Thanks Michael, I just shared this out on my community tab. I hope it strengthens people's confidence in Scripture. It's crazy how low of a view so many scholars have of the New Testament when it has so much evidence in support of it's reliability. More and more scholars seem to be seeing it, and showing it.
There are tons of scholars who argue and make great points of early gospel dating, reliability of the text, Eye witness accounts, It's just that unbelieving scholars are more vocal but their arguments are pretty weak in my opinion.
@@matheusdardenneFr. Like, how are you gonna say there are no accounts of a census of Palestine at that time, when there is literally an account of a census in Palestine at that time.
Just watched a recent "debate" between Jeff Durbin, James White, and Greg Clark and Dan Ellis. Dr. Clark said one reason the Bible is bunk is because the Gospels' names like Luke and Mark couldn't have been real names back then. It was already a dumb argument, but this kills it entirely. Awesome stuff.
God that's almost as bad as people saying Paul couldn't have gone to Spain since Spain was a place back then. Like bruh it was Espana back then and that's just the old name for the area of Spain, smh
"Lucas" is the Latin form of the English Luke. Similarly, "Marcus" is the Latin form of Mark, so they could certainly been living in the Roman Empire during the first century, C.E., & although their names are attributed to two of the gospels, they may -- or may not have authored & compiled these works within 50 years of Jesus' (Yeshua's) death & resurrection. Since the Jewish people living in the Galilee could speak both Aramaic & koine Greek, occasionally, historical figures, such as Andrew, or Andreas, bore Greek names. Obviously, Jesus (Yeshua) & James (Jakob) are Jewish or Aramaic names as are Joseph (Yosef) & Mary (Mariam) as is Simon (as in Simon Peter), John (Yahan, a shortening of Johnathan), & Marta (Martha).
Whattt??!!! That’s so ridiculous. That’s literally the “Tiffany problem”, where people see names like Tiffany as unhistorical, even though it was a widely used name in medieval Europe.
I see this argument quite often, but not just with Mark and Luke. "Funny how Jesus found a bunch of Palestinian followers with European names like John, Matthew, Simon, and Thomas." They do not know the irony of their argument. These aren't European names. They're Jewish names that have been adapted through various languages for 2000 years. John is a variation of Yohhannan; Matthew is a variation of Mathias, Simon is a variation of Simeon, and Thomas is literally the Hebrew word for "twin". Luke, the Gentile, is a variation of Lucas/Lucus, and Mark is a variation of Marcus. You know these are Greek/Roman names because of their ending "us" sound, like Sparticus, Tacitus, Julius, Augustus, ect.. But Even Mark is a Greek nickname, as his Jewish name was John (Yohhannan). The reason these ancient Jewish names are so common in Europe/America is because of 2000 years of Europeans naming their kids off of Bible characters from the Jewish scriptures. Actual European names include: Olaf, Astrid, Bjorn, Ingrid, Agmundr, Filix, Amadeus, Wolfgang, Adolf, Ludwig, Cicero, Camille, Colette, Eric, Amy. You don't see anybody with those names following Jesus in the Gospels.
Praise God for the apologists who take the scholarly approach to biblical studies and theology. We need more like you Mr. IP 🙏🙏🙏 inspiring so many of us to pursue God and use the gifts He instills within us.
One of the coolest things from Bauckham's book for me (though I admit, I never finished the book) was the awareness that named characters in the Gospels likely indicate the source of the story in which they occur, the person maybe even still around in the Christian community at the time of the writing of the Gospel. For example, why is Bartimaeus named in Mark 10:46 when he is healed of his blindness, but the blind man Jesus heals in Mark 8:22-26 is not named? Likely, Bartimaeus was a Christian whom the audience may have known and who would tell the story of Jesus healing him.
This argument actually has me thinking that if my own personal journals and writings were documented and questioned for authenticity, then the names of people I talk about would show great skepticism. Somehow, I have happened to have known people with less common names. Sure, I've known several Michaels, Ethans, Rachels, and half a million Emilys, but I have also oddly enough known at least 4 other Kentons (my own very rare name). When the Bible is more credible than your own personal memoirs, it's hard to doubt the Bible's authenticity.
Inspiring Philosophy, thank you for answering so many questions about the Bible that have stumped many for so long. You have helped me keep my faith strong.
