Studies conducted on the rate at which legend developed in the ancient world have concluded that it took more than two full generations for legend to develop and wipe out a solid core of historical truth.The gospels were circulating within the lifetime of Jesus' contemporaries. The 1 Corinthians 15 creed was recited by Christians as soon as two years after the crucifixion, and Mark's account of the empty tomb dates to within a few years of the event. Within the first two years after his death, significant numbers of Jesus' followers seem to have formulated a doctrine of the atonement, were convinced that he had been raised from the dead in bodily form, associated Jesus with God, and believed they found support for all of these convictions in the Old Testament. Nowhere in history is there an example of legend developing that quickly.
A. N. Sherwin-White, Lee Strobel
Great site.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting that 1 Clement, the first orthodox writing not to 'make the Bible' uses the Phoenix as an illustration, assuming that it was a real bird. Apparently even the epistle as a genre was prone to legend. It is pretty remarkable that the Bible managed to keep free of mythical beasts and the such given it authorial context.