Lesson 9 - Lower Historical Criticism (Textual Criticism) Wrap-Up

Lesson 9 PPT

On Thursday night we did a wrap-up of our study over the last 5 to 6 months.  And I must say that I was very impressed with your ability to recall and recite the content of our study.

I have included a link (on the left under "Key Documents") to the PPT we used on Thursday night.  For those of you who do not have Microsoft PowerPoint you can download a free office suite suite which will give you the ability to view it.  It is a trustworthy organization.  You should not have any fear with downloading and using the software. (Click the link HERE.)

In short, our conclusion, based on our past 5 months of research, is that there is no rational reason to discard  the text (very words) of the writings which compose the New Testament.  In fact, even the most well-known and vocal textual critic of the New Testament (Bart Ehrman) concedes that we do have, in all essentials, the words written by authors.  He also concedes that no key doctrine of Christianity is undermined by any textual variant when taken in context of all gospel accounts.  Instead, we determined that, according to his own words, the ultimate reason for abandoning his Christian faith is his inability to reconcile God's existence with the presence of pain and suffering in the world.  That is a valid concern which we will pick up at a later time.

As we discussed on Thursday we will now transition to "Higher Criticism" and ask the question, "Are the accounts given in the New Testament historically trustworthy?"  This will be a long and difficult study, but I commend you all on your dedication to this endeavor.  I am seeing incredible fruit being developed as we continue to ask and not shy away from the hard questions of our faith.

See you all Thursday night!

Blessings,
Ricky
worldviewstudy@gmail.com