Give Me an Answer - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John 

Will Wood THIS!

And Ray Comfort too!

They are very similar ,due to age and era

Yes! Avoid foolish and profane babbling for they only gender strife 2 Tim. 2:23

Amen to that!!! Its good too watch mature Christians preach...I sometimes I witness too Jehovah's witness when they set up public booths in the city, it takes patience and I always.need my Bible with me + The Holy Spirit, its edifying too watch fellow Christians witness to people especially a lot of people I only done this to one or two Jehovah's witness not a whole crowd!!!/Shalom to you and your loved ones!!!Endure and keep the faith of our Lord Christ through Tribulations!!

Some reason the Lord puts it in my heart to share what I've read of the Bible to not only Jehovah's witness but a couple of others in pasaing , its always.been a good experience even if there dissagreemant on couple of words or meanings/context of verses... I guess there is never a wrong season too witness especially with our Lord returning soon!!! The Lord saved me from a life of sin, I walked away from my former life and started from scratch literally..in my lowest moments I humbled myself and prayed while sleeping in the cities parklands, the Lord has answered my prayers and blessed me.every single day since then, I've some demonic attacks but my prayer and bible keep me in the race...its took 7-8 years too finally receive Christ, better late then never..I'd say the last year is when I took it seriously and putting all in no more backsliding praise Jesus!!!

@@jerome3989 that's wonderful to hear. There is no other life worth living. What do you mean by "it took 7 - 8 years to receive Christ?" Were you on the fence about giving your life to Him? Have you been baptized in Jesus' name?

7-8 years of backsliding after God stirred up series of miracles that pulled me out of life selling drugs & criminal lifestyle, I started from scratch by applying for work and doing study in between...but I was using a lot of weed and ended up drinking heavily to repress all the pain. Gods had to shake me out of it by allowing me too survive a near fatal car accident, I was drunk driving clipped a car doing 170km car I hit was turned on its side mine was written off, cops even told me they couldn't believe not one person from both vehicles was hurt!! That day I sobered up too the fact God was calling me, months later and too this day I'm sober minded no longer backsliding and have activley chose Jesus instead of this world praise Jesus!!! No I haven't been baptized in Jesus name yet, my friend has invited me to attend Church service at this house but always gets delayed, Gods shepparding me in that direction, a sense of urgency is bubbling up inside me now knowing time is short maybe I have too push. Glory be too Yeshuah I feel so happy but at the same time carrying this cross is extremely difficult, I keep reminding myself of what Paul said before he died " I fought the good fight of faith till the very end" that's what I want to accomplish for our Lord Yeshuah the Christ!!! Shalom Brother in Christ appreciate you taking time to reply too this testimony of mine!!!

half right. they lived in the delta. land of Goshen

@@heyitsdrew I'll grant that. But they did not wander in the Delta.

According to Jewish archeological studies , there have never been a significant number of Jews living in Egypt . Not only that , but they would suggest that Moses did not exist , that Moses is a composite of more than one person

Mick Q How did you get to know this please?

He doesn’t know what he’s talking about

Not sure if you’ve found it by now - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dUqXYHwjb9o.htmlsi=c9ZSLXX1_G3cYIGb

I think the main reason the church has declined in the West is because life has gotten easier and better for everyone overall. People who don't have many "needs" would never know they have a need for God. If life is good, then why bother with religion? Kind of heartbreaking, but makes sense when you see the growth of the church is strongest in places where life is hardest.

I like how he tries to say the Roman census never happened. Dude! Luke literally wrote the book to the Romans. If he made it all up then why would he put something in there that all the romans know didn’t take place! Furthermore, a midden is usually found for a group staying in the area. The Israelites were always moving and when they stopped it wasn’t for a long period of time so they couldn’t accumulate a large pile. On top of this there was not a constant supply of materials, they would need to hold on to the majority of things they used.

@@josiahbray6870 i thought the same thing when i heard his arrogant nonsense.

Ninja 377 Great point!

