KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Texts
THE FACT OF the matter is this: More than 24,000 copies of New Testament manuscripts have been found...
The Rylands Papyri, which contains the book of John, was written a mere 25 years after the life of Christ. The Chester Beatty Papyri, which contains the entire New Testament, was penned only 50 to 100 years after the original events. I could go on and on listing the numerous findings, each of which were written only years after Jesus walked on the earth. Credible scholars from a variety of theological backgrounds point out that the basics of the Christian message were known, understood and circulated within three to eight years after Christ's crucifixion.
Add to this the fact that all of these discovered texts have matched one another word for word, as was the case with the Old Testament. Yet somehow, despite the astounding evidence of both time gap and quantity, the Gospels remain questioned by doubters, while other far less validated ancient texts go unquestioned. Today belief that the New Testament accounts about Jesus were cobbled together long after the fact has reached urban legend status. But when held under historical scrutiny, it's obvious that such an argument is itself a tall tale. (Alex McFarland)
KneEmail: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" ( Psalm 119:105).