Has the New Testament been changed?

Another common argument used against christian belief is that the New Testament has been significantly changed since it was first written, so we cannot have any confidence in we are reading. Who knows if it is an accurate reflection of what the original authors wrote?

Eminent scholar Bart Ehrman’s 2005 book Misquoting Jesus outlines his view of “how radically the text has been altered over the years”.

Is the situation really as ‘bad’ as that? What are the facts? I have spent some time checking the matter out.

Arguments against Jesus

Continuing my discussion of common arguments used against christians.

This post: arguments that seek to undermine faith in Jesus by arguing that the gospels aren’t reliable as history, or that we can know little factual about Jesus, or that Jesus could not have been divine.

Atheists who once were christians

We can read the statistics which show that, in most western countries, church attendance has fallen in the last century. In some cases it is still falling, though in others it has levelled out. The ‘leavers’ are not necessarily giving up all belief in God – many list themselves as ‘not committed’ – but some are choosing to be atheists.

But this is all statistics. There is also a human face to these changes.

Is the idea of God incoherent?

In philosophy, an idea is incoherent if it is self contradictory, and cannot even be properly defined.

There are many things about the idea of God that some atheists think are incoherent. Here is a brief summary and comment on seven arguments, all of which I have seen presented, sometimes by philosophers, as serious and telling objections to the idea and existence of God.

Does God prefer belief or obedience?

“God Prefers Kind Atheists Over Hateful Christians” said the article and the photo, and it caught my attention as it caught many others’ (as it was aimed at doing).

Is it true?

Son of God, son of man

It is the Thursday night before Good Friday. I was at a Tenebrae service, where Mark 14:61-64 was read out:

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death.

Arguments against God – oldies, but not goodies

More arguments unbelievers often use against christians. These ones are common, but not very good, but at least they provide a little amusement.