Yes, says Attorney Yusuf Ismail of the Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI Durban South Africa)

On Saturday night (20th Oct 2018) in a dialogue, Attorney Yusuf Ismail asked:

*How Can One Prove and Say The Gospel Is From Authentic Eye Witnesses when Jesus’s Disciples, who were Mere Unschooled Fishermen; Could Suddenly Communicate In Authentic Oral and Written Greek?* (Attorney Yusuf Ismail – IPCI)

Despite responding to him in Oct 2018 he repeats this argument again on Saturday (27th June 2020) in a zoom livestream dialogue with Samuel Green from Australia.

 

MY RESPONSE

MATTHEW the Tax Collector (as a publican (KJV) or a tax collector (NIV). He was not a fisherman. As a tax collector, he would have been literate in Aramaic and Greek. He was one of the 12 Disciples Jesus chose.

 

TAX COLLECTOR

This position would have made him an ideal candidate for writing this gospel for the following reasons:

A tax collector would be fluent in GREEK. He would also be literate. He would be used to keeping RECORDS. He most likely would be able to write in short-hand. Therefore he could have been a note-taker at Jesus’ teachings.

If Levi was a tribal name he would have known about scribal tradition and be familiar with temple practices. He would have been a well-educated scribe in the secular sense. There is something else about the tax collector position that would make Matthew a particularly good candidate to be a writer of one of the accounts of the life of Jesus. Being a tax collector he would be familiar with all types of fraud and deceit. He would be more distrustful than most people. This would make him very cautious about trusting the word of someone. Therefore his eyewitness testimony to the words and deeds of Jesus carries considerable weight. (Don Stewart – Blue letter Bible)

MARK not a disciple of Jesus but a follower of Peter an eye witness. He was not a fisherman.

Eusebius says that Papias (c. 130 CE) named Mark as the author of the second gospel and the ‘interpreter’ of Peter, presumably as if Mark had written from Peter’s memory and notes as his secretary (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 3.39)

LUKE was a medical doctor (Col 4:14) and a historian (Luke 1:1-3), not a fisherman. He followed the Apostle Paul. He was not a fisherman.

LUKE as a Historian makes 5 key claims within this prologue:

1. He consulted prior writings

2. He spoke to eyewitnesses

3. He conducted a careful investigation

4. He wrote an orderly account

5. He wrote an orderly account so that the reader may have certainty regarding what actually happened.

Dr. James T. Shotwell, professor of History at the University of Columbia (a rationalist, and not an evangelical Christian, in any sense of the word) is the author of the article ‘History’ in the eleventh and the fourteenth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. In his book, The History of History, he makes the following statement: “Luke, as the Acts of the Apostles shows, was an educated man who compiled his history out of various sources, was accurate in geography and painstaking, and his work stands easily alongside the best pagan histories of his time” (The History of History – New York, 1939 Volume 1 Page 329)

Sir William Ramsay tried to disprove the Bible.

He set out as an Atheist for the Holy Land and decided to disprove the book of Acts. He was incredibly impressed by the accuracy of Luke in his writings finally declaring that ‘Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy’ . . . ‘this author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians’ . . . ‘Luke’s history is unsurpassed in respect of its trustworthiness.’ ( Sir William Ramsay, The Bearing of Recent Discoveries on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book Page. 81) and Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements trustworthy. . . this author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians” (Sir William Ramsay, The Bearing of Recent Discoveries on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1953, p. 222).

JOHN the Disciple whom Jesus loved (John 21:20). A fisherman who was one of the 12 Disciples Jesus chose. The only fisherman amongst the writers of the canonical Gospels.

Irenaeus, Bishop of Lugdunum, was a student of Polycarp (AD 69 – 155 was a Christian bishop of Smyrna) . and Ignatius bishop at Antioch, the two men who were taught directly by the Apostle John, author of the fourth Gospel. . Irenaeus identified the Apostle John as the author of the fourth Gospel (Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses III.3). Both Irenaeus and Tertullian record that Polycarp had been a disciple of John the Apostle, one of Jesus’ Disciples (Tertullian, De praescriptione hereticorum 32.2; Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses III.3)

 

MUHAMMAD THE ILLITERATE

Muhammad the Prophet of Islam was allegedly illiterate (an ummni – *a person who could not read or write) but yet was allegedly given the
Qur’an (through an Angel) from God. He memorized 114 Surahs (Chapters), made up of 6236 Ayas (Verses).

Muhammad the illiterate Prophet used scribes. The Apostle JOHN could have used scribes.

APOSTLE PAUL used scribes. Romans 16:22 cites a scribe named Tertius.

Apostle Paul also wrote with his own hands.

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. (1 Corinthians 16:21)

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. (Colossians 4:18).

I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. (Philemon 19)

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. (2 Thess 3:17)

See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! (Galatians 6:11)

 

DISCIPLES UNLEARNED and IGNORANT men Acts 4:13

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

Acts 4:13 KJV

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 NIV

The context always determines the meaning.

1. They didn’t say they were unlearned and ignorant but they perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men.

2. Who is “they” in Acts 4:13?

…. the rulers, the elders, and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others of the high priest’s family. Acts 4:5-6 NIV

They were learned and knowledgeable men in the Rabbinical school.

3. “Unlearned” in Acts 4:13 means Peter and John never studied in the rabbinical schools. Jesus was also regarded as unschooled in rabbinical studies. “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” (John 7:15).

The keywords in Acts 4:13 are “they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”” “Jesus was the greatest Rabbi (teacher) Mark 9:5;11:21, Mark 14:45; John 1:49.

 

COULD JOHN HAVE WRITTEN JOHN? ASKED ATTORNEY YUSUF ISMAIL.

Yes, Apostle John was the author of the fourth Gospel.

Irenaeus, Bishop of Lugdunum, was the student of Polycarp (AD 69 – 155 was a Christian bishop of Smyrna), and Ignatius bishop at Antioch, the two men who were taught directly by the Apostle John author of the fourth Gospel. . Irenaeus identified the Apostle John as the author of the fourth Gospel (Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses III.3). Both Irenaeus and Tertullian record that Polycarp had been a disciple of John the Apostle, one of Jesus’ Disciples (Tertullian, De praescriptione hereticorum 32.2; Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses III.3).

 

SUMMARY

“The four gospels writers were each in a position to write a historically accurate account of the life of Christ. Each had excellent credentials to write about the life and ministry of Jesus. Matthew was a disciple of Jesus as was John – they were both eyewitnesses. Mark recorded the story of Simon Peter who himself was an eyewitness. Luke wrote his account after exhaustive historical investigation with the firsthand sources. Consequently we have four excellent, independent sources to the life and ministry of
Jesus.” (Don Stewart – Blue letter Bible)

Revised & Updated on 23rd Nov 2020.

Bobby Freddy
Mission 2 Muslims
mission2muslims@gmail.com
WhatsApp +27833201874