authenticity of New Testament Sections

[Anonymous]

I was gratiously reading the responses to my prior inquires and a question arose that I'd like to see addressed. If the question has been addressed and answered, please kindly point me to the URL (or multiple) of the forum. If there is an outside resource, I'd welcome that too.

Here's my question, and forgive the rambling as I ask it.

As I was reading these responses, I noticed a disproportinate number of answers coming from the Book of Romans. I began to wonder how do we know that this Book is authentic? Not in the sense of did the person who wrote it write it, but rather in the sense that how do we know this really belongs in the Bible at all? It's not written by Jesus. It's not written by God. It's written by man. According to About.com, Romans was written by Paul in 60 AD. If true, then we can answer that it was written by one of the disciples of Jesus. However, aren't we really just reading one man's intrepretation of what Jesus and God were or are thinking? How do we know that his intrepretation is accurate? As I pondered this question, I scrolled down a bit and noticed that all the four primary books of the new testament (John, Luke, Matthew, Mark) were written well after those books were written, some not until almost the turn of the century. This means that the authors of these books are not likely even the person who bears their title, thus begging the question, how do we know they recorded Jesus's words accurately?

[Anonymous]

Scripture was authored by the holy spirit, not by men. Man contributed only to its grammatical structure and form, not to its content.

Read "The Case for Christ" by Lee Stroble for an excellent treatment on the very issues you have raised.

There are numerous internal as well as external sources of textual evidence that support the view that the bible we hold in our hands today has been transmitted reliably through the ages.

In order to understand how the gospels were assembled you need to understand you are dealing with an oral culture that imposed strict rules on how information was transmitted. The message of the gospels as well as the sayings of Jesus were well understood and accepted well before they were formally written down by the gospel authors.

I pray your sincere and open hearted quest to know God fulfills and enriches you spiritually as it has me and the millions of Christians who have come before.

[Kurieuo]

I recommend reading over the thread, skeptical about Paul
at http://discussions.godandscience.org/vi ... .php?t=113.

Kurieuo.