@@josiahbray6870 I'd expect them to be double timing across that desert. No time to stop and dig holes. I agree with you. What would they be tossing out? Their burrito wrappers? Pop bottles?

I've seen cliffs response to this. He says if there is no supernatural god, then of course miracles don't exist. But if there is a supernatural God, then its not illogical for this God to be able to overpower the laws of nature (ones that he created in the first place). Therefore miracles are possible

@@Josiahministries If a supernatural God exists, then he can perform any miracle we could possibly imagine.. that is true. But how do we go about establishing that this supernatural God exists? .. that is the question.

bonnie43uk great question. I recommend looking up frank tureks answer to that, he does a great job

@@Kodiaksaint Can you give me the gist of it? Or what you believe?

@@bonnie43uk I just look forward to it because it is such an easy position to rebut because it's a circular argument the atheist is making.

i just wanted to proclaim that even though i know cliff and most people here know he is too.

duh

What evidence?

Actually all archeological evidence points to evolution. Your being naive thinking religion has evidence on it’s side

@@rrock2025 a verified collection of historical documents spanning 2000 yrs of history written by eye witnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses, they report super natural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies, and claim their writings were divine in nature all collaborating to one overall redemption story

Do miracles happen ?

@@mickqQ Yes they do, but only if there’s a miracle worker that makes it happen.

@@aureliotheredeemed7566 How would you define a miracle Say an aeroplane crashed and 199 people died and 1 survived , is that a miracle ?

@@mickqQ Miracles are unexplainable, one person surviving a plane crash out of a large group of people is explained by the circumstances that aloud that person to survive.

HaroldMcShaggervillehermensteinflaggenshaggen I’ll like to know that

They don't number these videos sadly, but there is another part to this one. I just can't remember what it was called, but look for any videos where Cliffe is wearing the same clothes and you'll eventually find it. It doesn't matter anyway, because this kid eventually called him an idiot and walked off.

In fact the epistles of Paul date earlier then the gospels. If we look at historical evidence as cliff stated, we see nothing reliable about the gospels. In fact we see inconsistency and alterations, and we don't even know the authors of the gospels. I only have one thing to say though, if it wasn't for the Jewish scriptures, there would be no new testament PERIOD. Cliff is right when he states "I'm more concerned about the gospels then the old testament, because in the gospels we read about jesus". I encourage all to read Numbers 23:19 and Hosea 11:9 and ask yourself what GOD is communicating.

@@DjRuthful what is your interpretation of Numbers 23:19 just out of curiosity?

Is that the demonic-looking atheist guy?

hendrix3081 How can he follow satan when he doesn’t believe in god.

@@joelm6780 Believing in God is not a precondition for following Satan. Many people follow Satan and don't realize it. I'm assuming that you meant that he does not believe in the supernatural.

Aron ra is a dumb hillbilly

They had it out in a podcast once. Aron was obliterated, and he was also drunk.

And it makes more sense that everything came from nothing instead. Everything just poofed out of nowhere

@@CheGuegriffin Well, actually it does. The very first thing could only come out of a state of no thing otherwise some thing would be every thing by definition. As it stands, the state of no thing has the potential to manifest everything. Paradoxically, hard to grasp but makes still more sense than Copperfield in the clouds :)

@@walterdaems57 sounds like commie gobbledeegook to me pal

@walterdaems57 bruh literally spewed nonsense and thinks he sounds smart. Rick and Morty fan over here.

@@CheGuegriffin You’re comment is the best proof against ‘intelligent’ creation :)

and birds lay eggs after 21 days so it must mean God. Happy 2020 Paul.

bonnie43uk 🍀🍀🍀🍀

COVID happened in 2020. Weird stuff

Lawrence Eason Yeah, if there was no supernatural God then these are all fables. Assuming you’re an atheist a bet you believe we all came from “nothing” exploding. Yet this wouldn’t be a fable? I bet if you’ve never seen a firefly and I tried to convince you of their existence you may consider this a fable too, but fireflies do exist. What if I tried to tell you that subatomic particles can act as a wave and a particle at the same time based on the observation of them. If you didn’t know any better you would probably say it’s a fable as well. You may need to approach the Bible with an open mind. Don’t read it in arrogance. Ask God to reveal himself to you.

