wordsout by godfrey rust
The
sailing of the ark < 18
of 45 >
18
It
would be hard to get the New Testament convicted
on a charge of apostolic authority. Out of
nine
or
ten writers—not including Q—
four at most heard Jesus' promise
in
the
upper room, that "when the Spirit comes
he will guide you into all truth." The synoptics
all
drew
on unattributed pool reports, the Gentile Luke
took the whole thing down second-hand; Paul,
well
we
have his word for his apostleship—
in whatever sense you like—but who will vouch
for
Mark? James? Jude? 2 Peter? Or could even guess
the writer to the Hebrews? I don't doubt
their inspiration, but the doctrine's flawed;
no wise house could now be founded on such sand.
A summary of the weakness of the case for the “Apostolic authority" of the New Testament (the argument that it is directly inspired by God because it is written by those who were personally chosen and commissioned to by Jesus).
Of those normally credited as authors of the 27 books, the only four possible apostolic writers of the New Testament are Matthew, John, Peter and Paul, provided the latter is accepted as an apostle by virtue of his reported post-Ascension encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road. The ascription of authorship of all four gospels is tenuous: for Matthew and Mark it is traditional, and the other two are inferred from references their texts. Mark was not an apostle, although it is commonly thought that much of his material came from Peter. Luke, James (thought to be the brother of Jesus) and Jude (possibly another brother) were not apostles, though each was influential in the early church’s life. There is no evidence that Luke, a Gentile, ever knew the incarnate Jesus personally. The authorship of 2 Peter is widely questioned because references within it seem to belong to the 2nd Century. The writer of Hebrews is unknown, it being now accepted that it was not Paul. Whether the "Johns" who are credited as author of the Epistles and Revelation are the same person, and whether they are the same as "the beloved disciple", is unknown.
four at most Matthew, John and Peter were at the Last Supper to hear Jesus’ promise (John 16:13) which is the most explicit foundation of belief in the apostolic authority of the New Testament writings. Mark may also have been present, as his house was one of the possible venues.
not including Q The name (short for the German "Quelle", meaning source) given to the text whose existence has been deduced but not proved, from which Matthew and Luke are thought each to have drawn common material (as well as drawing from Mark).
no wise house cf Jesus' parable of the wise and foolish builders (Matthew 7, 24-27).