The Bible, infallible truth or not?
For members of all the multiple sects and branches of Christianity around the globe today and back through history the Bible has and still is being taught and believed to be the infallible truth or Word of God. With the expansion of science and religious critics there is debate to whether or not this is in fact the case. With archaeological evidence showing that multiple books of the bible were written decades after the events occurred, mostly due to the events taking place in illiterate parts of the Middle East by men who had no other information source other than stories passed down by word of mouth. With several discrepancies between the gospels telling the same stories. With these in mind it is hard for any logical and intellectual individual to simply believe the bible is an accurate historical reference, an infallible truth and the unquestionable word of God. Historians must have evidence, and the evidence that they usually look for are contemporary accounts closest to that period of time. Ideally, accounts written on the day or closest to the date under review. Historians also validate these sources by the number of sources available. If the sources are independent of each other the likelihood that the described events are true and accurate is increased. These sources must be consistent with each other. Ultimately, the sources must cooperate with one another without collaborating with one another.
In the Bible, the sources provided are the gospels. However, are the gospels the kind of sources historians would like to have when referring to events in the past? The answer to that question is no. Firstly, they are not contemporary to the events they narrate. Mark was written between 65 – 70AD. Luke and Mathew between 80 – 85AD. John between 90 – 95AD. Given this information it means the earliest record of Jesus’ crucifixion was forty years or so after the event. Paul makes a reference to the crucifixion in...