@@josiahbray6870 I prefer evidence. 1. Absolutely zero evidence of anyone living to be 150 years old much less 900. A lofty fairy tale that never was 2. One man defeating an armed 1,000 man army. Makes a good movie 3. Explain how 8.7 million species fit into a 450 foot boat. Oh, did all land plants sprout legs and "walk" to this ark as well? All insects? It's just silliness 4. The creation story has so many problems it takes an entire debate to cover it. Easily proved false by the fossil record 5. Again zero evidence of even the possibility 6. More silliness 7. Silly 8. Okay not silly, ridiculous However, I will extend an olive branch. If you can demonstrate that a god even exists then I agree...most of these fables become possible. #3 is still impossible

@@josiahbray6870 by the way, whoever said there ever was a nothing?

@@lawrenceeason8007 exactly lawrence. it's only in the last 100 years or so that we've discovered that we're part of a single galaxy ( the milky way) that in itself is one of billions upon billions of other galaxies. In our galaxy alone there are said to be around 400 billion other stars, now imagine how many planets are orbiting each of those stars... and that is in one single galaxy.. when you think of all the billions of other galaxies it becomes mind-numbing to comtemplate just how insignificant our tiny planet is. We are like a single grain of sand in a massive desert... how do we even begin to make sense of that?

@@bonnie43uk probably impossible to make sense of it. Of course, I don't believe that the universe has any intrinsic purpose. I guess the best we can do is continue to unravel the workings of our world and environment

"The gospel authors are unknown ." there is no reason to be dogmatic about the original authors of the Gospels, but I see no reason to dispute the assigned authorships. To ask someone to definitively prove they were the original authors is just as productive as asking someone to definitively prove they aren't the original authors. "The earliest gospel (mark ) was written around 30 years after the death of Jesus . John the last gospel was written around 60 years after the death of Jesus ." I suppose it depends on whose scholarship you prefer to listen to when studying the subject. There are some who may put the dates earlier. Which scholastic pedigree and how many initials do you need to see at the end of a person's name to determine if they are telling you the most accurate testimony of history. However, I see that as irrelevant. The fact we have 1st century testimonies being spread within a generation or 2 of the events speaks volumes to me of their veracity. The fact that actual names of eyewitnesses and places are used in the accounts would allow any 1st century skeptic to seek out and verify if these events took place. "The gospels were written in a different language and a different country from the supposed events ." In which language do you think they were written originally? The manuscript evidence shows the New Testament documents having been written in Greek. The Gospels make mention of JESUS and later Paul having encounters with people who would have most likely been speaking Greek. " There are no original copies of the gospels, the earliest complete New Testament book is from the 2nd century . The earliest complete set of New Testament books are from the 4th century." Considering there was no method of mass producing books or periodicals at the time, it would be foolish to expect there to ever be a large number of documents available. Then when we consider the multiple outbreaks of persecution against the Christians in the first and 2nd century, it is understandable that many of the original copies or other epistles would have been destroyed. And then let's not forget the beginnings of and spread of Islam which even to this day is known for they way its proponents would seek out and destroy any documents, relics, artifacts, or monuments that would challenge the supremacy and authority of Islam. "The stories were exaggerated to “ out god the pagan gods “." merely an assumption. One must assume the testimonies of JESUS were never true. It takes some mental gymnastics to attempt to claim this is why Christianity spread. The Book of Acts seems to show how effective those who worshipped and profited off the veneration of pagan gods were in forcing Paul and his companions from those cities. "There are gospels that did not make the final edit of the bible " a simple study of the councils in which the Canon of Scripture was compiled will demonstrate that those other gospels were never seriously considered for inclusion in the canon nor accepted by the established orthodox churches. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8sS_76MSl9g.html "Try not to confuse it with reality 👍" Agreed, the knowledge of the reality of the Truth of the LORD should never be confused with the vain incoherent and logically flawed religions of secular humanism and naturalism.

