Scholar To Speak On Bible’s Historical Reliability
![Dr. Peter [P.J.] Williams](https://cloudfront.bernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Dr.-Peter-P.J.-Williams.jpg)
Next week on Tuesday evening, 10th December, the Diocesan and Evangelism Committee of the Anglican Church of Bermuda is welcoming a speaker who will challenge some of the secular assumptions about the bible.
At 7:00pm in the Cathedral Hall on Church Street, a biblical scholar from Cambridge University, UK will offer newer evidence on the historical reliability of the Gospels.
Dr. Peter Williams [pictured] is Warden [CEO] of Tyndale House, Cambridge, UK, a world-leading centre for biblical research.
He said, “It has often been suggested that gospel stories about Jesus grew up over a long time and changed significantly as they were repeated from person to person. New evidence discovered in the last few years is showing that the gospels appear to come from much closer to the events they record.”
In welcoming the news of Dr. Williams’ visit to Bermuda, Bishop Nick, the Bishop of Bermuda, who chairs the Diocesan Evangelism and Education Committee stated that, “in a world which is increasingly divided about the truth and relevance of the Bible, it is very exciting to have world-renowned Biblical scholar, Dr. Pete Williams in Bermuda to look at some of the latest evidence that supports the reliability of the Gospels.”
The open meeting on Tuesday evening at 7:00pm is hoped to be stimulating for all who come and is open to sceptic and believers alike. The presentation promises to be informative, engaging and challenging.
The event is free and open to all, and further information may be obtained from the Diocesan Office by emailing diocese@anglican.bm or telephoning 292-6987.
Oh I cant wait to hear the “demonic”, etc criticisms coming for the self righteous..
This talk will be followed by a series of lectures on the emergence of leprechauns on sunny days given by Dr. Paddy O’Toole who has caught one in a bottle of Bushmills.
and lo,there will be nashing and kissing of teeth!
Sadly, here in Bermuda most of our churches are obsessed not with the gospels but with a literal interpretation of the old testament even though so much of it is arrant nonsense and a figment of the collective imaginations of our ancient ancestors who knew nothing about science and research.
Anyone who believes that an old man and his family went around the entire world in a few days picking out a pair of each and every animal on earth has to be totally and completely delusional. Just two examples come to mind (1) a pair of rhinoceros from southern Africa. Mmmmm Just a tad difficult to herd them together and then transport them to the Middle East and pack ‘em in a big boat, and (2) a pair of cuddly koala bears from Australia. Apart for the lack of air transport back then, they will also need a good supply of eucalyptus leaves to keep ‘em fed, not just in the boat but also on the journey to and from Noah’s place!
To actually believe in the multitude of myths in the old testament is actually an “abomination”!
Does it really matter as to when these stories were first told, a story from a 100 years ago is still a story 100 years from now? The bible is a book of stories that is all, if you want to use a book of stories from 2000 years ago as a reference manual on how to live your life so be it, it is akin to me using a sun dial to tell time and a chariot to ride to work as they both have the same reliability as a bible to get me to work on time!
how come dinosaurs are not mentioned in the bible???????
They are fidel!!!!!
The word dinosaur (meaning terrible lizard) is a recent word, albeit a couple hundred years old. But in the book of Job chapter 40, which was written several thousand years ago, it refers to a “behemoth” and “leviathan”, which are creatures akin to what we would call a dinosaur.
Maybe you should go next Tuesday – hmmmmmm.
Not sure that I understand the point being made be Zeus. A sun dial was quite accurate, and yes, a chariot might be slow but it would still get you where you wanted to go. But when we blindly believe the old testament as the “inerrent word of God” and we denounce the findings of Galileo because he had the temerity to assert that the earth was NOT the centre of the universe and that the earth circled the sun – not the other way around – then we are defying reason and logic and science in the blind belief that the bible is God’s truth!
To suggest that being an Egyptian shepherd is an “abomination” as is eating crab meat or lobster, we begin to realize that this old testament is nothing more than ancient myths and guidelines, many of which are totally misguided no matter how old and wise we mistakenly believe them to be.
Quite frankly the world is a very dangerous place in this 21st century because we still have religous fanatics believing that their particular brand of religion, whether it is Christian, Islamic or Jewish, or any other is the one true religion that we should all live by, and they are prepared to hate and seek to destroy those who do not accept their particular belief system.
This looks to be a good talk to attend. From the article, this will be directed towards the authenticity of the Gospel accounts, supporting evidence for the accounts being written in the first century and the accuracy of the biblical text in comparison to what was actually written 2000 years ago.
When learning about this topic recently, I found it quite incredible how the biblical text stands above any other ancient text. Most popular objections are based on ones beliefs against God and Christ, but the support, by both Christian and Non-Christian historians, is quite unified. That is to say that the writers of the Gospels were present at the time of Jesus and that amazing things, such as miraculous signs and an empty tomb, were believed by the writers, and even their contemporary objectors.
actually NONE of the authors of the books of the Bible were alive during the time of Jesus. Almost every book of the New Testament was written about 200 years after Jesus was on the earth.
Actually that is incorrect. Your view sounds similar to conspiracies etc. reported in films such as Zeitgeist. The new testament Gospels such as Mark and Luke have much support for their writing in the mid first century. There are sources even before these such as 1 Corintians 15:3-8m, which is refernced by Paul. This is thought to be from sources just a few years after the crucifiction of Jesus. Also, the contemporaries of the Apostles, such as and Polycarp were quoting the Gospels in the beginning of the 2nd century (e.g. within the first hundred years after the crucifiction). The New testament , as we know it was compiled as official canon hundreds of years later, but the texts were around and being quoted much earlier than that.
You would probably gain a lot of insight from going to this lecture as it is better to know the evidence for and against an issue.
The Bible is full of errors, lies, false prophecies, innacuracies, contradictions, hypocrisy, and much more. That is why I stopped believing in that garbage book of lies.
The Bible said Egypt and Damascus would be laid to waste, their glory destroyed, name removed. Well….Both of them are here today, with even the same ancient names!
so much for that prophecy!
No wonder this Island is in dire straits. It’s basically Spiritually Dead.
Twisted Souls.
I am glad for this. This is a time of year where “author” come out of the woodworks to say that that Jesus never existed, ect. Of course many of these men are just on the outskirts of theological and historical scholarship. For a few other examples of this, check out my article ’5 Bible Verses Atheists Misinterpret’ http://thereforegodexists.com/2013/12/5-bible-verses-atheists-misinterpret/