Can the New Testament Possibly Be True?

Episode Outline:
0:00 Is the New Testament “true,” and what would that mean?
0:29 Christmas plans, English dinners, and roast potatoes
4:13 Why asking about truth in the New Testament matters
6:41 Does false authorship make a text’s claims false?
10:02 Different levels of truth: authorship, history, ethics, and meaning
13:52 Why genre matters when reading the Bible
17:53 How historians sort history, metaphor, theology, and propaganda
22:18 Why modern Christians often miss the kind of truth biblical authors cared about
25:31 Which New Testament genres are meant more literally, and which are not?
28:45 How should modern readers find truth in the Bible responsibly?
33:50 Can reader-response itself be a kind of truth?
36:50 Bart’s Weekly Update: Christmas in England and too much turkey
39:00 Listener Q&A: inspiration, inerrancy, equality, and baptism for the dead
47:04 Final reflections: truth works on many levels

Episode Description

Many people say that the New Testament cannot be true because we don’t know exactly what the authors originally wrote, or because there are contradictions in it, or because some of the books were not written by their alleged authors, or because there are historical mistakes. But even if these things are true, does that mean the New Testament cannot be true – on some level?

Also watch these episodes:
Missing Manuscripts: Uncovering the Original Gospels' Text
Missing Manuscripts: Uncovering the Original Gospels' Text

Why the Doctrine of Inerrancy Contradicts the Gospels
Why the Doctrine of Inerrancy Contradicts the Gospels

How Did Scribes Change the Gospel of Mark?
How Did Scribes Change the Gospel of Mark?

Bart and Megan discuss:

Why is the question of the "truth" of the New Testament important?

If it is "true," in what sense?

Is truth in fiction the same as truth in nonfiction?

Does the fact that we don't know who wrote the gospels impact their "truth"?

If a book of the bible is a forgery, does that make it necessarily untrue?

The question of authorship versus veracity is complicated.

If one part of a writing is verifiably true, does mean it's all true?

What kind of questions do historians try to verify?

What criteria do historians use to determine genre (what is history, what is poetry, etc.)?

The Gospels are biographies, but are not trying to tell an objective, chronological story.

Ancient writers were interested in getting at the essence of a person, rather than the particular historical details of his life.

If people read the Gospels as history rather than as they were intended, they miss the message of the writer.

The Book of Revelation is a particular genre, not meant as prophetic literature.

Paul's Epistles ARE meant to be read as factual.

Some people read the bible like a ouija board; some cherry-pick it like a jigsaw puzzle.

Is the response of the modern reader a kind of truth? Can it lead to bad interpretations?

Listeners Questions:

If a scribe changes a text, is that divinely inspired?

When did Christians start believing the scriptures were inerrant?

Does Paul think men & women are equal when he says "in Christ, there is no male or female..."?

First Corinthians 15:29 talks about baptizing the dead. Did Paul intend people to do this?