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<\/a> Fundamentalists<\/a> tell everyone that they ought to accept the truthfulness<\/a> of the Bible. It is painfully ironic, therefore, that the character of fundamentalism has the effect of powerfully undermining the confidence of those who investigate or think seriously about its historicity.<\/p>\nThink about it. Someone like N. T. Wright can come along and make the argument for why we ought to leave room in our approach to history<\/a> for the possibility that the disciples really experienced encounters with the risen Christ, encounters with a bodily component.<\/p>\n What causes us to find such arguments unpersuasive, or at least insufficient to lead us to certainty? Most likely it is the nagging question, \u201cWhat if the authors of the earliest Gospels were like modern fundamentalists?\u201d<\/p>\n The evidence<\/a> that the stories of Darwin\u2019s<\/a> deathbed conversion are a hoax has been presented over and over. So too<\/a> has the evidence<\/a> that persuades basically all biologists that evolution<\/a> has occurred, and conversely the many flaws and outright lies told by various forms of creationism<\/a> have been pointed out<\/a> and responded to. Modern fundamentalism seems immune to all evidence, as the same false claims and \u201carguments\u201d that have been answered more than once get recycled, repeated and believed.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>If the ancient Gospel authors were like this, then there could have been individuals who had evidence that the tomb of Jesus was not empty, and it would be ignored (or responded to by making up a story about guards at the tomb). The eyewitnesses could have been appealed to as not having said the things they were purported to, and people who knew them could have been brought in to explain what Jesus was really like. The response would be to accuse even the inner circle of Jesus\u2019 followers of not really understanding him \u2013 which, interestingly enough, is precisely what Mark\u2019s Gospel does.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7622297540113836091-7294367127541799640?l=exploringourmatrix.blogspot.com\")
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