I tuned in after the start of a documentary about Biblical truth and historical accuracy. I don't know what the show was called or who produced it as the ending was abrupt and the credits were to small for me to read. It was an interesting show, to say the least.

Giving commentary throughout the program were two gentlemen from the "Jesus Seminar." John Dominic Crossan was one, I didn't catch the other gentleman's name. Author Lee Stroebel made contributions as well as Josh McDowell, Pastor Chuck Missler and several other scholars and pastors.

Frankly, I rarely watch these types of shows because they are generally chopped up by an editor who attempts to skew the comments to support a particular perspective on the subject that's being discussed or debated. That didn't seem to be the case here. It seemed to me as though a full answer to the questions being asked was allowed to be given. Assuredly the answers were brief, but they were concise.

One commentator remarked along the lines that Christians often don't really want to know the "true historical Jesus, they only want to know about the Jesus of the Bible." He also implied that the early church fathers deliberately designed the Biblical text to push their own program.You hear that a lot these days, though people have been saying it for years.

As ever, when I hear such a statement the same thing always comes to my mind. Why would a group of men and women "corrupt" an account of Christ, only to rewrite it into a manuscript that would give them so much grief? Why would these people be so willing to die for a corrupted historical document. They weren't just willing to die either, they were willing to suffer every type of hardship and horribly gruesome deaths, all to defend the Scriptures. If theyfalsified them, why would they want to die to defend them? They certainly didn't acquire monetary compensation from what they wrote. They wouldn't suffer and die for a lie.

You could argue that the 9/11 hijackers sincerely believed in what they committed suicide for, but they had placed their faith in the traditions that had been passed down amongst them over hundreds of years. They didn't knowingly give their lives up for a lie, they died for a lie in a state of ignorance.

By stark contrast, The early church martyrs either saw what they claimed to have seen or they did not. Many were eyewitnesses to the life, death and resurrection of Christ, or fellowshipped with those who had. They weren't ignorant. They had first hand knowledge of whether or not their testimony was true. Still, these men and women held fast to their testimonies in Christ Jesus, having been given every chance to recant, with the full knowledge that clinging to Him would bring them torture and death.

Why would they do this? Because their testimony was true, and so is the Bible.