Foundations of Faith

FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH IN JESUS
M. M. NINAN
CHAPTER TWO
WE ARE WITNESSES
We have several writings in the New Testament which claim to be written by eyewitness for the
events of Christ. They claim large number of witnesses
Some people who claim that Jesus is a myth deny the authorship and integrity of the writings.
One example is as follows:
"What, then, is the evidence that Jesus Christ lived in this world as a man? The authorities relied
upon to prove the reality of Christ are the four Gospels of the New Testament—Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John. These Gospels and these alone, tell the story of his life. Now we know absolutely
nothing of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, apart from what is said of them in the Gospels.
Moreover, the Gospels themselves do not claim to have been written by these men. They are not
called "The Gospel of Matthew," or "The Gospel of Mark," but "The Gospel According to
Matthew," "The Gospel According to Mark," "The Gospel According to Luke," and "The Gospel
According to John." No human being knows who wrote a single line in one of these Gospels."
This immediately brought me the problem of my grand father. I am told his name was Mammen.
I was told that he was an eminent Pepper and Spice merchant of the Malabar Coast. I wanted to
see whether he really existed or not. Unfortunately he has not left any written document. There
are no government records of his name. He is said to have died when my father was five
according to my grandmother. My grandmother died at the age of 98 over fifty years ago. I am
sure she has seen him. But there is no evidence other than what she says. Any family record we
now posses are all written within the past fifty years. No one who wrote that knows him.
Actually no one knows who wrote a single line in any of the page. I have a copy of the family
history. But it has no author's name. I suppose this grandfather of mine is a myth. You can see
how absurd this conclusion is. In fact you cannot prove the existence of me even. None of you
have seen or known me. You cannot be sure I wrote this. I could as well be a myth. Our
knowledge of the external world comes through our five senses. Then any information we get
through them has to be through the means of these senses and that means through a medium. We
can always question these media of senses, the integrity of these transmissions and also the
interpretation of these senses to us. Then all the problem of evidence of any "reality" will be
under question.
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