The New Testament Writers Told the Truth Part 7

10. The New Testament Writers Abandoned Their Long-Held Sacred Beliefs And Practices,Adopted New Ones,And Did Not Deny Their Testimony Under Persecution Or Threat Of Death


The N.T. writers don't just say that Jesus performed miracles and rose from the dead-they actually back up that testimony with dramatic action. First,virtually overnight they abandon many of their long held sacred beliefs and practices. Among the 1,500-year-old-plus institutions they give up are the following:


* The animal sacrifice system-they replace it forever by the one perfect sacrifice of Christ.


* The binding supremacy of the Law of Moses-they say it's powerless because of the sinless life of Christ.


* Strict monotheism-they now worship Jesus,the God-man,despite the fact that 1) their most cherished belief has been,"Hear,O Israel: The Lord our God,the Lord is one"(Deut. 6:4); and 2) man-worship has always been considered blasphemy and punishable by death (Ex. 31:14).


* Belief in a conquering Messiah-Jesus is the opposite of a conquering Messiah. He's a sacrificial lamb (at his first visit!).


And it's not just the N.T. writers who do this-thousands of Jerusalem Jews,including Pharisee priests,convert to Christianity and join the N.T. writers in abandoning these treasured beliefs and practices. J.P. Moreland helps us understand the magnitude of these devout Jews giving up their established institutions virtually overnight:


(The Jewish people) believed that these institutions were entrusted to them by God. They believed that to abandon these institutions would be to risk their souls being damned to hell after death.

Now a rabbi named Jesus appears from a lower-class region. He teaches for 3 years, gathers a following of lower-and middle-class people,gets in trouble with the authorities,and gets crucified along with thirty thousand other Jewish men who are executed during this time period.

But 5 weeks after he's crucified, over ten thousand Jews are following him and claiming that he is the initiator of a new religion. And get this: they're willing to give up or alter all five of the social institutions that they have been taught since childhood have such importance both sociologically and theologically....Something very big was going on.


How do you explain these monumental shifts if the N.T writers were making up a story? How do you explain them if the Resurrection did not occur?

Secondly,not only do these new believers abandon their long-held beliefs and practices,they also adopt some new radical ones. these include:


* Sunday,a work day,as the new day of worship


* Baptism as a new sign that one was a partaker of the new covenant (as circumcision was a sign of the old covenant)


* Communion as an act of rememberance of Christ's sacrifice for their sins


Communion is especially inexplicable unless the Resurrection is true. Why would Jews make up a practice where they symbolically eat the body and drink the blood of Jesus?


Finally,in addition to abandoning long-held sacred institutions and adopting new ones,the N.T. writers suffered persecution and death when they could have saved themselves by recanting. If they had made up the Resurrection story,they certainly would have said so when they were about to be crucified (Peter),stoned (James),or beheaded (Paul). But no one recanted-eleven out of the twelve were martyred for their faith (the only survivor was John,who was exiled to the Greek island of Patmos). Why would they die for a known lie?


Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia pointed out the absurdity of those who doubt the historicity of the New Testament. In a remark biting sarcasm against modern-day itellectuals,Scalia stated exactly what has been said regarding the motives of the N.T. writers.


Namely,since the N.T. writers had nothing to gain and everything to lose,we ought to believe what they say about the Resurrection.



To be continued...