43 Martin, Case Against Christianity, p. 43. In the name of fairness, we must agree with Martin that a detailed discussion would be far too complex to present as a chapter subsection of any book.
44 Drane, Introducing New Testament, p. 184.
45 Guthrie, New Testament Introduction, p. 88.
46 Martin, Case Against Christianity, p. 43.
47 See Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, III:XXXIX.
48 Martin, Case Against Christianity, p. 43.
49 See Clement, Corinthians13, 46; Ignatius, Smynaeans3. Whatever view one takes on the sources of these quotes, the minimal point here is that Martin seems unaware of the errors in his statements or the critical case that could easily be mounted against him.
On a related matter, Martin charges that Clement “is not clear” about whether the disciples received their instructions from Jesus “during his life on earth,” citing Corinthians24. But chapter 42 seems quite clear, with a fair reading most likely referring to Jesus’ sojourn on earth: “The apostles received the Gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ was sent forth from God . . . .”^50 Jesus and his apostles were contemporaries.
Martin’s radical conclusions are unfounded, but he nonetheless bases still other claims upon them. Contending the possibility that the earliest Gospel was not written “until the beginning of the second century,” he concludes that these books were “not written by eyewitnesses.”^51 Yet he fails to establish any of these claims.
3.Extrabiblical sources
A last area that Martin investigates is whether sources outside the New Testament provide viable data concerning the historicity of Jesus. But here, once again, Martin’s research exhibits several flaws.
Concerning Josephus’ major reference to Jesus,^52 Martin thinks there is “almost uniform agreement that this passage is spurious.”^53 While he is, of course, entitled to his opinion about the current state of scholarship, the endnote is curious. Martin lists five scholars who apparently support his view, while accusing Habermas of holding a dissenting position without being aware of those who oppose him.
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