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AP3W0701
AP3W0701
—Part Three
Dr. John Ankerberg
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says, “The works of several ancient authors are preserved to us by the thinnest possible
thread of transmission. In contrast with these figures of the classics, the textual critic of the
New Testament is embarrassed by the wealth of his material.”
William F. Albright at Johns Hopkins before he died said this: “Only modern scholars
who lack both historical method and perspective can spin such a web of speculation as that
with which the critics have surrounded the gospel tradition.”
F. F. Bruce at Manchester University, Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Ex-
egesis, said, “There is no body of ancient literature in the world which enjoys such a wealth
of good textual attestation as the New Testament.”
Frederick Kenyon was the librarian at the British Museum. Kenyon says, “Both the
authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded
as finally established.”
In light of all this evidence, I would suggest to you that we have accurate information
from eyewitnesses that came out early. It was tested by people on both sides, and it tells
us that what they said is true.
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seen me has seen the Father.” And Philip’s mouth dropped open because he was an
orthodox Jew who believed that God was One. And if you believe that God is One and this
guy is saying, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father,” what conclusion can you come
to? Jesus said to know Him was to know God. To see Him was to see God. To believe in
Him was to believe in God. To hate Him was to hate God. To honor Him was to honor God.
In Mark Chapter 2, Jesus looked at the man that never walked and instead of saying,
“Be healed,” He said, “Your sins be forgiven.” And the Pharisees and the Saduccees that
were there said, “That’s blasphemy! Only One can forgive sins and that’s God alone.” And
they were right. But Jesus showed them that He had that power and that He was God. And
it’s interesting this event was written up in the earliest document that came out, Mark.
When Jesus said to the man, “Take up your bed and walk” and the man walked out of
there, Jesus was saying, “Look, this miracle I have just done is something that you can see
and understand. That is, in the physical, material world, I healed this man that didn’t walk.
You can see that. On the other hand, you could not see when I forgave the man his sins.
But because I did this [healed him], you know that I did this [forgave his sins]. In brief, He
claimed to be God.
In John, Chapter 11, He claimed that He could give all men this thing called “eternal
life.” What if a guy walked down the street and said, “I can give you eternal life.” You would
probably say, Who are you? In Matthew 24 Jesus claimed His words would never pass
away. We’re going to forget Byron and Shakespeare and everybody else but we’re never
going to forget your words, Jesus? Right. That’s what He was saying.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “You have heard that it has been said, ‘Thou
shalt not commit adultery.’” Where did that come from? That’s one of the Ten Command-
ments. In the Hebrew, when you go back into Deuteronomy you’ll find out you have a
divine negative in the Hebrew, showing God said, “Don’t do this.” “You have heard that it
has been said, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’” So they said, “Those are the very words
of God.” But then Jesus said, “P.S., but I say unto you, if you look on a man or a woman
and you lust after them in your heart, you have broken that law.” And everybody went,
“Ooh!” Why? Because of the fact that He had added His words to God’s words and when
you add something to what God said, all of a sudden you’re making your teaching as
authoritative as what God said.
Now, according to the modern critics, Jesus should have recognized that they were
thinking He was God and said, “Oh, wash my mouth out; cancel that last statement.” But
what did He do? He went on to say, “You’ve heard that it has been said, ‘Thou shalt not
kill,’ but I say unto you, ‘Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in
danger of the judgment.” He did it again. That’s why when you come to the end of the
Sermon on the Mount you find these words. It was said about the people, “They were
amazed at Jesus’ teachings because He taught as one who had authority and not as the
scribes.” What kind of authority? God said this; mine is right up here next to His. It’s equal
in authority.
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