as
Eyewitness Testimonies
 Eyewitness testimonies (especially about JC’s
resurrection): very important for NT writers

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Luke 1:1–3
Acts 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39; 13:31
1 Cor 15:3–8
2 Peter 1:16–18
1 John 1:1
These Writers as
Eyewitness Testimonies
 Matthew: One of Jesus’ original Apostles
 John: One of Jesus’ original Apostles
 Also wrote 1–3 John and Revelation
 Peter: One of Jesus’ original Apostles
 Wrote 1st and 2nd Peter
 Paul: Professed to see the resurrected Jesus (1 Cor
15:8)

Wrote as many as 13 letters in the NT
These Writers as
Eyewitness Testimonies
 Possibly not eyewitnesses but lived among them
(but, note: they were eyewitnesses to other
important events):

Mark (close companion of the Apostle Peter)


Wrote in close connection with Peter (Papias, writing before A.D.
130). Perhaps present with Jesus in Gethsemane (Mark 14:51–52).
Luke: Explicitly interested in eyewitness testimonies (Luke
1:1–3; Acts 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39; 13:31).

Close companion of Paul—an eyewitness (Col 4:14).
These Writers as
Eyewitness Testimonies
 500 Eyewitnesses (going further with 1 Cor 15)
“3For what I received I passed on to you as of first
importance: that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised
on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of
the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still
living, though some have fallen asleep [died]. 7Then he
appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last
of all he appeared to me also…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
These Writers as
Eyewitness Testimonies
 500 eyewitnesses (1 Cor 15:3–8):

Paul, in the mid-50’s A.D. claimed to be an eyewitness to Jesus’
resurrection and lists over 500 similar eyewitnesses, some by name:
James (Jesus’ half brother and author of James), Peter, and the
Twelve (1 Corinthians 15:3–6)

Most of these people and groups still alive when Paul wrote and
could be consulted for corroboration (1 Cor 15:6)

Paul’s claim was written in a public document (written for broad
circulation: 1 Cor 1:2), so it was open to public criticism and scrutiny

It is historically less likely that Paul would make such a public
grandiose claim if it were not true
These Writers as
Eyewitness Testimonies
 The Point: A lot of people (at least hundreds) living
at the same time as Jesus claimed, often independent
of others, to have seen Jesus alive after being dead
for three days.
Why Trust Them?
MY TRUST DEPENDS ON THE
CUMULATIVE WEIGHT
OF THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE
Why trust what they wrote about Jesus?
 Most early Christians were terribly persecuted (which
began right after Jesus’ death [Acts 8:1]) and many of
them horribly died for claiming Jesus’ resurrection:



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John: Doomed to an island as a political prisoner (Revelation 1:9)
Paul: Beheaded under Nero (Polycarp [AD 69–159])
Peter: Crucified upside down under Nero (1 Clement 5:1–6:2 [A.D.
95])
James (Jesus’ half brother): Beheaded (Acts 12:2)
It was simply dangerous to write and speak about Jesus’ resurrection
 All they had to do? Deny what they said they saw
Why trust what they wrote about Jesus?
 No motives for lying: No wealth, fame, etc. Only
(extreme) hardship and ridicule.
 No indication of lunacy


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Wrote independently coherent literary works.
The odds of many, independent, lunatics quite low.
Don’t exhibit modern psychological profile of mentally deranged
people:

Egotism, inflexibility, dullness, inability to understand and love others
as they really are, inability to creatively relate to others, unbalanced,
paranoia or schizophrenia, rash, and impulsive. There are no records
of these behaviors found in these followers of Jesus
 Close historical proximity to Jesus: JC just executed!
Why trust what they wrote about Jesus?
 Women: first resurrection-eyewitnesses (Matthew 28:1)
 Make themselves and early Christian leaders look
bad
 Make all claims initially in Jerusalem, the very town
where they said Jesus rose from the dead.

