CHISTIANS PLEASE EXPLAIN

[Mudhammam]

I can't disagree with much of this. It would be so nice to know what Jesus looked like, whether he was left or right handed, which websites he posted on regularly...

The gospel writers were operating to an extent within the conventions of their time, and were starting with the Greek bios format. I would agree they went some way beyond that, and the kerygma was an important purpose, but you have to start with a known genre or people don't know how to read you (see post 169).

I would challenge their lack of interest in Jesus' history (Luke certainly does in his introduction!). The bios may not be history quite in the way we do it (e.g. speeches are reconstructed rather than recorded), but it is intended as proper history.

Following the Persian Wars, Herodotus the Halicarnassian interviewed eyewitnesses and their children to find out what had occured during those years. His "Histories" is an invaluable resource to historians...but no one believes his stories about Delphi magically defending itself with lightning bolts, or a horse giving birth to a rabbit, or a whole town that allegedly witnessed a mass resurrection of cooked fish.