How we know the New Testament is reliable

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You know, a while ago, I was taken aback by a priest that claimed 2 Peter wasn't written by Peter.
This seems weird, because, 1) It explicitly says “Simon” in verse 1:1, and, 2) If someone was going to make a forgery, they wouldn't tell someone to go check. (2 Peter 1:16).
If I ever find the article I wrote about that (I tend to write things by hand before I type them, but not always), I will type up that article.
But, I was thinking, about the idea of checking with eyewitnesses. Something that I have discussed before.
Coffee and Christianity: Episode 35: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain
Anyway, thinking about it, I think this is one of the reason that I don't trust really super late dates for the New Testament.
But, I've always been fascinated by the Johannine books, and yes, I believe they are all written by the same John (apologies to Jimmy Akin, he's a great guy, but, there's no way it was written by anyone other than the apostle John).
Now, if you're curious why, it's because, contrary to popular belief, the gospels weren't anonymous, so, presumably, neither were the Pauline or Catholic letters.Were the Gospels Really Anonymous?
So, what does this have to do with anything?
Well, if the writers of these books are challenging you to ask people, obviously, they're not written centuries after the events.
As John says, (and no, I'm not going to use the whole thing),
“When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man”? (the man he was referring to was the disciple whom Jesus loved, if I'm reading it correctly), Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me”! So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you”?
This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things and who has written these things, and we know his testimony is true”.
(John 21:21-24).
Verse 24 is a challenge to check.
John is saying, “dude, I was there”!

*All verses from ESV Catholic Edition with Deuterocanonical Books, Copyright 2017 by Crossway.

Adam Charles Hovey is the former host of the former weekly Bible study, Coffee and Christianity and is the founder of the Catholicism, news, and whatever community on Locals