To the chorus of those who assert that Matthew was written within a decade of the resurrection and ascension, I have added four more voices: Samuel Ellwood (1709), Samuel Humphreys (1746), Thomas Horne (1825), and Arthur Carr (1898). An extended excerpt from Horne has been included, which provides a nice…
In chapter 2, on the “Intent to Have a Written Gospel,” Upham begins with a quick allusion to Milton’s Paradise Lost: Surely it was not the “Archangel ruined” who deluded men into saying that the Witnesses [of Christ] never thought of putting their witness into writing! … The ancient genealogies…
Sitting atop one of my bookshelves is a collection of older works—some were treasures discovered at used bookstores and others were sought out. One of my favorites is a small hardback by Francis W. Upham, published in New York in 1881. This was almost 150 years ago! To put this…
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…
This is my first published book and I have to admit to feeling more than a little giddy with excitement. I’ve been quite distracted over the last couple weeks, as the typesetting was finished, then the cover design, and now the book is available through Christianbook, Amazon, Barnes and Noble,…
In my search for historical authors who have speculated concerning the early date of Matthew’s Gospel, it is tempting to latch onto every author who might be “on my team.” However, there is need for circumspection. This morning, I found this interesting book from James Sheridan Knowles, Irish actor and…
Another type of publication which targeted the Christian public and likewise conveyed an early date for Matthew were Bible Knowledge and Bible History Handbooks. This first one was a Catholic publication, written in 1927 by the archbishop in Milwaukee, which largely drew from a work in German. B. IN PARTICULAR.…
In the verse below, can you find Paul’s reference to something which was previously written which presented Christ as crucified? O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. (Galatians 3:1 ESV) The ESV wording above is typical of…
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…