If you’re going to lie about something as significant as a
resurrection, it is advisable to go elsewhere first!
Why trust what they wrote about Jesus?
 They were eyewitnesses
 Bauckham: “The appropriate historical method is that of
judging the general reliability and character of a testimonial
source and, if it is judged trustworthy, trusting it” (Journal for
the Study of the Historical Jesus 6 [2008])
 They unlikely forgot:
 Human memory about major, unique (and especially horrific)
life-events is remarkably accurate (see Bauckham, Jesus and
the Eyewitnesses).
 Example: My Haiti experience with a dying thief
 Example: 9/11.
Why trust what they wrote about Jesus?
 Immediately began worshipping on Sunday (the day
of Jesus’ claimed resurrection); a huge cultural shift
for a Jew.

Major cultural shifts rarely happen quickly (especially in the
ancient world) without a major event causing it
 Monotheistic Jews immediately calling Jesus God
and worshipping him (ex. Philippians 2:5–6).

What could cause a millennia old tradition to literally change
overnight?
Why trust what they wrote about Jesus?
 The Point: The cumulative weight of all these facts
incline me simply to trust what they say about Jesus
Rebuttals/Counterarguments
Rebuttals/Counterarguments:
Jesus lied, was crazy, or faked the resurrection
1. Jesus lied about being God.
-
If so, he died tortuously for what he knew to be a lie.
2. Jesus was crazy/misguided
- No evidence of lunacy:
Modern psychological profile of a mentally deranged person: Egotism,
inflexibility, dullness, inability to understand and love others as they really
are, inability to creatively relate to others, unbalanced, paranoia or
schizophrenia, rash, and impulsive. There are no records of these
behaviors found in Jesus
3. Jesus fooled them by faking his own resurrection
- Unlikely: a crucified man would have the strength to fake a resurrection
convincingly enough for others to follow him as God to the point of death.
Rebuttals/Counterarguments
 Miracles: unscientific and do not occur.


A presupposition (based on David Hume) that doesn’t address
the historical evidence
Ignores a plethora of evidence today (see Keener [Ph.D. Duke
University], Miracles [2011])
 People during Jesus’ time did not have our scientific knowledge about the
world and were easily fooled or mistaken about Jesus’ resurrection.



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Not so ignorant as to misunderstood death! They lived much closer to death than we do
Less likely that he fooled that many people!
Universal view of the time: A bodily resurrection of an individual was impossible (N. T. Wright,
Simply Christian, 113, and Wright, Jesus and the Resurrection)
They were skeptical (John 20:24–29)
 They simply forgot what happened.

Recall earlier discussion on human memory.
Rebuttals/Counterarguments
 They hallucinated
 Odds of multiple and independent attestations of same hallucinations unlikely.
 Assumes the idea that an individual bodily resurrection was an option within
their worldview. It wasn’t (N. T. Wright, Simply Christian, 113, and Wright, Jesus
and the Resurrection).

Example: hundreds hallucinating about internet in 1950’s
 The Disciples stole the body
 Why would they, independently of the others, brutally die for a known lie.
 Again, assumes an individual bodily resurrection was expected and convincing
for certain ends.
 Trusting eyewitness testimony = historical investigation
 Almost all historical investigation relies on testimony
 Those in the discipline of jurisprudence assume: eyewitness testimony can lead
to accurate understanding history
Argument Summary
Summary

My argument rests on the cumulative weight of the evidence.

The Gospel writers and others claimed that Jesus is God and that he rose from the dead.

These claims make: eyewitness testimonies about Jesus’ life, deeds, words, and ministry.

They can be trusted.

Jesus did not fool them.
 He was either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.

Their claims are trustworthy: Jesus is God, and he rose from the dead.

These claims are two of the most important claims in the Bible. If they are true, then
trusting in many (but admittedly not all) other biblical records is more reasonable.
For Further Research
(Note Accompanying Bibliographies of Each Work)
Advanced:
 N. T. Wright (D. Div., Oxford University), The Resurrection of the Son of
God
 Craig Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of the Gospels
Novice:
 Tim Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism
Internet:
 www.desiringgod.org/resources-library/seminars/why-we-believe-thebible-part-1
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“The Bible…How to Read It”
November 30 (in two weeks!)