Did any of the people who wrote the New Testament know Jesus personally?
Long story short, I'm thinking about reverting to the religion of my forefathers, but I want to make sure all of my questions are answered beforehand. I heard Matthew was one of the first twelve disciples of Jesus but I wouldn't go as far as saying I've answered my own question.
So more specifically where any of the people who wrote the Bible at the crucifixion? I have other questions for those wanting to assist me, but this is one of the more pressing ones as of late (see the quoted verse below). And I also want to know if the New Testament can be reconstructed using non-biblical sources. I've been reading the Koran, and besides the fact Muhammad is a false prophet, it seems to agree with everything else, except for the crucifixion of Jesus. The Koran says this: 4:157: “That they said, “We slew the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the messenger of God”-yet they did not slay him neither crucified him, only a likeness of that which was shown to them." So either he never actually died because Allah stopped him from dying or he was replaced with someone else (like Judas?). But it's interesting the Koran would actually refer to him as the messiah (or am I missing something?). I was referred to this video know as "The Crucifixion of Jesus - A Medical Perceptive", which should be of interest to you all, and I cannot possibly see how he would have lived (after all, a doctor would know): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-EVfxABSoU
So this one crucial difference between Islam and Christianity. As I was learning about Islam it made me wonder why anyone would want to go through the effort of rewording the Bible which the Koran acknowledges to be the word of god and is therefore not able to be corrupted. 365x23= 8395, and if we take into account leap years that adds about an extra six days. So that means Muhammad was uttering two to four verse each day on average. I simply cannot understand the Muslim logic given that many revelations form Allah seemed to fit the situation Muhammad was in, and newer contradictory verses abrogated older ones. The Koran is really messed up and Muslims are so blind.
?2012-07-13T11:55:10Z
Favorite Answer
No, no one was writing the Bible as Jesus was hanging on the cross.
Matthew and John knew Jesus; Matthew was the tax collector Levi that was called by Jesus to come and follow him, and then spent the next three years with him daily. Likewise, John was an apostle, and his gospel is his eyewitness account. Mark was the companion of the apostle Peter, and his account comes largely (though not completely) from Peter's first-person view. Luke was a doctor, and specifically wrote his account as an investigation of the events of Jesus' life; he says he talked to as many witnesses as he could. He was a companion of Paul.
Here's what Luke wrote to his friend Theophilus: "So many others have tried their hand at putting together a story of the wonderful harvest of Scripture and history that took place among us, using reports handed down by the original eyewitnesses who served this Word with their very lives. Since I have investigated all the reports in close detail, starting from the story's beginning, I decided to write it all out for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability of what you were taught." (Luke 1:1-4 in The Message Translation) http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1&version=MSG
These accounts were written sometime between Jesus' resurrection (in about 32 A.D) and the time that the earliest copies appear in the historical record (about 65 A.D.) Because these books were copied and shared widely, and because we assume we do not have the original copies, the actual works had to be written earlier than 65 A.D. That's VERY early, just about 30 to 32 years later.
Think about it. Today we study information about World War II, about the moon landings, about Watergate, about the Russian revolution, about Vietnam ... and each of these things is further back in history from us than the Gospels were from the events they depict. I remember Nixon's resignation. I recall spaceflights. I remember Vietnam. Those events happened in my lifetime. If they didn't really happen and they were reported that they did, I'd be saying "Wait, that's not true!" Everyone would. And yet we have the gospels, but no accounts that say they are false, or made up, or fake.
Mohammad said that Jesus was a man of God. If Jesus was a man of God, then he's not a liar when he says that he's the Son of God. Mohammad also said that the Old Testament was God's word. In the Old Testament, it says there must be a sacrifice for sin. There's no sacrifice in the Qur'an, is there? But there is a sacrifice in the New Testament, and the man of God Jesus -- the guy that Mohammad says we're supposed to listen to -- says that he is that sacrifice.
Short story? Anyways stay away from u-Tub. Nottin there but JUNK. Lets see now Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all wrote sumthin and they knew Jesus. James,Titus,Paul where a few more who wrote about Jesus and Knew Him well.
Than Caran is just a big Fable. Written by a bunch of ???
God Bless Ya, Chicago Bob imasinner
There is more joy in Jesus in one day. Than there is in the World 365/24/7 I know, I tried them both. Numbers 6:24-26
John's gospel has traditionally believed to have been in its core, written by John the apostle. Indeed some clues in the text seem to say that, talk of the "beloved disciple" that seems to be pretty clearly John, and then saying elsewhere that the "beloved disciple" wrote it.
Mark has traditionally been thought to have contained Peter's witness.
OK Luke met Paul, as it says in Acts (also written by Luke), but he does say he interviewed the eyewitnesses, and the early chapters look to be pretty much Mary's testimony.
Matthew could be the disciple Levi, although that can't be proven, but it is interesting that an episode with Levi in Matthew's gospel, calls him Matthew (that gospel building on Mark or prototype-Mark, yet changing that small detail.)
--- Mohammed received some of his revelations from an angel claiming to be Gabriel (Jabril in Arabic). However it is interesting that it behaved to him in a way one of God's angels (called "holy angels", "angels of light" etc in the New Testament) would not have, pushing him back three times by the head/throat forcefully until Mohammed started speaking revelations that somehow poured into Mohammed's mind. Islam does not teach that there are fallen angels, yet the New Testament does teach about that, including saying that they do try and deceive and masquerade as "angels of light". So the fact that someone receives from some spiritual channel does not mean it is authentically of God. [This event in the cave of Hira is mentioned at the start of Bukhari's hadith collection].
No. The Matthew who wrote the Gospel was not the same Matthew who was Jesus' apostle. None of the Gospels were written by anyone who ever met Jesus. Only Mark was written by someone who claimed to have heard about Jesus from the apostle Paul, so it's a second-hand account. The other gospels are either taken from Mark or from other hearsay.