THE GOSPELS/History or Myth -QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

Could the Gospels Be legends?

Author and critic C.S. Lewis found it difficult to view the Gospels as mere legends.  "As a literary historian I am perfectly convinced that whatever the Gospels are, they are not legends," he wrote:  "They are the life of Jesus unknown to us, and no people building up a legend would allow that to be so."  It is also interesting  that although noted historian H.G.Wells did not claim to be  a Christian, he acknowledged:  "All four [Gospel] writers] agree in giving us a picture of a very definite personality; they carry the . . .conviction of reality." 

Consider an instance when the resurrected Jesus appeared to his disciples. A good legend maker would likely have had Jesus stage a spectacular comeback, deliver a momentous speech, or be bathed in light and splendor. Instead the Gospel writers simply describe him as standing in front of his disciples.  Then he asked:  "Young children, you do not have anything to eat do you?" (John 21:5)  Scholar Gregg Easterbrook concludes: "These are the sorts of touches that suggest a genuine account, not myth-building." 

The accusation that the Gospels are legends also stumbles on the strict rabbinic method of teaching that was in fashion during the time of the writing of the Gospels. That method adhered closely to learning by rote-a memorizing process using routine or repetition.  This favors the accurate and careful rendering of Jesus' sayings and works as opposed to the creation of an  embellished version. 

Next time: Continue with: THE GOSPELS/History or Myth-QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

From the Watchtower magazine, 2000