The timings I’ve given are widely agreed upon by the majority of New Testament scholars. They are not written by eyewitnesses or people that knew eyewitnesses. They were written in Greek , 2 of the gospels contain birth narratives , are you seriously going to suggest 2 of the gospel writers were at the birth or found people who were . There are accounts in the gospels that describe events when Jesus was alone , did Jesus tell the gospel writers from beyond the grave , The gospels are apologetic books, they are not history books . They were written by believers to convince pagans or Jews ( depending on the gospel ) to convert to a new god . The Jesus portrayed in mark , is markedly different to the Jesus portrayed in John . Stories exaggerated over centuries . It’s just 1 religion among 1000s It’s Bronze Age superstitious nonsense.

" The timings I’ve given are widely agreed upon by the majority of New Testament scholars." so it is merely a choice of whose scholastic pedigree and number of initials/abbreviations at the end of a person's name you choose to accept. I suppose it really doesn't matter if the "majority" could consist of folks who just cite and accept one another's opinions of scholarship. "They are not written by eyewitnesses or people that knew eyewitnesses." This is an assumption. You would have to prove who the original writer was to claim it wasn't written the traditionally accepted writer. But as I said there is no need to be dogmatic about this one way or another. " They were written in Greek , 2 of the gospels contain birth narratives , are you seriously going to suggest 2 of the gospel writers were at the birth or found people who were . There are accounts in the gospels that describe events when Jesus was alone , did Jesus tell the gospel writers from beyond the grave , " Matthew/Levi was a tax collector, he likely was an educated man. He as well as other disciples and later apostles may very well may have known Greek. It would be difficult to claim there was very little Greek being spoken in these regions of the Roman Empire. I suppose your argument would be similar if 2,000 years from now anthropologists tried to claim nobody spoke Chinese or Sanskrit in the USA during the 20th and 21st century. They may not be the languages the majority speaks, but it may be a sufficient number of people able to speak, write, or translate the language. As far as content goes. 3 years of close discipleship gives a person plenty of opportunity to learn about their teacher's life. They also had exposure and opportunity to speak with Mary and the other family members of JESUS. And then 40 days after the resurrection gives JESUS sufficient time to instruct those who would later compile the Gospels about the few events (name them) you want to mention where JESUS was alone. If one is going to be serious about trying to dismiss the Gospels, one should also be willing to make sure they have given serious consideration for the veracity of the Gospels. Just because you don't like what that truth may imply and require of you doesn't make it dismissible. "The Jesus portrayed in mark , is markedly different to the Jesus portrayed in John ." That's not how I or many other people read it. The different accounts display that the Gospel writer of Mark likely had a different audience to whom he was writing. It's the same JESUS written of by John, yet John's audience may already have known Mark's testimonies and now John wants to share more of the significance of those and other testimonies and how the work of the HOLY SPIRIT is being done in the lives of those born again. I find it interesting that both Mark and John make references to "the beginning". Mark starts his Gospel with the phrase "The beginning of the Gospel..." John expounds on the significance of the beginning by saying, "In the beginning was the Word..." "Stories exaggerated over centuries " to make that claim, one must know what was said in the original documents and testimonies. However, the number of dated manuscripts and fragments refute the claim that these testimonies have grown through exaggeration or that it took centuries for them to develop. You already have testified that you accept the first gospel to have been compiled within a few decades of the events, not centuries. Please be consistent. "It’s just 1 religion among 1000s It’s Bronze Age superstitious nonsense." unless you are just trying to use hyperbole (who is the one being serious now?) I would like you to try to name 1000 bronze age superstitions that compare to the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST and had the impact that Christianity continues to have on nations all over the world. Also, you are aware that the Bronze Age is considered to have ended 1200 years before the birth of CHRIST? But it would merely be a genetic fallacy argument to claim because of the time and place of the events they should not be given consideration or trust that the event are true.

