Did any author in the New Testament actually know Jesus?

This text is written by the Easter Bunny, follow my commands, as I know the way!Upon days when thou findest eggs, doth not think they commeth from the chicken, or from other feathery creatures hopping or flying around. NAY! They art put there by the one that knows the way, me!These were the words of the Easter Bunny, follow my commands, as I know the way!Can you see what I did there Jaywill? Just because some text claims it was written by such and such, doesn't mean it actually IS.

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I hunt for the truth

If the only thing I have is her word, then no, I wouldn't just accept that. Fortunately for me (and her ), she has a whole bunch of evidence to show me. And if all else fails, there's always a DNA test to see if she's telling the truth or not, but the evidence I have seen so far has convinced me she is in fact my mother. Should there ever come a time when I doubt that, I'm sure to get that DNA test. And this is relevant how? Belief that something is true is not evidence that it's true. Irenaeus was second century, LATE second century. Further he was a Christian, somehow I don't think he'd say the gospels were false. Of course the Church isn't going to claim that their own books are false, you can't build a religion that way. I'd say somewhere around the 18th century or so. Again, I fail to see how this is relevant. Either one has evidence that shows them to be authentic and true, or one does not. In the first case, no harm done, in the second, why claim them as true and authentic?

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I hunt for the truth

I was trying to point out that a text claiming to be written by someone is not evidence that that someone actually wrote the text. And since I assumed we all know the Easter Bunny doesn't exist, I used him (her, it?) as an example. Glad you liked it.Oh, and I noticed you don't use the quote boxes. Check out this link to see how that is done, or use the peek button on the bottom right of my post to see how I did it. This will improve the look of your posts, and advance easy reading.

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I hunt for the truth

All threads are normally closed at around 300 posts. Some are kept open a bit longer, but 400 is usually the absolute max.This discussion can be continued by proposing a new thread and picking an element out of this discussion you want to continue on.

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I hunt for the truth

Let's see how I do in this, my first summation.Initially the thread was about if any author of the new testament actually knew Jesus. Some points were raised for and against, but it quickly became clear that in order to know if any of the authors knew him, we'd have to be able to determine who wrote the gospels.Of the many points raised by those claiming that the authors were indeed the ones the gospels are named after, it has become clear to me that no such evidence exists.It's certainly possible that the gospels were written by the apostles whose names they bear. However, given the fact that they are named one and a half century after they were supposedly written doesn't strengthen that case.So, with all evidence available to me, I come to this final statement:It is highly unlikely that the writers of the gospels ever knew Jesus, there is in any case, no evidence they did.

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I hunt for the truth