Well, the commie prof is at it again. Christian called me after class today to tells us their professor had told them that all the other gospels were based on the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas that is dated from around 150 A.D. Many years after virtually all the gospels. Only fringe scholars of the likes of Elaine Pagels and Marcus Borg hold to such a theory and it has been thoroughly debunked since it was popularized by the radical Jesus Seminar in the 1990’s. Here is a link to an article by Craig Blomberg, a reputable New Testament scholar, that puts it all in context. Here is a good lay level discussion of the topic by Tim Keller.
After that, our commie went on to say that their was too much time between when the events happened to when it was written down. Christian told him that people who were alive when the events happened were also alive when the gospels were written down and that, in the case of John, there is an eyewitness account. The prof’s response was to ask Christian if he could remember what he was doing seven years ago and then change the subject. This is too pathetic even to take the time to post the links that refute this goofiness. I wonder what he thinks we know about the life of Julius Caeser.
Update: In the meantime, Kelly sends the following text message:
Hey Dad, the professor is crazy… he brought up the Gospel of Thomas which is like directly contradicted in my New Testament textbook, said that Cain and Abel were possibly homosexual and when Christian argued that the Gospels came from direct sources to Jesus and not from inaccurate oral traditions, he countered with “Well, do you remember what you were doing seven years ago?”
Update II: The kids walked out of their commie prof class and into their New Testament class. The N.T. professor showed the Craig-Ehrman debate where Craig (to be very gracious) demonstrates that Bart Ehrman is either dishonest or not a serious scholar or both. The title of the debate is “Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?” You can see the debate on YouTube here.
