Mike Licona is a New Testament historian, author and Christian apologist. Mike is currently the Apologetics Coordinator at the North American Mission Board. He has a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies (University of Pretoria) which he completed "with distinction" and the highest mark and an M.A. in Religious Studies from Liberty University.
As a teenager, Licona wondered, "Am I a Christian because that's the way I was raised? Or am I a Christian because it's true?" Mike wanted to know if his worldview was right.
He said, "I am a second-guesser by nature. I have a hard time picking out cologne at a store. If it's hard for me to pick out cologne, imagine how hard it must have been for me to pick out a wife! If you make a mistake about cologne, it will cost you a few bucks. If you make a mistake about your spouse, it will cost you your happiness. But if you make a mistake about your worldview, it will cost you your eternity."
After a careful search for truth, Licona came to the conclusion that Christianity was true. Then he began to wonder, "Was I just trying to prove what I already believed?" So, he worked on a doctorate. Now he is settled in his belief in Jesus.
Licona has engaged in 10 different debates with various skeptics. One skeptic Licona has debated is Bart Ehrman, Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina.
Licona answers Ehrman's challenges with the ABCs... and Es and Fs.
A - Authorship.
Ehrman says that the gospels are written not by eyewitnesse, by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. He says that the gospels are forgeries and that we don't have the original manuscripts. For Erhman, saying that Matthew really wrote Matthew is a dubious statement. After all, Matthew's name isn't really in the document at all.
Licona counters by saying that one of the most respected ancient historians is Plutarch. He wrote what we call Plutarch's Lives. The question is "How do we know Plutarch wrote the bios that are attributed to him?" Plutarch's name is not in any of the documents. It's only tradition that tells us that he wrote the Lives and yet no one really questions his authorship. Why, then, do we question the tradition that attributes the authorship of the gospels to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Licona admits that modern day scholars debate who wrote Matthew, Mark, Luke and John but that it's at the very least reasonable to say that ti's possible
B - Bias.
Ehrman also questions the veracity of the gospelw because of bias. He says that the gospel writers were biased in making thier points about Jesus and, therefore, they are untrustworthy.
Licona counters by saying that we are all biased in different ways. The atheist Richard Dawkins has a bias against Christianity. Ehrman himself has a bias against the historicity and accuracy of the gospels. He challenges Ehrman to tell the gay activists at UNC that they cannot talk about gay rights because they are biased. He challenges Ehrman to tell the feminists at UNC that they cannot talk about women's rights because they are biased. Just because someone is biased doesn't mean that their positions should be dismissed. The question is not "Are the writers biased?" but "Are the writers right?" Yes, the gospel writers are biased. They wrote to prove that Jesus was the Christ. The question is "Are they right?"
C- Contradictions.
Ehrman claims that the gospels contradict themselves. For example, was Mary at the tomb alone as John says or were there multiple women at the tomb as Matthew, Mark, and Luke suggest? Did both thieves crucified next to Jesus curse or did only one?
Licona counters this challenge to the trustworthiness of the gospels by pointing out that these apparent contradictions can be explained. For example, it's reasonable to believe that both thieves cursed Christ and that one of them later saw the glory of Jesus and wanted to get right with God? It's reasonable to believe that John in his gospel showcased Mary but that others were present with her as the other gospels say.
Licona then asks, "How important to the whole are these apparent contradictions anyway?" Some passengers on the Titanic said that the Titanic broke in two before it sank. Others said that it went down in one piece. Obviously, someone got it wrong. But no one says that since their accounts don't agree, the Titanic didn't sink after all.
Licona says that even if you admit that there are discrepancies in the gospel accounts, you still have a consistent message - basic core beliefs that are consistent in all the accounts. 1) Jesus died on the cross. 2) The tomb was empty. 3) Jesus' followers claimed to have seen Him alive. 4) They were willing to be persecuted for their beliefs. Licona then say that the apparent contradictions if true (which they aren't) would impact the doctrine of innerancy, but not the core meessage - that Jesus arose form the grave.
D - Dating.
Ehrman says that the gospels are not trustworthy because they were written anywhere from 35 to 65 years after the events they purport to describe. He says that it would be like someone now writing about events that took place in WWII.
Licona asked the audience if there was a Vietnam vet in the room. One man raised his hand and siad he was in Vietnam in the early 7os. Licona asked us if we would doubt this man's stories about the Vietnam War simply because they took place almost 40 years ago. Would we say, "He's not a reliable witness"? No. Why then do we doubt the gospel writers? Writing something down 35-65 years later doesn't necessarily mean that the accounts are not reliable.
Licona mentioned that the written accounts from Putarch and Seutonius of Caesar Augustus are written 90 to 100 years after Augustus lived. Yet virtually no one questions their reliabilty. Why then do we hold the gospels to different standard than other ancient histories?
E - Eyewitnesses.
Ehrman says that since the gospels were not written by eyewitnesses, the stories were corrupted like the game of "telephone."
Licona countered this critique by talking about how information can be passed along in very trustworthy ways. He illustrated the point by telling us has earned a second degree black belt in karate. He talked about the trianing forms that are used in martial arts. People don't change the forms. They just pass them along from teacher to student over and over. The forms passed along are the same generation after generation. In the same way, it's reasonable to think that the Jesus tradition was very carefully passed along from person to person, from church to church, from generation to generation.
***
For more information, you can check out Mike Licona's website. You can follow him on twitter at DidJesusRise. Licona urged us to use the North American Mission Board apologetics site called 4Truth.net. You can also see
A debate between Michael Licona and Elaine Pagels on the validity of the Gospel of Thomas. You can also see Various debate videos / audio, including debates with Dan Barker, Richard Carrier, Bart Ehrman, Shabir, Ally and Ali Ataie.
No comments:
Post a Comment