Faith on Trial by Pamela Binnings Ewen

three Synoptic Gospels affected by the existence of the Magdalene Fragments (from the Gospel of Matthew)?
    a. Recall that the Magdalene Fragments are dated within the generation that Jesus lived. They are written in Greek. Yet we also know from Papias that the first Gospel of Matthew was written in Aramaic. Thus, the original Aramaic Gospel would have been written even earlier than the Magdalene fragments. How does this affect the argument that the Q document was the source of Matthew?
    b. Recall also that the Q document is (theoretically) described as containing only a selection of quotations and teachings of Jesus—no narrative. But the Magdalen fragments contain narrative and many quotations from other people. (See chapter 3, note 18 for the full text of these fragments.)
    b. Differences between the texts of the three so-called Synoptic Gospels are divided into three categories in chapter 4. Recall the three different patterns of similarities and find some examples of your own in the Gospels.
    i. Recall however, that a comparison of passages in the three Gospels beginning with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane through the resurrection, show little or no similarities. Check this out for yourself.
    c. Various examples are set forth in chapter 4 to illustrate why the so-called synoptic problem is not really a problem. Construct an argument to support this statement based on the following:
    i. Shorthand was in wide use at that time.
    ii. The witnesses memorized what Jesus said.
    iii. The witnesses associated with one another and heard the same teachings from Jesus over a long period of time. The words spoken to them were considered important.
    iv. Witnesses of an event commonly see things from different perspectives.
    1. Can you recall examples of this from real-life situations?
    v. The printing press made a difference on later copies.
    V. CHAPTER FIVE: CREDIBILITY, CHARACTER, AND CONSISTENCY
    a. The five elements of the credibility test for witnesses discussed in Faith on Trial are:
    i. Honesty
    ii. Capability
    iii. Consistency
    iv. Relationship to (as judged by) our own experience
    v. Corroboration by extrinsic evidence
    b. Why is conduct of the witnesses important evidence of credibility?
    i. In a courtroom the “conduct” of the witnesses and the people around them is permitted to be introduced as evidence when the truthfulness of a witness is a material issue in the case. Under that rule the court will permit and encourage evidence of conduct to establish whether the person making the statement actually believes what he or she says. To assess credibility, courts will also look at the conduct of the people surrounding a witness and the reputation of the witness in the community.
    ii. Give some examples of the conduct of our witnesses—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as well as those around them, as a basis for asserting that both the four Gospel writers and the people around them believed the events reported happened as reported.
    iii. What is a dying declaration?
    1. How is the dying declaration of Ignatius in ad 115 important evidence in our chain of proof?
    2. Can you see how this analysis extends to other Christian martyrs?
    a. Note: People may die for what they believe to be true, but no one dies for what they know to be a lie.
    c. Science is not inconsistent with Christian belief. For example, the resurrection is not understood, but lack of understanding is not a reason to ignore evidence that an event occurred. Reasoning from the unknown is accepted scientific protocol. Every day we accept things we don’t understand.
    i. Several examples of scientific “unknowns” accepted as true based on circumstantial evidence are given in Faith on Trial . Quantum particles, for example. See if you can come up with some other examples of “unknowns” in science. For example, human consciousness. Using these examples, craft an argument that religious beliefs, even though not understood, should be tested by the same