Isn’t funny, that how one set of myths become somebody else’s truths. Manuscripts written a 70-year generation after the purported events, with no other contemporary manuscripts to dove-tail, including a manuscript steadfast followers call delusions, more celebrated than a man named Gautama.
People dont want truth. They resist it.
There have been many studious iron minded folks who set out to prove it was not. It has stood the test of time. Yes truth is inconvenient.
Falsity is not it lies to tell you what your itching ears want to hear.
Many of the other books of the New Testament were written by Paul, and the approximate dates of his Epistles are not in dispute. His first Epistle was written around 50 AD. The dates of Paul's writings make it impossible that the Gospels were written 70 years after Jesus' life, because much of the Book of Acts is about Paul, including his conversion on the road to Damascus and his missionary journeys. And, as I mentioned, the author of the Gospel of Luke and Acts are the same person, which is also not disputed. The Book of Acts also describes how a physician named Luke met Paul on his 1st missionary journey.
Also, a verse in 1 Timothy seems to be quoting from Luke's Gospel:
St Paul, while he was writing his Epistles, appears to have known what was written in the Gospel of Luke. I say appears to have known because Im open to alternative explanations, but on the face of it, this is how it looks. If you think Im wrong, show me why.Here is why this appears to be the case. This is an excerpt from Pauls first letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 5:1718):
Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in preaching and teaching; for the scripture says, You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and, The labourer deserves to be paid.
Paul claims to be quoting from scripture. But which parts of scripture is he quoting from? The first one is easy. You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain comes from the Torah, in Deuteronomy 25:4. What about the second quote, the labourer deserves to be paid? or more literally, the worker deserves his wages? (the NRSV from which I quoted often alters the sentence to remove reference to gender). Is it anywhere in the Hebrew Scripture? What about the Septuagint? Nope, nowhere. Was there any Jewish writing at the time that contained this saying and which might have been regarded as scripture? No. So what was he quoting from when he claimed that this is something contained in scripture?
Heres a quote from something that Christians today regard as Scripture: Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid.
And there it is, the elusive phrase. This is from the Gospel of Luke (10:7), where Jesus is giving his disciples instructions before sending them out. So how did Paul know about this saying being in Scripture? Remember that St Paul is believed to have died in AD 67.