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01/11/2024 02:39 PM
The first-century historian Josephus reports that Jesus was a sage who performed wonders. This is a non-Christian source from Jesus’s era.
Some internet detractors demand eyewitness reports from the first century before they will believe, but such a demand displays historiographic ignorance—by this standard we would know almost nothing about ancient history. We have the next-best thing: sources from the first generation, including some who consulted eyewitnesses (Luke 1:1-2). I have addressed these issues elsewhere, including here. But suffice it to say that unless critics invent special standards for Jesus that we do not apply to the rest of ancient history, we know quite a lot about him.
As for eyewitness testimonies of miracles, we not only have sources from within a generation of Jesus’s ministry, but we do have eyewitness accounts of his followers performing miracles, such as in Acts’ “we” section, Paul’s appeal to the Corinthians’ eyewitness experience of his miracles, eyewitness accounts in the church fathers, and millions of eyewitness claims today.
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Editorial Citations: Divergent Interpretations & Counter-Arguments
Craig Keener received his Ph.D. in New Testament Studies and Christian Origins from Duke University. He currently serves as professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary. Dr. Keener is the New Testament editor for the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, which won the International Book Award for Christianity, as well as Bible of the Year for the Christian Book Awards. He is the former editor of the Bulletin for Biblical Research and a former program chair for the Institute for Biblical Research.
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