The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors, the authenticity of which no one dreams of questioning. And if the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt.
Interpretation
The authenticity of the New Testament writings is more supported by evidence than many classical texts that are widely accepted.
F. F. Bruce emphasizes the substantial evidence supporting the authenticity of the New Testament compared to that of many classical authors. He argues that if the New Testament were treated like other secular texts, their authenticity would not be questioned, highlighting a bias in how ancient writings are assessed based on their content and context.
In practice
In a discussion on the reliability of ancient texts, this quote can be used to emphasize the evidence supporting religious writings.
Some writers may toy with the fancy of a ‘Christ-myth,’ but they do not do so on the ground of historical evidence. The historicity of Christ is as axiomatic for an unbiased historian as the historicity of Julius Caesar. It is not historians who propagate the ‘Christ-myth’ theories.
The soul’s deepest thirst is for God Himself, who has made us so that we can never be satisfied without Him.
The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
Even after the Truth has been realised, there remains that strong, obstinate impression that one is still an ego - the agent and experiencer. This has to be carefully removed by living in a state of constant identification with the supreme non-dual Self. Full Awakening is the eventual ceasing of all the mental impressions of being an ego.
Remember your contemporaries who have passed away and were your age. Remember the honors and fame they earned, the high posts they held, and the beautiful bodies they possessed. Today all of them are turned to dust. They have left orphans and widows behind them, their wealth is being wasted, and their houses turned into ruins. _x000D_ _x000D_ No sign of them is left today, and they lie in dark holes underneath the earth. _x000D_ _x000D_ Picture their faces before your mind's eye and ponder.
If you will practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats.
I can accept anything, except what seems to be the easiest for most people: the half-way, the almost, the just-about, the in-between.
Why is it so difficult to assemble those things that really matter in life and to dwell among them only? I am referring to certain landscapes, persons, beasts, books, rooms, meteorological conditions, fruits.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.