In a prior article it was observed that Oliver Buswell acknowledged that his interpretation of the Olivet Discourse was impacted by his assumptions regarding the date of Matthew’s Gospel. I suggest that publication assumptions can likewise impact one’s interpretation and application of the Sermon on the Mount. Specifically, I suggest…
How do assumptions regarding the publication date of Matthew’s Gospel and Matthean priority affect our interpretation of the book? Previously, we looked at how J. Oliver Buswell’s belief that Matthew was published after Paul’s writings impacted his identification of the elect in the Olivet Discourse. Today, we consider the identity…
How do the Gospels compare with other contemporary biographies, relative to size? Plutarch was the most prolific biographer of the era, writing in Greek around the end of the first century. The following chart compares the word count of the four Gospels with fifty biographies written by Plutarch. Although Matthew’s…
Who are the elect in the Olivet discourse? For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for…
What is being taught to students of the Bible, to future pastors and Christian teachers, concerning when the first Gospel was published? First, here is what is taught by some of the apologetic works which are addressed in my book: Bauckham (2017): Mark was published in the 60s CE, thirty…
In 2 Timothy 4:13, Paul makes a personal request of Timothy: Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at…
When scholars assess the genre classification of the Gospels, the concern is generally over which ancient “biographical works are most analogous to the Gospels” and “what level of historical accuracy did audiences in the period of the early empire expect from biographies?” For example, Craig Keener “establishes that biographers, especially…
What does it do to the trustworthiness of the witness testimony contained within the Gospels, when it is asserted that the Gospel of Matthew was not written until four, five, or six decades after the dialogues and events contained therein? First, I want to highlight the dating claims made by…
For those who may be in the area, I’ll be presenting a paper at the 2024 Northwest Regional Evangelical Theological Society meeting at Multnomah University in Portland, on Saturday, February 17, 2024. The title of my paper is: “A Fresh Reading of Against Heresies 3.1.1: Affirmation of an Early Greek…