Family Camp Update and the Early Authorship of Luke's Gospel
I’m still buzzing from my time at Silver Birch Ranch. Aliza and I took the kids there for family camp with a bunch of other families from Village Bible Church (and beyond), and I had the pleasure of serving as the week’s main teacher for the ~70 adults in attendance. I taught on the Hidden Realm, and the Q&A sessions and after-hours conversations proved that the Lord was truly at work among His people. Your support of The Think Institute helps us bring this kind of Christian worldview training to believers and non-Christians who need it, so thank you! You can give to help support this work here. And for a taste of my teaching on this subject, go here:
AN IDEA FROM ME
“We can conclude with Norman Geisler that the Gospel According to Luke, “was written less than thirty years [from] the death of Jesus. This is contemporary to the generation who witnessed the events of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. This is precisely what Luke claims in the prologue to his Gospel….” That is exactly right! In the introduction to his Gospel, Luke states that he received his information from “those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word” (Luke 1:2).”
—From Bible Based Apologetics, Part II, the course text for the upcoming Advanced Apologetics Course in the Hammer & Anvil Society. Get more info here.
A QUOTE FROM SOMEBODY ELSE
“The evidence from history (and the texts themselves) most reasonably points to the early authorship of the Gospels. This early dating is helpful in assessing their truth status. If the Gospels were written this early, in the very region where the events took place, it would have been difficult for them to include obvious lies, given that they would have been written to people who were alive during the events recorded in the New Testament. These people would have been available to vet the content of the Gospels and call them out as lies if they contained fallacious information. The early dating of the Gospels is an important factor in determining their reliability….”
—J. Warner Wallace, “Why I Know The Gospels Were Written Early (Downloadable Bible Insert),” Cold Case Christianity, 9 November, 2015, accessed 14 June, 2024, at https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/why-i-know-the-gospels-were-written-early-free-bible-insert.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
If scholarly consensus determined that one or more of the Gospels was written hundreds of years after the time of Christ, what impact would that have on your faith?
Respond to this email in the next seven days, and I will write you back.
In Christ,
Joel Settecase
President
P. S. If you are a man who is interested in strengthening your faith, understanding theological concepts, and learning how to effectively witness and disciple within your spheres of influence, check out our discipleship fellowship, the Hammer & Anvil Society. Our next class, Advanced Apologetics, is starting on June 24. Learn all about the course here: https://thethink.institute/advanced-apologetics-course-promo.