How can we know the words of Jesus in the four gospels are really His since they weren't written while He was alive?
John 17:1 - 26
ESV - 1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. 2 Since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
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Asked February 26 2018
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Anonymous
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Raki Gray
Good question! Many people question weather or not the bible is true or inspired by God. The book of Timothy tells us that every word is God breathed or was inspired by God and men were led to write exactly what they heard down, hence why we have the bible today. Now if the bible was not accurate or was in any way contradictory or in error, then it would become now unreliable, and the bible can be said to be not true because of one small error. To this day no one can find any fault in the bible, but are more and more finding the proof of events that happened many hundreds of years ago, the accuracy of towns, cities, events, characters and the timelines coinciding with all these. The evidence is so on the point its findings are converting scientists who were once atheists into true Christians. The integrity and character of this one man called Jesus and the life He lived, the teachings He taught, and the miracles He performed, then the revealing of who Jesus was and is, I have no doubt that what God wanted you to know is all in the bible just for you. God never makes mistakes and His intensions for you to have His Word is for your benefit.
Tim Maas
I think that Luke (who never met Jesus personally) addresses that question at the beginning of his gospel (Luke 1:1-4). The accounts of Jesus' life and words were based on the recollections and narratives of those who had known Him and heard Him, just as those who write after-the-fact biographies today rely on such sources in their work. In addition, in the writings of Luke (who wrote not only the gospel that bears his name, but also the book of Acts) and of John (who DID know Jesus and heard His words, and also wrote five of the books of the New Testament), in particular, the authors identify themselves, and describe their personal involvement with the events in Jesus' life, as well as in the history of the early church, the accuracy of which is corroborated by secular sources. Also, Christians by faith (not just blind trust, but based on evidence of God's reliability in fulfilling prophecy and carrying out His promises) acknowledge the role of the Holy Spirit in accomplishing Jesus' words (as recorded in John 14:25-26) that He (the Holy Spirit) would teach the apostles all things, and bring to their remembrance all that Jesus had said to them. (This applies not just to the gospels, but to the entire Biblical canon (both the Old and New Testaments), which the Holy Spirit inspired not just in its writing, but in the workings of those who selected the documents that would be included in it.)
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