The authors of the Gospels are not known. They are anonymous. Nor were they eyewitnesses. This is well documented and a majority of academia agrees on the matter. As a matter of fact, many Bibles include a preface that talk about the next chapter, and there you will find where the Bible even states anonymous or unknown authors.
So, we will toss aside hearsay evidence and I leave it to you to come up with something tangible. Of course you can't, so it is a catch 22. Your entire argument hinges on hearsay.
There are many historians ranging from the 1 and 2 C.E and manuscripts (letters) of people who vadaliadate the Gospels and name the authors of them. Yes, no gospel directly state the author, this though doesn't prove the traditionally thought authors aren't the authors. As of yet you've provided no evidence to suggest otherwise.
Internal consistency? You need to go back and actually read the Gospels, not repeat what the WT teaches you to say:
1. The 4 Gospels disagree on who all went to Jesus' tomb on the 3rd day.
2. There is a difference in Jesus' genealogy between Matthew and Luke.
3. Only 2 of the 4 books mention the virgin birth (which in itself is BS).
4. Matthew states that Herod had male babies killed but history shows otherwise.
5. They disagree on the Last Supper date.
6. They disagree on Judas' death.
7. 30 pieces of silver is BS as silver coins had not been used in 300 years.
8. The purchase of the Field of Blood is inconsistent.
9. Was it Jesus or Paul that instituted the Last Supper?
10. Jesus was crucified between two robbers? Romans did not crucify robbers. That punishment was reserved for insurrectionists and rebellious slaves.
1. No they don't. All you see from the different gospels is details, or the lack of, of the persons who attended Jesus tomb. I myself am a police officer and, at times, have to write out statements regarding incidents I deal with, In my statement I might list all the other officers who were at the scene. However, in another officers statement they might not list all the officers who attended, but rather, only the relevant persons. Likewise, the lack of detail regrading the persons attending isn't a disagreement, its just a difference in writing style.
2. The difference with the genealogy of Jesus according to Luke as compared with Matthew’s can be readily clarified in the fact that Luke traced the line through David’s son Nathan
, instead of Solomon as did Matthew.
(Luke 3:31, Matt 1:6, 7) Luke evidently follows the ancestry of Mary, thus showing Jesus’
natural descent from David, while Matthew shows Jesus’
legal right to the throne of David by descent from
Solomon through Joseph, who was
legally Jesus’ father.
3. So? How does the fact that only two books mention the virgin birth prove the gospels wrong?
4. How does history show otherwise? Remember the
lack of historical proof that Herod didn't kill babies isn't proof that the biblical historical record that Herod killed babies is incorrect.
5. LOL! I like this one. There is no disagreement, there is only ignorance here buddy. Jesus died on Nisan 14, on the passover. The day of unfermented cakes/bread occured on Nisan 15, the next day. However, due to the two occasions being linked together they were often spoken of as the passover, hence the confusion. Compare Leviticus 23:5-8, Luke 22:7.
6. Nope, once again one writer doesn't include the same detail as the other one.
7. Nope, it was the Romans who didn't make silver coins until the 3 C.E. There were plenty of different types of silver coins that could have been given to Judas, all of which are documented in history.
8.Because the money used by the priests in the purchase of the potter’s field had been provided by Judas Iscariot, the apostle Peter speaks of Judas as having bought the field for the burial of Jews who died while visiting in Jerusalem or of proselytes. This isn't a contradiction just flowery speech.
9. Jesus did. Please explain how you came to the conclusion that Paul did?
10. Again, you have a historical background, you sure? Yes they did crucify robbers. Crucifixions were used on low classes, slaves (as you mentioned), it wasn't limited to simply these two classes or the ones you mentioned, it was a lowly, shameful punishment. Moreover, how do you know the robbers weren't slaves or some type of marauding band? You don't! As you've clearly demonstrated over and over is these are wild assumptions that can't be back up.
What archaeological evidence? I minored in history with my Th.D. so by all means elaborate. Since other JWs have used almost the exact same speech, I am just going to assume that is some BS that you all are taught to say in order to sound official.
Many doubted the existence of Roman ruler Pontius Pilate as there was no historical record of him. In 1961 the name of Pontius Pilate was found in an inscription in the ruins of a Roman theater at Caesarea.
In Luke’s Gospel, we read that John the Baptizer began his ministry “when . . . Lysanias was district ruler of Abilene.” (Luke 3:1) Some doubted that statement because Josephus mentioned a Lysanias who ruled Abilene and who died in 34 B.C.E., long before the birth of John. However, archaeologists have uncovered an inscription in Abilene mentioning another Lysanias who was tetrarch (district ruler) during the reign of Tiberius, who was ruling as Caesar in Rome when John began his ministry.This could easily have been the Lysanias to whom Luke was referring.
In Acts 13:7 we read that Paul and Barnabas were sent to do missionary work in Cyprus and there met up with a proconsul named Sergius Paulus, “an intelligent man.” In the middle of the 19th century, excavations in Cyprus uncovered an inscription dating from 55 C.E. that mentions this very man. Of this, archaeologist G. Ernest Wright says:
“It is the one reference we have to this proconsul outside the Bible and it is interesting that Luke gives us correctly his name and title."
When he was in Athens, Paul said he had observed an altar that was dedicated “To an Unknown God.” (Acts 17:23) Altars dedicated in Latin to anonymous gods have been discovered in parts of the territory of the Roman Empire. One was found in Pergamum with the inscription written in Greek, as would have been the case in Athens.
Later, while in Ephesus, Paul was violently opposed by silversmiths, whose income was derived from making shrines and images of the goddess Artemis. Ephesus was referred to as “the temple keeper of the great Artemis.” (Acts 19:35) In harmony with this, a number of terra-cotta and marble figurines of Artemis have been discovered at the site of ancient Ephesus. During the last century, the remains of the huge temple itself were excavated.
