Erik Manning

Erik is the creative force behind the YouTube channel Testify, which is an educational channel built to help inspire people's confidence in the text of the New Testament and the truth of the Christian faith.

What Does the Talmud Say About Jesus and Gospel Reliability?

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Christian apologists frequently turn to sources beyond the New Testament to support the existence of Jesus and verify historical aspects of his life. Among these sources, although less commonly cited than Tacitus or Josephus, is the Talmud. For those of you who don’t know, the Talmud is a central text in Judaism, consisting of rabbinic discussions and teachings on Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. It comprises two main parts: the Mishnah, which presents legal discussions and principles, and the Gemara, which contains commentaries and analysis on the Mishnah by various rabbis. The Talmud was composed over several centuries, primarily between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD, but its origins trace back to earlier oral … Read more

Matthew’s Massacre of the Innocents: HIstory, Not Fiction

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When we think about the Christmas story, we imagine warm and cozy scenes—Mary, Joseph, and the baby in a humble manger, angels, shepherds, and the wise men offering their gifts. But right in the middle of this heartwarming tale is a grim event. In Matthew 2:16, Herod, after learning about the birth of the Messianic king, orders the killing of all boys aged two and under in Bethlehem. It’s a disturbing part of Christ’s birth story, but not everyone believes Matthew’s account. Scholars and historians doubt this event for a few reasons. It’s not in Luke’s Gospel or any other historical records. Some think it was made up to fit a narrative, to portray Jesus … Read more

Did Luke Fabricate a Census to Get Jesus to Bethlehem?

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‘Tis the season for the same old skeptics trotting out those tired arguments about the birth narratives. Here’s biblical scholar and popular TikToker Dan McClellan rehashing the whole “Luke invented a census” spiel. The story of Jesus’s birth, as found in Luke 1 and 2, is not historical….According to Luke 1, Jesus would have had to have been born, if not during the life of Herod, within about a year of his death at the latest. So, Jesus would have had to have been born by 3 BCE if Luke chapter 1 is historical. But chapter 2 introduces two critical problems. The first is that the author needs to get Joseph and Mary from Nazareth … Read more

Rebutting Dan Mcclellan’s Attempt at Debunking the Virgin Birth

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You know it’s Christmas when you get your annual lump of coal with the whole ‘Matthew invented the virgin birth’ schtick. This time, it’s from TikTok’s favorite cynical biblical scholar, Dan McClellan: The virgin birth is a tradition that seems to have developed decades after Jesus’s death, primarily because of a poor translation of a passage from the Hebrew Bible…. The earliest writings we have about Jesus, the writings of Paul and the gospel of Mark, say absolutely nothing at all about any virgin birth. Paul’s really only concerned with the resurrected Jesus, and Mark’s story starts with the beginning of his ministry and his baptism. It’s not until after that that people are starting … Read more

The Weird Reason Bart Ehrman Thinks 2 Thessalonians Is Forged

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For almost 1800 years, there was solid consensus on the authorship of 2 Thessalonians. It made its way into Marcion’s canon around AD 140 and secured a place in the Muratorian Canon between 180 and 200. Esteemed figures like Polycarp, Ignatius, Justin Martyr alluded to it, and even Irenaeus directly referred to it. But, in today’s scholarly arena, doubts surface. Some scholars, like Bart Ehrman, vehemently contest Paul’s authorship, presenting a multitude of rather peculiar reasons. Ehrman writes: “What seems relatively certain is that someone after the time of Paul decided that he had to intervene in a situation where people were so eagerly anticipating the end, so eagerly, he suggests, that they were neglecting … Read more

The Case for Paul: Investigating Ephesians and Colossians’ True Authorship

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In the world of Paul’s New Testament letters, most modern scholars only accept 7 out of the 13 attributed to him. This leaves a tough choice for believers: either discard six letters from the Bible or grapple with the notion of possible deceit within the New Testament. The writers of these disputed letters posed as Paul, urging honesty while deceiving others. (Eph. 4:25) But if modern scholarship’s arguments falter and evidence confirms Paul as the true author of all these letters, it’s their credibility that suffers, not the New Testament’s. Let’s now examine Ephesians and Colossians, often bundled together due to their resemblances, and explore their authorship. Different writing styles? In his book “Forged: Writing … Read more

The Early Church Would’ve Never Received Anonymous Gospels

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Some skeptics claim that before Irenaeus wrote his book Against Heresies in 185 AD, many different Gospels were used in early churches. Irenaeus supported only the four Gospels we have today in the Bible, saying they were special. He linked them to important figures like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to make them more authoritative. So crudely put, our current Gospels got their names from a cranky 2nd-century bishop. However, Tertullian, writing about 20 years later from Carthage, throws a monkey wrench into this whole idea by suggesting that the early church would not have accepted anonymous Gospels. Tertullian, initially a lawyer, later became a theologian and used his legal mind to challenge the legitimacy … Read more

Evidence For The Early Existence of Gospel Titles Independent of Irenaeus

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Skeptics highlight that the Gospels are formally anonymous; they don’t mention their authors. Irenaeus, around 185 AD, was the first to name the traditional authors, but doubts arise because he might have relied on Papias, considered unreliable for spreading false stories about Jesus and Judas. This reliance, his bias and a supposed lack of early proof lead to questioning the true Gospel authors. However, other sources and texts support the traditional authors, challenging these doubts. Although I value Papias and Irenaeus as supporting traditional authorship, their witness isn’t essential to our case. Let’s explore the evidence. In what follows, I’m mostly relying on Simon Gathercole’s paper “The Alleged Anonymity of the Canonical Gospels.” First, let’s … Read more

Authorship Questions in 2 Peter: Debunking the Forgery Claim

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The authenticity of the second letter of Peter has sparked debates since ancient times. While the early church embraced it as genuine, most modern scholars firmly label it as a forgery. On this point, New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman is quite emphatic: “There is less debate among scholars of the New Testament about the authorship of 2 Peter than for any of the other books sometimes considered forgeries. Whoever wrote 2 Peter, it was not Simon Peter.” (Forged: Writing in the Name of God, pg.80) The issues stem from several reasons: first, it lacks significant references from early church fathers, unlike many other books. Second, its writing style differs notably from Peter’s first epistle and … Read more

Is Inspiration a Distorting Perception? A Response To Dan McClellan

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Recently in a video biblical scholar Dan McClellan said the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture is a serious and harmful distortion. If you’re not familiar with Dan, he’s known on TikTok for debunking biblical misconceptions. I find him to be pretty hit-and-miss, but he’s clearly well-informed about current biblical scholarship. Dan: “The most distorting assumption that’s imposed on the Bible is inspiration….The classic biblical proof text for the doctrine of inspiration is 2 Timothy 3:16, which says, “All scripture is theopneustos,” which literally means “God-breathed.” Now, there are three issues with the use of this passage as a proof text for inspiration. The first issue is that it was not written by Paul. It … Read more

Is Jesus Alive?