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Did They Have A Reason To Lie?

by Rob_VandeWeghe

Would the authors of the gospels and letters in the New Testament
have a motive to fabricate their account? Did they have any
personal gain from writing? Obviously, if a motive can be
established for inventing the testimonies, the trustworthiness of
the document becomes more questionable. Conversely, if the
authors had nothing to gain, or even something to lose, the
document�s credibility is increased.

So what happened to John Mark, Matthew, Luke, John, and Paul
after writing their gospels and letters? Although there is only
limited historical record about what happened to these men after
completing their writings, one can with certainty state that none
of them retired wealthy from the proceedings of any of their
books. Contrary to that, the historical record shows that the
early Christian church and their leaders went through centuries
of persecution, and the apostles spent their days traveling in
poverty proclaiming their message.

More specifically, after completing his gospel and the death of
Peter in Rome (66-67 AD), tradition claims that John Mark went to
Alexandria in Egypt where he was martyred in 68 AD. According to
the research of Dr. William Steuart McBirnie: �In the year 68 AD
Easter fell on the same day as the Serapis festival. The furious
mob had gathered in the Serapion and then descended on the
Christians while they were celebrating Easter at Baucalis. St,
Mark was seized, dragged with a rope around his neck in the
streets and then incarcerated for the night. In the following
morning the same ordeal was repeated until he gave up the ghost.�
Other sources confirm this account as well as his burial site.

What happened to Matthew, the tax collector, is subject to
multiple conflicting traditions. His name is linked to various
travels throughout Greece and Asia, but most agree on Asian
Ethiopia, Persia, Macedonia, and Syria. All but one of these
traditions claim an untimely death as a martyr for Christ.
Unfortunately, none of these traditions are supported by
convincing objective evidence.

According to Catholic tradition, Luke was martyred or died a
natural death and was buried in Greece. In 356-357 AD his relics
were taken to Constantinople. Later his head was supposedly taken
to Rome where it is kept in St. Peter�s Basilica.

Before writing his gospel at an advanced age, John moved to
Ephesus in Asia Minor shortly before the destruction of
Jerusalem. At this strategic location he had a special
relationship with other churches in the area, as we know through
his letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation as
well as through references in writings of the early church. After
a period of exile to the island of Patmos, he is believed to have
died of old age, around 100 AD, in Ephesus, where he was buried.
The ruins at the Basilica of St. John are claimed to mark the
site of the tomb.

As for Paul, some claim that after his imprisonment as described
at the end of the Book of Acts, he visited Spain for a period of
at least two years. Subsequently, he returned to Rome where
during Nero�s persecution in 66/67 AD (about the same time as
Peter) he was beheaded.

So no lucrative book deals for these writers, no lofty
retirement on the French Riviera. The testimony of these men did
not end with the completions of their gospels and letters. Their
subsequent lives continued to proclaim the message. They lived in
poverty, under the continuous threat of persecution, and at the
end, most of them paid the ultimate price of an early death by
martyrdom. What earthly motive could any of them have ever had
for fabrication or even making the smallest change to the truth
in their testimonies? They were writing for their Lord; they were
writing to built treasures in heaven. Lying, exaggerating,
spinning the truth, becoming famous, or gaining any wealth, was
not on their agenda.

Rob VandeWeghe is a skeptic turned Christian by studying the
foundations for Christianity. More articles like this by Rob, as
well as his book �Prepared to Answer� and more evidences for
Christianity are available at <a
href="http://www.windmillministries.org">www.WindmillMinistries.org</a>.

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