<span style='color:blue'>Argument . The Jesus found in scripture is so confusing and contradictory that a real person cannot be retrieved.
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At the opposite extreme, modern skeptics point out that early Christian texts invariably contain a portion of propaganda, or to use a less pejorative word, polemic. The gospel writers wanted to convey the urgency of conversion to the new faith.
In between these extremes are shades of belief and doubt. One can accept the criticisms but still believe the gospels give us a living person whom we recognize and feel close to. At the same time, however, such believers concede that the biography of a real person isnât found in scripture, nor should we expect one.
Any argument based on the lack of facts about Jesus can be countered by saying that faith trumps history. The four gospels are true as revealed by God. Devout Christians can also point to the many places where the gospels agree with each other. They can argue that Jesusâs followers knew him intimately and laid down the factsâeven though meagreâaccurately. Even if they idealized their teacher because he was the Messiah, a uniquely perfect human being, the miracles attributed to him were fact. It was these very miracles that mark a Messiah, and as to the other events in his life, the vividness of Jesusâs persecution, death, and resurrection are true. The best evidence for this is the new religion that sprang up like wildfire around Christ. Those who witnessed his life story spread the word about what they saw.
The argument against scripture had no validity in an age of faith, and only in the past century or so was it considered permissible to apply ordinary standards of history and biography to Christ. <span style='color:red'>Once they are applied, however, it becomes difficult to see how the four gospels can be accepted as factual accounts. </span>Nonbelievers are likely to shrug their shoulders and say that the four gospels are a mixture of fact, myth, faith, and fantasy that can never be unravelled. Christians themselves are left in a shadow region full of ambiguities. <span style='color:red'><b> To some extent they must accept the four gospels because there is no Jesus without them, while on the other hand there is no guide for sorting out fact from fiction that suits everyone. </b>
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At the opposite extreme, modern skeptics point out that early Christian texts invariably contain a portion of propaganda, or to use a less pejorative word, polemic. The gospel writers wanted to convey the urgency of conversion to the new faith.
In between these extremes are shades of belief and doubt. One can accept the criticisms but still believe the gospels give us a living person whom we recognize and feel close to. At the same time, however, such believers concede that the biography of a real person isnât found in scripture, nor should we expect one.
Any argument based on the lack of facts about Jesus can be countered by saying that faith trumps history. The four gospels are true as revealed by God. Devout Christians can also point to the many places where the gospels agree with each other. They can argue that Jesusâs followers knew him intimately and laid down the factsâeven though meagreâaccurately. Even if they idealized their teacher because he was the Messiah, a uniquely perfect human being, the miracles attributed to him were fact. It was these very miracles that mark a Messiah, and as to the other events in his life, the vividness of Jesusâs persecution, death, and resurrection are true. The best evidence for this is the new religion that sprang up like wildfire around Christ. Those who witnessed his life story spread the word about what they saw.
The argument against scripture had no validity in an age of faith, and only in the past century or so was it considered permissible to apply ordinary standards of history and biography to Christ. <span style='color:red'>Once they are applied, however, it becomes difficult to see how the four gospels can be accepted as factual accounts. </span>Nonbelievers are likely to shrug their shoulders and say that the four gospels are a mixture of fact, myth, faith, and fantasy that can never be unravelled. Christians themselves are left in a shadow region full of ambiguities. <span style='color:red'><b> To some extent they must accept the four gospels because there is no Jesus without them, while on the other hand there is no guide for sorting out fact from fiction that suits everyone. </b>
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