Versions Compared

Old Version 4

changes.mady.by.user Michelle Rosenstock

Saved on

compared with

New Version 5

changes.mady.by.user Leif McLellan

Saved on

Key

  • This line was added.
  • This line was removed.
  • Formatting was changed.

Scanned PDF

Why is the earliest (= apostolic) witness normative?

I should suppose the answer to this question is not simply because it is closest to Jesus, and hence closest to the locus of revelation, because there is always the possibility that those who are closest to an event understand it, or its significance, less adequately than some who stand further away from it. What but some supernatural overriding of natural conditions could rule out this possibility? Precluding such supernatural intervention, however, one must allow for this possibility, and hence concede that the earliest witness can at best be contingently normative.

...