SIDEBAR 5: CONTRADICTORY PROOFS Author’s Note: Historical arguments cannot remain persuasive if they rely upon one standard of proof for books we accept and another for books we reject. From Geisler and Saleeb, Answering Islam: Insisting that the Qur’an must be divine revelation because it is self-consistent and noncontradictory is…
Matthew 18:3-9 to 2 Maccabees 7 Author’s Note: This comparison explores whether Christ’s teaching reflects the martyrdom account in 2 Maccabees, and what that means about the Jewish canon at the time of Christ versus the Jewish canon at the time of the Talmud. One last example, solely to make…
Matthew 11:25-30 to Sirach 51 Author’s Note: The invitation to “come unto me” only makes sense in light of Sirach’s invitation to seek wisdom, making this one of the most intriguing New Testament parallels. Eleventh example: A great many books and articles have been written discussing the allusions that Matthew…
Matthew 11:19-30 to Wisdom 9:10 etc. Author’s Note: This section brings together multiple parallels between Jesus’ teaching and the Wisdom tradition preserved in the Deuterocanonical books. The tenth example, also from the Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary: Interestingly, Sirach had described the wise scribe in detail about two centuries before the…
Matthew 22:13 to Wisdom 17:21 Author’s Note: This comparison examines whether Matthew’s imagery of outer darkness reflects visions of the afterlife already present in the Wisdom of Solomon. A ninth example, also from the Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary, on Matthew 22:13 (and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be…
Matthew 15:22 to Wisdom 7:20 Author’s Note: This passage explores a lesser-known parallel between Matthew’s Gospel and the Wisdom of Solomon. An eighth example, from the Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary: … Wisdom of Solomon, which was probably written in Egypt in the second century BC, indicates that Solomon knew “virtues…
Matthew 6:12 to Sirach 28:2 Author’s Note: This comparison considers whether Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness stresses the earlier instruction found in Sirach. Seventh: the Our Father, the prayer given to us by God Himself. Manners and Customs of the Bible, by James M. Freeman (d. 1900), breaks down the pieces…
Matthew 27:43 to Wisdom 2:18 Author’s Note: The striking similarities between these passages are far more definite than the alleged fulfilment of Psalm 22:8 claimed by many Protestant scholars. Those are five examples specifically paralleling the list from Don Stewart on the Blue Letter Bible’s website; let us now consider…
John 10:22 to 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees Author’s Note: Compares John’s reference to the Feast of Dedication and its relation to the Books of Maccabees, to alleged references to the Feast of Purim and the Book of Esther. A fifth example: It should be noted that the Feast of…
John 4:10 to Sirach 24:19-21; vs. Hebrews 1:3 Author’s Note: This comparison examines possible literary and theological relationships among John’s Gospel and Sirach (and the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Book of Wisdom) in light of claimed references by John to Song of Solomon. A fourth example: It is…
