Authenticity of New Testament Writings

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“The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors, the authenticity of which no-one dreams of questioning. And if the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt. It is a curious fact that historians have often been much readier to trust the New Testament than have many theologians.” (F.F. Bruce, “The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?” 1949, p.15).

“No literary fact is more remarkable that that men, knowing what these writers knew, and feeling what they felt, should have given us chronicles so plain and calm. They have nothing to say as from themselves. Their narratives place us without preface, and keep us without comment, among external scenes, in full view of the facts, and in contact with the living person whom they teach us to know . . . . Who can fail to recognize a divine provision for placing the disciples of all future ages as nearly as possible in the position of those who had been personally present at ‘the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God?’” (T.D. Bernard, “The Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament.”)

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