Historicity of the New Testament

[mvh18]

Don’t know if this warrants a thread, however I’m looking for a few books that compare the reliability of the New Testament as a historical artifact compared to other items around the same time. I’m after the opinions of respected historians, religious or athiest, on how the New Testament stacks up.

Cheers,

Matt

 

[Cachonga]

I would recommend the following book -

Reinventing Jesus - How Contemporary Skeptics Miss the Real Jesus and Mislead Popular Culture
by J. Ed Komszewsi, M. James Sawyer, and Daniel B. Wallace

From the international sensation The Da Vinci Code to the national bestseller Misquoting Jesus, popular culture is being bombarded with radical skepticism about the uniqueness of Jesus and the reliability of the New Testament. Reinventing Jesus cuts through the rhetoric of extreme doubt to reveal the profound credibility of historic Christianity. Meticulously researched yet eminently readable, this book invites a wide audience to take a firsthand look at the primary evidence for Christian origins. Reinventing Jesus shows believers that it’s okay to think hard about Christianity, and shows hard thinkers that it’s okay to believe.

It’s available for only $12.74 (+SH) from aomin.org/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=40_47&products_id=76&osCsid=1b9158dfa63ea3f1391ec322cf14aabb

(OK, I know this is known as an “anti-catholic” site, but they have also debated Mormons, Jehova’s Witnesses, Athiest, King James Onlyist, Homosexuals, etc…, and they have the resources grouped in such a way that you can avoid the “anti-catholic” material.)

 

[diggerdomer]

Don’t know if this warrants a thread, however I’m looking for a few books that compare the reliability of the New Testament as a historical artifact compared to other items around the same time. I’m after the opinions of respected historians, religious or athiest, on how the New Testament stacks up.

Cheers,

Matt

I wouldl recommend any of the more reputable Bible commentaries (e.g. Jerome Biblical Commentary, Harper’s, Collegeville). THese references have good articles in addition to the individual Scriptural book commentaries that should help.

 

[brian231]

Don’t know if this warrants a thread, however I’m looking for a few books that compare the reliability of the New Testament as a historical artifact compared to other items around the same time. I’m after the opinions of respected historians, religious or athiest, on how the New Testament stacks up.

Cheers,

Matt

You might want to get “New Testament History” by F.F. Bruce.

 

[patg]

Biblical Fundamentalism, What Every Catholic Should Know by Ronald Witherup S.S. gives a good overview of this subject.

*And God Said What?, An Introduction to Biblical Literary Forms *by Margaret Ralph covers this subject and is used as the text in many Catholic adult bible education classes.

If you want to dig deeper, as excellent series on this subject is the four volume A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus series by Msgr. John P. Meier. This is a very thorough investigation with almost infinite references for further study.

The scripture studies by Raymond Brown are good classics but they are out of print and may be hard to find.