By: Sean Rice "The Apostle Paul," writes the agnostic and best-selling Bible scholar Bart Ehrman in his newest book, Did Jesus Exist? , "is our earliest surviving Christian author of any kind... Paul was writing some years before the Gospels. His first letter (1 Thessalonians) is usually dated to 49 AD [which is just sixteen short years after Jesus' death on the cross in 33 AD]... Paul understood Jesus to be a historical figure, a Jew who lived, taught, and was crucified at the instigation of Jewish opposition." [1] What Bart Ehrman is saying, then, is that Paul is one of our earliest witnesses to the life of Jesus Christ - one who should be taken seriously. WHY IS PAUL A TRUSTWORTHY SOURCE? How do we know that Paul actually wrote letters about Jesus shortly after Christ's death on the cross? (We'll leave the resurrection part out just for now.) Maybe some later Christian made up the persona of Paul, pretended to be him, and wrote ...
Thoughts on the Reformed faith, preparation for ministry, and doing all to the glory of God.