Last week we looked at the importance of the four Gospels giving several accounts of the same historical events, and the fact that multiple narratives like these give credibility to the authors as eyewitnesses, or as reporting eyewitness accounts. This week we will look at the specific ways in which we see various accounts given both in Scripture and outside sources. These witness documents also include non-Christian and hostile accounts that give surprising credence to the New Testament.

Here is this week’s class presentation on this topic:

Overview Notes from the Presentation

The Importance of Eyewitness Accounts

In a court of law, the number one category of best evidence comes from eyewitness accounts – the more eyewitnesses the more reliable the case becomes.
In Scripture the importance of multiple eyewitnesses is significant, just like it is in our court of law today.
We can have confidence that the Word of God and the ministry and life of Jesus are found not in a singular report but in numerous accounts both from Biblical and non-Biblical sources.

Old Testament:

A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.

Deuteronomy 19:15

New Testament:

But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.

Matthew 18:16

Testimony in the Scriptures

John the Baptist’s testimony:

(Jesus speaking) “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true. You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

John 5:31-35

Witness of Works:

But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.

John 5:36

Witness of the Father:

And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.

John 5:37-38

Witness of the Scripture:

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

John 5:39-47 (NASB)

Witness of the Holy Spirit:

Jesus says, in his prayer to the Father:

For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

John 17:8 (NIV)

Jesus told his disciples…

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8 (NIV)

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

John 14:16-17 (NASB)

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

John 16:13-15 (NASB)

Luke’s Testimony:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.

Luke 1:1-4 (NASB)

Note: Luke continues this testimony in the books of Acts.

The Apostle Peter’s testimony:

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am very well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

2 Peter 1:16-18 (NIV)

(Also see Acts chapters 2 and 3 for Peter’s earliest testimony)

The Apostle John’s testimony:

This is the disciple who testifies (John) to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his (Jesus) testimony is true.

John 21:24 (NIV)

I am writing these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

1 John 5:13 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul’s Testimony:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (NASB)

Paul writes about all of the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection in his letter to the Corinthians.
Notice that he is writing about something that he had already “delivered” (previously reported) and that what he had previously reported was something that he received (was already known).
The dating of 1 Corinthians is between 52-55 AD, only 20 years after the crucifixion.
If Paul writes about something already known and passed on amongst followers of Jesus then it is safe to say that this testimony can be taken back to the actual events and that people fully believed in Jesus ministry, death and resurrection from the beginning.
It would be impossible with over 500 eyewitnesses to imagine or create a story in that short of a time period, therefore making it impossible to be a result of latter myth or legend.

Peter confirms that all of the people they were speaking to were eyewitnesses themselves:

…Jesus of Nazareth, a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know…

Acts 2:22 (NIV)

Testimony outside the Scripture

Are there any additional documents, outside the Bible, that support a case for the New Testament?

Josephus, Jewish Historian (AD 37-101): The Antiquities
Thallus (AD 52): Third book of Histories
Tacitus, Roman historian (AD 56-120): Annals 15.44
Mara Bar-Serapion (AD 70)
Suetonius (AD 69-140)
Pliny the Younger, Governor of Bithynia, historian (AD 61-113): Letters 10.96
Phlegon (AD 80-140)
Lucian of Samosata (AD 115-200)
Celsus (AD 175)
The Jewish Talmud

Other notable writings

The Earthquake:

Paul Maier in his 1968 book, Pontius Pilate, said according to Tertullian (Early Church Father) and Phlegon (a Greek author) a phenomenon took place and was visible in Rome, Athens, and other Mediterranean cities. This was a great darkness that occurred in the 4^th year of the 202^nd Olympiad (i.e., 33 A.D.):

“ There was ‘the greatest eclipse of the sun’ and that ‘it became night in the sixth hour of the day (i.e. noon) so that stars even appeared in the heavens. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea.’”

