More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell & Sean McDowell

Author:Josh McDowell & Sean McDowell
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Religion, Christian Life, Spiritual & Religion, Apologetics, Christology, Spiritual Growth, Christian Theology
ISBN: 9781414326276
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Incorporated
Published: 2009-08-14T22:00:00+00:00

Douglas Groothuis, associate professor of philosophy and head of the philosophy of religion department at Denver Seminary, points out that “the New Testament is better attested by ancient manuscripts than any other piece of ancient literature.”43

Chapter 7: Who Would Die for a Lie?

Those who challenge Christianity often overlook one area of evidence: the transformation of Jesus’ apostles. The radically changed lives of these men give us solid testimony for the validity of Christ’s claims.

Since the Christian faith is historical, our knowledge of it must rely heavily on testimony, both written and oral. Without such testimony, we have no window to any historical event, Christian or otherwise. In fact, all history is essentially a knowledge of the past based on testimony. If reliance on such testimony seems to give history too shaky a foundation, we must ask, How else can we learn of the past? How can we know that Napoleon lived? None of us was alive in his time period. We didn’t see him or meet him. We must rely on testimony.

Our knowledge of history has one inherent problem: Can we trust that the testimony is reliable? Since our knowledge of Christianity is based on testimony given in the distant past, we must ask whether we can depend on its accuracy. Were the original oral testimonies about Jesus trustworthy? Can we trust them to have conveyed correctly what Jesus said and did? I believe we can.

I can trust the apostles’ testimonies because eleven of those men died martyrs’ deaths because they stood solid for two truths: Christ’s deity and his resurrection. These men were tortured and flogged, and most finally suffered death by some of the cruelest methods then known:1

1. Peter, originally called Simon, was crucified.

2. Andrew was crucified.

3. James, son of Zebedee, was killed by the sword.

4. John, son of Zebedee, died a natural death.

5. Philip was crucified.

6. Bartholomew was crucified.

7. Thomas was killed by a spear.

8. Matthew was killed by the sword.

9. James, son of Alphaeus, was crucified.

10. Thaddaeus was killed by arrows.

11. Simon, the zealot, was crucified.

The perspective I often hear is, “Well, these men died for a lie. Many people have done that. So what does it prove?”

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