In a post-Christian culture that no longer “speaks Bible,” one of the first objectives in any conversation is to stake out some common ground wherever possible. To do this I recommend starting with history.

Most people–unless they have been educated out of it–still believe that you can know some things about the past. In other words, we can discover important historical truths about people like Plato, Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar (and I would argue Jesus of Nazareth…but that’s another post).

So when it comes to the New Testament documents, it is important to investigate whether (more…)