100 Reasons to Believe New Testament History
75. A Web of Witnesses
Who's Connected to Whom? Remember that Papias, himself a colleague
of Polycarp and ear witness to others who had been instructed by the Lord,
propagated the faith until his death around 130 A.D. Polycarp himself
lived until 156 A.D., and Irenaeus, who adhered to his teachings, continued
writing and teaching until his death about 202 A.D. Justin Martyr, also
personally connected with Irenaeus, adhered to the New Testament books
as we know them today, as can be seen from his numerous writings as
well.
Each of the early Christian sources outlined above stands as support for the trustworthiness of the New Testament teachings in their own right. Placed together, however, they form a web of witnesses, interconnected, the force of which is greater than the sum of their individual testimonies. This interconnected web of witnesses, which fix directly to Jesus Himself, forms a virtually impregnable defense for the historicity of the New Testament.