Wesley Dickens The impact something has , has no bearing on its truth . If that were the case then that would provide veracity to all religions . If it is a matter of which scholar you follow , Then you would agree that there is no consensus among scholars . If the people who spend their adult lives studying the texts , cannot come to agreement.. then what good reason would you have for believing them . Other than at some time in the past you became convinced they are true . Of course the stories were exaggerated in an attempt to garner converts , Not only did it happen then , it still happens today , you can see it in burgeoning religions that spring up from time to time . I’m not dismissing the gospels , I’m recognising then for what they are . They are apologetic books , it history books . The stories about Jesus were being spread for 40 years , of telling , retelling , exaggerating, by believers trying to convince non believers , When they were finally written down , The gospel of John , the last , Jesus claims to be god , not so in the first 3 gospels ... the story is evolving . The early Christians ( Porto- Christians) Believe Jesus became divine at his death , then it was his baptism, then it was his birth , then it was that he was always divine , then at the council of nicea in the 3rd century they decided that he was not just divine but equal with god , the birth of the triune god. The ancient world , people could become divine , the divine could become human , That is not reality , it’s religion . Believing Jesus is a real god Is no different to believing Brahma is a god or that shiva is a god . It’s just religion, It’s how people of the ancient world tried to make sense of it . Unfortunately people cling to those ideas religiously

"The impact something has , has no bearing on its truth . If that were the case then that would provide veracity to all religions ." Many religions do have a level of veracity. Many have their origins based on actual events on the lives of actual people. And many have developed a theology or ideology that has impacted many people in negative ways. Such as Hinduism that continues to put people in a caste system that keeps people in perpetual poverty. Or Buddhism that if taken to its logical conclusion will lead people to do nothing to help or improve the human condition. The truth of the force of gravity impacts how we build bridges and airplanes. The truth of Christianity impacts how we value all human life and how we will seek to live out our lives to bring Glory to the LORD. "Of course the stories were exaggerated in an attempt to garner converts , Not only did it happen then , it still happens today , you can see it in burgeoning religions that spring up from time to time ." deviance from orthodoxy does not refute the veracity of the Gospels. Martin Luther and the Reformers held to the idea of "always be reforming." We recognize that the LORD has given us a standard by which we are able to know if we are deviating from the truth and we are then able to reform where we have gone wrong. Yes, aberrant practices and doctrines have developed through the decades and centuries, but many of them have failed to have any lasting impact. And the ones that have had longer impacts such as LDS, Jehovah's Witness, and even the Roman Catholics are experiencing a decline and signs of collapse. Many within those movement are calling for the need to reform. If your belief that church history demonstrates there has been substantial exaggerations about the person of CHRIST are responsible for the growth and spread of Christianity, then why did they stop around the 3rd Century? Shouldn't those stories and caricatures have grown and spread more? We just don't see it. "The early Christians ( Porto- Christians) Believe Jesus became divine at his death , then it was his baptism, then it was his birth , then it was that he was always divine , then at the council of nicea in the 3rd century they decided that he was not just divine but equal with god , the birth of the triune god." The doctrines and creeds implemented by the Councils were not invented at the Councils. It is silly to think such. Even if you can cite a source that demonstrates some early Christians believed erroneously about the Divinity of JESUS, that does not constitute that orthodox Christians did not accept the Truth of the Trinity. The Councils helped to establish what was already known as orthodox doctrine. In turn it would help the Church to continue to have more positive impacts on and within their communities. We could go on and on referencing anecdotal events and their significance. But none of what you list refutes anything of the Truth of the LORD and how without it you cannot even begin to make sense of reality. Your religious attempts to spend a Saturday trying to argue against the CHRIST who you think is no different than Brahma or Shiva reveals a lot.

