How Could Anyone Believe the Gospels Are Eywitness Accounts?

[Jackalope]

Wishful thinking, gullibility, academic incuriosity. Take your pick.

[abaris]

I'd say it's highly likely that for many of them their preacher tells them they're eyewitnesses, and they never really look for themselves.

The majority of christians wouldn't even have the capacity to know where to start looking outside of their scripture.

[Jenny A]

The majority of christians wouldn't even have the capacity to know where to start looking outside of their scripture.

That's why I used the Gospels themselves. The evidence that they aren't eyewitness testimony is right there in the scriptures themselves. So is the utter lack of any evidence that they are eyewitness accounts.

What Christians who believe they are eyewitness testimony lack is the ability to read critically.

[Nope]

The majority of christians wouldn't even have the capacity to know where to start looking outside of their scripture.

That's why I used the Gospels themselves. The evidence that they aren't eyewitness testimony is right there in the scriptures themselves. So is the utter lack of any evidence that they are eyewitness accounts.

What Christians who believe they are eyewitness testimony lack is the ability to read critically.

Most Christians don't actually read their own holy book

[Crossless2.0]

That's why I used the Gospels themselves. The evidence that they aren't eyewitness testimony is right there in the scriptures themselves. So is the utter lack of any evidence that they are eyewitness accounts.

What Christians who believe they are eyewitness testimony lack is the ability to read critically.

Most Christians don't actually read their own holy book

And many of those who do have a bad habit of conflating the Gospel accounts -- another example of poor critical reading abilities.

[abaris]

That's why I used the Gospels themselves. The evidence that they aren't eyewitness testimony is right there in the scriptures themselves. So is the utter lack of any evidence that they are eyewitness accounts.

Yeah, but to appreciate that, you'd have to have at least some basic knowledge of how literature and history were viewed by the people of the time. And that goes for the authors as well as the readers. Not that many people were able to read at the time or could even afford something as valuable as a book or a scroll. These writings were aimed at an educated and wealthy elite.

Also, embellishment to transport an agenda, was widely accepted and not considered despicable. That's true for all the texts of that time, secular as well as religious.