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.
What we really are matters more than what other people think of us.
We create our fate every day . . . most of the ills we suffer from are directly traceable to our own behavior.
I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag.
Patriotism is best exemplified through auto-critique.
I've tried to believe, but I don't, I can't, and there's no use pretending.
The years like great black oxen tread the world, and God, the herdsman goads them on behind, and I am broken by their passing feet.
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