New argument that I really like.
So, maybe somebody else came up with this idea already, but I think it's fairly unique.
There was a man called Marco Polo, an Italian that traveled across Asia for many years. Allegedly he was an advisor/translator for Kublai Khan. He wrote a book documenting his travels after returning to Italy. I am being brief on the subject because lots of other sites have done an excellent job getting the details right and if someone is interested, they should read about him elsewhere.
Anyway, many of his stories have been called into question due to exaggeration, fabrication, and other sins that a non-fiction writer should not commit. There are very specific details that Marco Polo relates about certain cities in China, or descriptions of people on remote islands in the South Pacific. Here is the point: some of those details and facts that he wrote were clearly wrong. We know this beyond doubt.
The question becomes, what if Marco Polo had 5 or 6 close friends or fellow travelers that also wrote books about the same events? Should we believe the stories that are factually wrong, just because we have multiple sources corroborating them? Because that is the very sort of thing Christians seem to want us to do.
The Synoptic Gospels contain certain events and facts that simply do not line up with history. No matter how many writers all tell the same story, they are still wrong.
So, if you don't believe the tales of Marco Polo, you have no reason to believe the tales of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
There was a man called Marco Polo, an Italian that traveled across Asia for many years. Allegedly he was an advisor/translator for Kublai Khan. He wrote a book documenting his travels after returning to Italy. I am being brief on the subject because lots of other sites have done an excellent job getting the details right and if someone is interested, they should read about him elsewhere.
Anyway, many of his stories have been called into question due to exaggeration, fabrication, and other sins that a non-fiction writer should not commit. There are very specific details that Marco Polo relates about certain cities in China, or descriptions of people on remote islands in the South Pacific. Here is the point: some of those details and facts that he wrote were clearly wrong. We know this beyond doubt.
The question becomes, what if Marco Polo had 5 or 6 close friends or fellow travelers that also wrote books about the same events? Should we believe the stories that are factually wrong, just because we have multiple sources corroborating them? Because that is the very sort of thing Christians seem to want us to do.
The Synoptic Gospels contain certain events and facts that simply do not line up with history. No matter how many writers all tell the same story, they are still wrong.
So, if you don't believe the tales of Marco Polo, you have no reason to believe the tales of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
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