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100 Reasons to Believe New Testament History
11. Luke's Motives and Methods
Liberal scholars such as John Domonic Crossan often cite examples of how legendary material can, over a relatively short period of time, become accepted as fact, even by the most intelligent among us. For example, Crossan relays the story of how a wounded gunner on board an aircraft during WWII was comforted by another gunner with the words, "We'll take this ride together." Crossan notes that this legend (inspired by the 1944 film "Wing and a Prayer") circulated for years after until Ronald Regan made mention of it in 1980, and added at that time that the gunner was awarded with the Medal of Honour. Careful investigation revealed that no such medal was awarded in WII. This example of how non-fact can become fact in the minds of intelligent people, notes Crossan, is similar to how the New Testament tales of Jesus must have evolved A.
It's important to note that every example of history becoming corrupted or embellished must assume that we have some knowledge of what actually happened. In other words, the very example cited by Crossan as proof that legends can develop quickly, also proves that careful investigation can successfully separate fact from fiction. Notice Luke's motives and methods:
"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mayest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. Luke 1:1-3
Notice the Greek terms used by Luke:
Perfect - Strong's # 199 (Akribos) Accurately, Carefully, Diligently
Understanding - Strong's # 3877 (Parakoloutheo) Follow, Accompany, Know all About, Investigate
According to Luke, his Gospel was compiled through careful investigation, which included the testimonies of eyewitnesses, the very thing, we noted, needful in separating fact from fiction. The case cited by Crossan is not analogous to the Gospel for two reasons.
First, the story cited by Crossan is fairly unremarkable, and hence not particularly worthy of serious investigation. This helps explain why the story was accepted as fact for so long before careful investigation detected it. The story of Jesus, on the other hand, was full of astounding miracles and remarkable events involving well-known people. The story of Jesus would have compelled serious investigation.
Second, even secular sources agree that persecution of Christians in the first three centuries was severe to say the least B. This fact alone should have sufficed to cause investigation into Christianity's claims on the part of some, if not most, of those interested in the new faith.
11. Luke's Motives and Methods - Notes and References
A. This story cited in John Dominic Crossan's "The Birth of Christianity: Discovering What Happened in the Years Immediately Following the Execution of Jesus", Princeton University Press, 1998.
B. "But as the numbers of Christians increased, their open rejection of pagan beliefs and their denial of imperial divinity appeared to many Romans to threaten the stability of empire. The first large-scale persecution of Christians occurred in the city of Rome during the reign of the emperor Nero in A.D. 64, and other purges followed." Time Frame, 400 BC - AD 200, "Empires Ascendant", Time Life Books, 1987, p. 85