Maybe someone will pay attention next time

@@mr.s7522 Heh, other opinions are available. Cliffe is entitled to his belief as are you. This problem of evil is one which I don't think Christianity has a good grasp on Sweenz. From a naturalistic viewpoint we know that a tiny percentage of people are born with a certain brain disorder which means they lack empathy, which in turn means they are capable of causing evil acts., killing for pleasure for example. I'm sure other people will have other opinions and tell me it has something to do with Satan or the fall of man.

Bonnie, that is exactly the problem with your view. You are attaching harm towards humans with the word "evil." Evil in the human language has a deeper meaning than just pain. If it is no different than pain or harm then why not just use the terms harm or pain? If I torture a baby for fun and I express laughter and joy while the baby is screaming in pain, why is that EVIL? It is just me causing pain and harm to the Baby. Evil is just a made up word. As a Christian, however, I believe that Evil means something much deeper. I believe that If someone has a condition where they are unable to feel pain and I go ahead and cut them into pieces, that is evil. They feel no pain but it is still evil. I believe that If I shoot someone in the head who is in a coma, then that is also evil. Pain has very little to do with what is Evil. Why use the word Evil when you just mean " I DON'T LIKE THAT!" or "that hurts don't do it!" Bonnie, you can be angry about what bad things happen to good people... but do you ever ask yourself WHY you feel like good things SHOULD happen to good people? after all, we are all just particles. 4.5 Billion years of evolution does not change the fact that we are all made of matter. No amount of time will change that. A lot of time does nothing to introduce purpose. It is ridiculous to say "oh if we just leave enough time, somehow a purpose will arise." Your argument is that WE have decided that there is purpose after many years of evolution... the problem is that some people don't believe that. We don't all believe the same thing and without an ultimate source of what is good, it is all just subjective. Some people believe that they need to cause pain to others in order to make things right. The argument is that without a basis for what is TRULY right 100%, we cannot possibly JUDGE anyone at all for doing anything. It is THEIR personal choice to whether what they are doing is actually evil. Who are you to judge them? Everyone decides what they need to do to make things right in their own mind. within a materialistic world view you must accept this. Every person is an individual with their own thoughts. You have no basis to say that you are correct or good or that someone else is not.

@@jamesemerson4102 Thanks for those comments James, you made some good points, in a way you are exactly right, 'evil' does have a much more deeper meaning than someone causing extreme pain to another human being(s).. or even to an animal, someone who tortures cats or dogs for example can be said to be doing evil. I doubt that you or I could encapsulate everything that the human race deems as evil... it's a massive topic. You are absolutely right, not everyone agrees on what we deem as evil, I never claimed everyone did agree, you will never get every single person on the planet to agree about anything.. we are so diverse as a species. Does Christianity have the correct definition of the word 'evil'?, if so, do all Christians agree on what evil is?, I very much doubt it... you said it yourself "every person is an individual with their own thoughts" and while that is true you are wrong to say that "I have no basis to say that I am correct or good or that someone else is not" .. absolutely i can.. if I see someone doing something evil.. lets say torturing a baby as an extreme example.. i can use my own sense of judgement as a human being and using my rationale, commonsense, and sense of empathy, i know for a fact that the person doing that evil act to a baby is very very wrong, if you simply use the logic "would I like someone to do that to me"?, you very quickly make the judgement that it's very wrong.. a child of 3 would know it's very bad, .. not because God gave them a conscience, but because a 3 year old has been taught to know the basics of what is acceptable and what is not. I don't believe we are born with a specific purpose as such, I'm 61 now and still don't believe i was born with a specific purpose in life.. we find purpose as we go through life. What do you think is your purpose in life James? I've made this point lots of times James, .. if you are telling me my sense of morality comes from God, why do I instinctively know without a shadow of a doubt that God committed evil acts in the Bible, ordering the butchery of tiny infants and babies of rival nations, and even the rape of young virgin girls?

