{"id":4178,"date":"2006-03-18T15:48:24","date_gmt":"2006-03-18T21:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=4178"},"modified":"2019-07-20T09:02:32","modified_gmt":"2019-07-20T14:02:32","slug":"how-can-you-trust-early-christian-writers-when-you-disagree-with-them-on-some-topics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-you-trust-early-christian-writers-when-you-disagree-with-them-on-some-topics\/","title":{"rendered":"How can you trust early Christian writers when you disagree with them on some topics?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

I appreciate and respect your willingness (and the willingness of your church) to so openly and staunchly defend your beliefs to the world. If anyone “has a ready answer,” it’s the folks at La Vista Church of Christ!<\/p>\n

You previously wrote:<\/a><\/p>\n

Allow me a moment to answer your last question. I find it amusing that\u00a0you call into question whether Matthew’s account of the Jesus’s life\u00a0is inspired.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I didn’t call into question its inspiration; I called into question whether you could prove its inspiration from Scripture.<\/p>\n

It implies that you see the strength of what Matthew taught in regards\u00a0to marriage, you made arguments to get around it, but the truth is\u00a0that you would prefer that Matthew didn’t exist at all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not at all! I believe Matthew to be inspired; I just recognize that, using Scripture alone, I can’t prove it. I have to resort to extra-biblical tradition for my doctrine (belief) that Matthew is inspired.<\/p>\n

The evidence that Matthew’s account belongs in the Scriptures is large\u00a0and abundant. The account matches the other accounts and the four\u00a0accounts do not contradict each other. Early Christians accepted\u00a0Matthew’s account and quoted from it. For example, Clement ofAlexandria makes reference to the star that appears at Jesus’ birth, a\u00a0fact only recorded by Matthew. Speaking of Ignatius, C. R. Gregory\u00a0states: “The author clearly knows our New Testament in general. The\u00a0Gospels of Matthew and John appear to have been either his favorites\u00a0or the ones better known to him.” The same argument can be made for\u00a0other early Christian writers, such as Polycarp. These writers don’t prove the inspiration of Matthew, but they give evidence that Matthew\u00a0has a very long history of being accepted as being a part of the\u00a0Bible.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course! And I accept all their testimony. But, unfortunately, their testimony isn’t biblical, and so has no real evidential value according to your “command, example, or necessary inference” criteria.<\/p>\n

The strongest evidence is the apostle Paul himself. He refers to\u00a0Matthew 19:9\u00a0in\u00a0I Corinthians 7:10-11\u00a0as something the Lord said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That then just pushes the question off onto what command, example, or necessary inference proves that I Corinthians is Scripture.<\/p>\n

However, let me refer you to “The New Testament Canon<\/a>” for\u00a0further proof.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While certainly a good piece of writing, it still relies on extra-biblical tradition in order to establish who wrote certain letters and when. This is especially evident in your quotation of the Church Fathers to support the canonicity of the Scripture; it’s interesting, though, that while you accept the claims of the Church Fathers with respect to the canon of Scripture, you reject much of their other beliefs (for instance, about the “real presence of Christ at the Eucharist).<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

I cited the fact that Matthew’s account was consistent with the other three gospels (and the rest of the Bible as well for that matter) which is a mark of God’s inspiration (Deuteronomy 13:1-5). I also noted that the information contained uniquely in Matthew was alluded to by Paul in\u00a0I Corinthians 7:10-11. Yet you then casually dismiss these because you would then question whether the other books of the Bible are inspired. Thus there is no answer to your question because you ruled out all the answers to your question which come from the Bible. Yet you stated you wanted the scriptural <\/em>evidence that Matthew was inspired.<\/p>\n

Matthew’s account has been accepted as God’s word since it was written, as evidenced by:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Matthew’s account is used as a reference by other inspired writings.<\/li>\n
  • Matthew’s account is used as an inspired reference by uninspired writers. It is cited by:\n
      \n
    • Clement of Alexandria (late first century)<\/li>\n
    • Epistle of Barnabas (about A.D. 130)<\/li>\n
    • Letters of Ignatius and Polycarp (first half of the second century)<\/li>\n
    • The Didache (first half of the second century)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
    • Matthew’s account appears in the proper historical time frame (i.e. it doesn’t appear hundreds of years after the claimed author had died).<\/li>\n
    • The Gospel of John is written with the assumption that people were familiar with the other gospel accounts as John does not cover much of the material covered in the other gospels.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      There is plenty of evidence, internal and external, that Matthew is from the mouth of God. It does not conflict with other accounts. It has small details, which when can be verified, have always been shown to be true. It contains prophecies, such as concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, which came true precisely as stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Question: I appreciate and respect your willingness (and the willingness of your church) to so openly and staunchly defend your beliefs to the world. If anyone “has a ready answer,” it’s the folks at La Vista Church of Christ! You previously wrote: Allow me a moment to answer your last question. I find it amusing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[606,279,708],"class_list":["post-4178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-gospels","tag-history","tag-matthew"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54554,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-please-explain-why-mark-and-luke-dont-contradict-matthew-about-remarriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":4178,"position":0},"title":"Can you please explain why Mark and Luke don’t contradict Matthew about remarriage?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you please explain why Mark and Luke don't contradict Matthew about remarriage? Matthew records the porneia exception, but Mark and Luke reject all exceptions. Answer: You are making an assumption that because something is not mentioned that it is a rejection. That is not true. All you can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24117,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-antecedent-of-it-church-or-rock-in-matthew-1619\/","url_meta":{"origin":4178,"position":1},"title":"Is the antecedent of “it” “church” or “rock” in Matthew 16:19?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: A little help, please.\u00a0 Where Matthew records; \"....and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.\"\u00a0 What is the \"it\" referring to?\u00a0 I have heard some say it was the \"church.\"\u00a0 Others, that it was the \"rock,\" Christ. According to your studies of the Greek definition, what is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23494,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-research-says-that-matthew-mistranslated-eli-eli-lama-sabachthani\/","url_meta":{"origin":4178,"position":2},"title":"My research says that Matthew mistranslated “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am sorry I am going to have to agree with the guy who questioned you on\u00a0\"Could Jesus have said \"My God, my God, for this I was kept?\". Yeshua, the Son of God, AKA Jesus Christos, Jesus Christ spoke Aramaic and while Matthew was a Greek scholar, he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69057,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-believed-in-inspiration\/","url_meta":{"origin":4178,"position":3},"title":"Jesus Believed in Inspiration","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall \"Inspiration,\" how it happens, what it means, and why it is important are all questions, some of which have more straightforward answers than others. As far as how it happens, I don't have all the answers other than the personality of each writer is apparently intact, which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39564,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/spiritual-thoughts-spiritual-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":4178,"position":4},"title":"Spiritual Thoughts, Spiritual Words","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford The fundamental question of our faith is whether the Bible is the inspired word of God. If it is, we can rely on its contents. If it isn't, everything we believe in, from the creation to the resurrection, is built on a foundation of sand instead\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52965,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-site-is-one-of-my-favorites\/","url_meta":{"origin":4178,"position":5},"title":"Your site is one of my favorites","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I just had to thank you again for your site. I consider it a favorite. I loved\u00a0your article on Matthew 24. I think it is right on. I am in what you might call an institutional church of Christ. Thanks again. Answer: I'm glad you are finding the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4178\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}