Let’s return to considering the New Testament. Where does one start when talking about the Gospels? Firstly, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are fictional characters; their names are not Semitic or Aramaic or even a Greek or Latinate version of what the followers of Jesus may have been named – if he, himself, even existed at all. Next, the gospels, according to most Biblical scholars, were not written by any of these characters whatever they may have been called during their presumed life-times.
The Bible has been cited rather apologetically as ‘historical fiction’. IMHO, it’s a dank, awful bit of fiction that stacks up very poorly with just about any work of fiction modern or traditional (Upanishads, Lord of the Rings, the Foundation Trilogy, etc.) That the author of this mish-mash is ‘god-the-almighty’ is a pathetic claim. Too bad ‘god’ didn’t create a better story-teller than Moses to write his/its holy word; maybe Roald Dahl, Charles Dickens or J.K. Rowling.
Sad…
The Gospel attributed to Mark was purportedly written first, ‘Matthew’ and ‘Luke’ were written adopting things from ‘Mark’ to suit their own needs and the expectations of their perspective audience about 50 years after the events they related. Then, ‘John’ wrote his gospel, possibly in the early 2nd century BCE. Keep in mind that none of these gospels were actually written by the four named Evangelists but instead were written anonymously with additions and edits written much later by other anonymous sources.
‘Mark’ was probably written by two or three people and had two or three different endings. Interesting, right? The version by ‘Matthew’ was amended specifically for the Hebrews; aligning Old Testament prophesy so that Jesus would seem to answer those prophesies – some which are not even in the Torah (the Jewish Bible) as we know it now. ‘Luke’s’ version came next; based on both Mark and Matthew. Piling sh!t on Shinola, John’s doesn’t line up with the other three but makes a lame attempt to bring all the mythologizing of the other three – the Synoptic Gospels – into a pseudo-historic narrative. Without actually being historical in any way; no clear dates and no sources claimed.
The Gospels are not gospel. God’s perfect word is inconsistent in the four efforts in telling the same tale. They each show not just a difference in view point but a difference in major story details. A discerning consumer of the Gospels might start by calling into question Bible ‘inerrancy’ and citing the lack of historicity, therein. There are plenty of books and studies of the errors, contradictions and out and out falsehoods in the Bible. Too many to list here. In fact, the Bible has been keelhauled by science in every aspect; the story of the Creation is debunked by modern cosmology and planetary geology. The Noachian flood dismissed easily by history and science generally. The resurrection story? Talking snakes? Talking donkeys? Please…
Despite claims by ‘Believers’ that the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John contained eye-witness accounts, these claims are entirely fallacious. Particularly as regards the resurrection and the Empty Tomb. No one witnessed the resurrection. And, even though grave-robbing was illegal under both Jewish and Roman law, no one of any civic authority ever checked the tomb or investigated in any way. Rather odd that the ‘missing’ remains of a criminal executed for state crimes would not attract some legal attention. Or any attention beyond the criminal’s former coterie, for that matter.
A couple of women make the claim that the tomb is empty, leap to the conclusion that ‘He is Risen!’ (as prompted by an ‘angel’) and that apparently was enough. Imagine the scene: two women go to do post-burial follow-up and meet some good-looking young guy who tells them the dead guy wasn’t there. The women take his word for it and leave, afraid to tell anyone. Hmmm? Nevertheless, word gets out and maybe Peter/Petra/Cephas went to check but no one else apparently went back to check the tomb. The whole Original Sin magilla - depending as it did on the bloody sacrifice of a divine entity to His/Itself as atonement and prophesied for ages – ended with a whimper not a bang.
It’s small wonder that Believers hope to discredit the theory of evolution; the basis for all of the science of biology. Without the fairy-tale story of the Garden, the Apple, Adam and Eve, the talking serpent (!) and so on, there would be no need of Jesus, atonement or salvation.
Can you say ‘House of Cards’?
To reiterate; all of the Gospels were written decades after the purported events by anonymous authors, none of whom were eye-witnesses to a dead body coming back to life. The actual writers of the gospels are unknown, even though, by church tradition, they are attributed to the Four Evangelists. As stated before, volumes have been written about the authorship of the gospels. None of the books of the New Testament (sic) were written by the Four Evangelists and none of the books contain eye-witness accounts. This brings us to the likely fact the god/man/archangel/son-of-god never even existed.
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