In recent times MSNBC’s news website reported on earthquake records uncovered in the Dead Sea area that show a very large earthquake recorded in the strata in the timeframe of the crucifixion.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Matthew 27:50-54

The darkness over the land:

Thallus and Julius Africanus:

Africanus, who wrote in about A.D. 221, made reference to the lost works of Thallus…

“Thallus, in the third book of his histories, explained away the darkness as an eclipse of the sun—unreasonably, as it seems to me.”

At the crucifixion the Gospel writers (both Mark and Luke) tell us:

When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.

Mark 15:33 (NASB)

If we did not have the New Testament, we could still know the following about Jesus from sources outside of the Bible:

He was a Jewish teacher
He performed healings and exorcisms
Some people believed He was the Messiah
He was rejected by the Jewish leaders
He was crucified under Pontius Pilate
Despite what was considered to be a shameful death, his followers believed that he was still alive and this quickly spread beyond Palestine to multitudes of believers being in Rome by A.D. 64
All kinds of people from the cities and countryside—men and women, slave and free—worshipped him as God.

In addition, there are volumes of writings (over a million archived) by the early Church leaders following the first century Apostles like…

Clement of Rome
Polycarp
Justin
Irenaeus
Clement of Alexandria
Origen
Tertullian
Hippolytus
Eusebius
Ignatius

…and many others

Christianity Is the World’s Most Testable Religion!

Reflection: Memorization Practice

To practice your memorization skills, and to improve your Biblical knowledge, practice memorizing the following things…

Review the Ministry Statement’s four focus points for your Christian Walk (from the “Class Introduction” post). Reflect on how you think you are doing in each area, or how you might make improvements.
Recite, and practice memorizing in order to tell the story, the 15 points for the Bible’s Big Picture from last week’s post.
Recite, and practice memorizing the 27 books of the New Testament, in order by their categories, from last week’s post.

Bible Study

(Review answers will be posted during the week so you can have a “leader’s guide” for your own studies)

Always remember to pray before you study and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and lead you into the truth found in God’s Word – pray for protection from the evil one who will try to discourage, distract and deceive us when we commit to growing closer to the LORD.

NOTE: Questions are taken directly from the chapters, and answers should be found and cited from the Scripture text in order to be Biblically accurate (unless asked to summarize in your own words). Study Bibles, commentaries and your own thoughts can be used for “Discussion” or “Going Deeper” questions.

Read Acts chapter 8 then, to the best of your ability, answer the following questions:

Philip and Peter in Samaria; Philip and the Ethiopian

1. Read Chapter 8:1-24 with your table group

In this section of the chapter the early Church began to experience persecution:

a. What was Saul’s role in this early persecution and what happened to the believers (8:1-4)?

b. Where did Philip go first; what was he doing and how did the crowds respond (8:5-12)?

c. Who was Simon, and what happened between him and the Apostle Peter (8:9-24)?

d. Going Deeper: Where was Samaria, and what was the history of the Samaritan people?

2. Read Chapter 8:25-40 with your table group

In the second half of the chapter Philip meets an Ethiopian eunuch:

a. Who was this Ethiopian eunuch, and how did Philip end up meeting him?

b. What was the specific Old Testament Scripture that the Ethiopian was reading, and how did Philip help him understand the passage?

c. What request did the Ethiopian make after Philip explained everything to him; and what happened to both of them after this event?

d. Discuss: Write down and share two or three things that you think are important to remember about chapter eight.

Join us next week as we continue our “Case for the New Testament” and a study in Acts!

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You will not find this material in the public school curriculum even though it is based on solid evidence and grounded in research. It is ironic that following the evidence to where it leads stops at the door of our public schools as they will not let a “Divine footprint” in! Join us as we examine evidence for Christianity and learn how to become a thoughtful defender and ambassador of your faith.

Click into the resource page of this website to view many of the top Christian thinkers and apologists along with some of their work; connecting to these types of resources is essential in your Christian growth.

Please let me know what you think: Give feedback, ask questions or send concerns in the comment section of the blog.

Teri Dugan

TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com

1 Peter 3:15