Not anonymous. And thousands of manuscripts by ancient standards very close to the time of the originals were written. Written in an EXTREMELY WEIRD WAY for someone trying to invent a religion out of thin air. Differences between the gospels that really fit the way eyewitness accounts will differ in ways that at first glance seem contradictory but for this reason -- ask any cop -- have the ring of a real authenticity, a real effort to tell what they saw. And it shows they did not get together to try to get their stories straight, nor did the Vatican try to do it for them. If you are in here saying such things, you are an atheist evangelist and missionary. Why?

Still can’t deny that the original churches existed mid 1st century, regardless of these “ANNONOMOUS” writings. Can’t deny that Jesus was a real historical figure either given the evidence throughout history from accounts outside of the Bible like Josephus Flavius. Can’t deny that the Dead Sea scrolls contains an ancient copy of the prophetic scroll of Isaiah, part of the Hebrew Old Testament, which predates Jesus’ birth by 300 years and describes the prophecy and the role of the coming messiah, and how scarily this prophecy lines up with the eye witness testimonies of Jesus of Nazareth. Can’t deny the fact that after around 33 AD, a large contingent of Jews and Gentiles mysteriously drop their original faith to follow some mysterious holy man after his death and are ruthlessly persecuted, tortured, and murdered by their own people for centuries, being killed in countless numbers, all for a faith which seemingly gave them nothing but a promise.

It's a shame to reduce reality to simply matter and energy.

@@JohnjOcampo I don’t But Adhering to the thoughts of bronze age peasants isn’t helpful in the long run

@@mickqQ those "peasants" have done more for humanity than you or me will ever do in two lifetimes, Jesus is an ethical genius who's life teachings and historical resurrection is more than enough evidence to suggest he is trustworthy.

@@JohnjOcampo Jesus didn’t rise from the dead , there is very little evidence to suggest he did And Things like kindness, honesty, generosity, humbleness, etc we’re all considered virtues long before Jesus was born.

@@mickqQ there is more than enough, some of us don't need tangible evidence in order to believe something is true. All the ethical teachings over the last 2,000 years are simply footnotes to the sermon on the mount, don't sit here and say it was all too common before Christ. My problem with athiests is that they are far too comfortable with their intellectual dishonesty.

LOL how dumb are you.

Wow! You do realize that the bible has been translated into different languages, right? The names would have been translated as well. Some cultures today don't use the name, Joel. It doesn't mean that your name can't be translated into a name that is used in that culture. I wonder how many people named Joel live in China or Japan.

Elijah means "My God is Yahweh, YHWH" Jesus means "Salvation or Savior" Joshua means "Yahweh Saves." We read English but you can read the Greek or Hebrew scriptures if you like. Translation will be the same.

The Bible is the most vetted book on the planet. Do you have a scroll with all the names used in ancient history?

Yes, I certainly know what you mean, it is something which has often been brought up, although believers can argue that the names were translated like whodatdere said. However, there is another much BIGGER problem in connection with this. Even if we can accept that those 4 names of the 4 different accounts were translated from the original and not just made up, they are all just first names and are likely to have been just as common as first names even in their own language back then that many in that time would have had anyway, so it still tells us nothing definite about them and who they were. People presume that 'Matthew' is the SAME 'Matthew spoken of in the story but as the man said it ain't necessarily so lol. It's like, my first name is John but how many others have that SAME first name? Plenty, so if I wrote a book about an event and titled it 'The Account Of The Event According To John', you still wouldn't know for sure whether it was ME or some other man by the name of John that wrote it. This is why, despite the Gospel According To'....blah blah blah names, Bible Historians still consider the Gospel authors to be anonymous because we still don't necessarily know who they were, just these four first names. At best there are some inferences which believers CLAIM denote that the authors were eyewitnesses but it's all arguable. There's no definitive 'I Matthew/ Mark/Luke John etc PERSONALLY witnessed all of these things which I have written'. It's more like they are accounts which could be first hand, second hand, third hand, fourth-hand, etc that were orally passed from one person to another as the tradition would have been back in those days, we have no way of knowing for sure. For all we know, three of them may have just copied the first one and then made some variations just to make it seem like their own account, which is one theory being looked at by Historians. Thanks.