I legitimately don't understand. Christianity Today, the flagship evangelical publication founded by the late Billy Graham, declares its method is:
To deliver biblical wisdom and beautiful storytelling from the whole world to the whole world across all media.
That publication published THIS on Eater weekend:
Christianity Today had to be community-noted by Christians to correct a grievous biblical error.
Maybe it slipped past the editors. But how? How could a theory, so antithetical to the explicit teaching of Scripture, whose entire line of argument is predicated upon the heretical notion that the Gospel of John could have been, for lack of a better term, a fabricated account, ever get published at a magazine dedicated to the truth of salvation in Christ alone?
It's embarrassing to have to point this out to people who boast that their organization, "illuminate(s) what it means to follow Jesus faithfully in our time," but here are some important facts:
John was an eyewitness to the crucifixion. We know that from the lips of Jesus Himself, who spoke to John while hanging on the cross, telling him to care for His mother. (19:26-27)
After reports of His resurrection, Thomas famously told the other disciples, "Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." (20:25)
Outside the Gospel of John, Scripture unsurprisingly validates and corroborates itself:
Paul writes that on the cross, Jesus "canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross." (Colossians 2:14)
In one of the most descriptive prophecies of the Old Testament, hundreds of years before crucifixion had even been invented, the Psalmist writes of what would happen to God's Messiah: "Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet." (Psalm 22:16)
Luke, one of the greatest historians of all time - biblical or otherwise - records details of Christ's appearing to His disciples and authenticating that He is the crucified, risen Lord by telling them, "Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself!" (Luke 24:39)
Had Christ's hands and feet not been pierced by nails, such a statement would make no sense. He would have told them to look at His face. The hands and feet bore scars that would identify Him as the One who had just been executed three days previous.
Now could the Romans have tied the arms of Jesus to the cross with ropes as well as driving in the nails? Perhaps. But the question remains why an institution like Christianity Today would want to generate skepticism over such a central Christian teaching. Particularly on such flimsy grounds backed by such weak scholarship. And on Easter weekend.
That seemed to be the consensus opinion among believers as CT was "ratioed" into oblivion:
That last point is the one I keep coming back to.
It's not that I don't appreciate discussion or want to dismiss competing thoughts without giving them a proper hearing. It's that it is beyond irresponsible for a Christian publication to spend its money and platform to undermine the authenticity and credibility of the gospels.
We are loved and redeemed by the God of the universe. From before time began He had chosen to sacrifice His own Son on a cross of wood to save us from an eternity apart from Him. One day that Son will return and welcome us into a glorious eternity. Until that time, we are on a mission to tell this truth to others.
That's our motivation as Christians. It's the cause that trumps all other causes, be they political, cultural, educational, historical, academic or otherwise.
Someone might want to let the brothers and sisters at Christianity Today know that spreading shoddy research that undercuts central doctrines of the faith and demoralizes the faithful isn't a great way to advance it.
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.