Gregor and Blais' critique was already put in the dumpster (in my opinion) by Lydia McGrew when she pointed out their methodological errors of arbitrarily leaving out names based on who they believed were historical/fictional characters. This right here just buried it for good.
Example. My name: Monique Marie LeMaire. Monique comes from the Latin: "monere" which means : To counsel, to encourage, to advise, to warn Marie: from old Hebrew: "mara" which means: "bitter" LeMaire: from the French: Which means: "the mayor, the magistrate, or the overseer." What do I do for a living???!!! I am a Chaplain/ Counselor.... Yes...I do deal with some subjects which can be difficult to deal with and... I oversee two ministries: A local one to Rhode Island and an International interdenominational one. Yes, my name fits me just right!! And a very big, YES, God doesn't make mistakes in His Word, yes, all these unusual names to us make perfect sense to God and those of the Biblical generations. Just found your channel.... keep up the great work. Sister Monique 🙂🙏🌷💗
I can't say too much, They are after me. But there's way to much coincidence that every civilization on earth was able to pile rocks up a similar way. And the Emerald tablets of Thoth have been found. Graham Hancock is being silenced by big Pharmarcheology, the mainstream googledybunkers don't want you to know the truth. I gotta go I said too much about the hollow earth that was discovered in 1889 and proves that there is a giant ice wall surrounding our flat earth. Free Graham Hancock from the oppression of mainstream archeology
Another fun fact about names; In the Book of Daniel, the names he and his friends were given in Babylon were meant to emasculate them (not so different than what some do today)
I don't recall the names exactly but imagine you name is "Lord is king" and they rename you "Baal is King". So whenever you give your name, are referred to or see your name is a constant demoralization
Daniel's name was changed to Belteshazzar. Belteshazzar means "Bel's Prince" or "Lord of the straighened's treasure" Daniel means "God is my Judge" However, due to Daniel's dream interpretation, the Babylonians called him Daniel, for it was far more befitting than Belteshazzar
Excellent video! I have been watching your debates and videos for clarity on certain topics, and this channel has helped me understand the context and reliability of the gospels.
Thank you for your hard work, Michael; you are a gifted academic who has the ability to communicate with the rest of us, and it is much appreciated. Greetings from the UK 🇬🇧
It would be interesting to do a correlative study of the distribution of names in today's USA, and the occurrence of names in a selection of AP and Reuters articles. I'd bet the P-value is similar to that of the gospels with historic Judean names.
You would have to specify what part of the USA and what years you were studying. Names in the deep south are very different from the Northwest while popular names even 50 years ago are different from today. This analysis of the Bible is extremely powerful
God bless you Michael I really enjoyed this video, I pray that our Lord enlarges your territory and make your service more fruitful o brother in Christ🙏
This is interesting. Add to this that unlike Ben Hur, there were several gospel writers. And the names were not only in the right ratio, but often have symbolic significance in the story.
One thing I think is fascinating about names in the Bible is that the names of the pre-flood Patriarchs, when translated, spell out a short summary of the Gospel.
Yeah thanks to the internet I think we’ve all seen that. It really is a cool video. Especially knowing that so many of those people had other names in other languages. We know Moses was called numerous different names from multiple different cultures. But the Bible used names that had a prophetic story within itself.
I'm very happy that this line of research has continued. I have heard of early attempts in the '90s that were very compelling. With better data, the fit has only improved.
I think if someone writes a fictional story he would never use the same name for several important people so they can be confused. But in a real story that can happen easily with popular names as it happened in the Bible. It makes it more believable.
@@almazchati4178 because Jesus isn’t interested at that point on to simply rule some country. He wants to rule the hearts and minds of all who willingly trust Him and obey out of love for all He has done hope for them. Then at another soon to come appointed time, He will return no more like a helpless baby, but as the King of the earth.
@@I9s7lam5is-S3tu1pid What happened in the meantime? Is he learning how to be a king? No more love? What was wrong with simply ruling a country with love for everybody? What was his interest, why did he change it? What is he waiting for?
@@mehmetcirit678 you must be an Abdul from Turkey 🇹🇷, so if you’re dead serious in wanting to know the Christian gospel message, then get a Bible in your local language and was starting from the book of John, then Matthew, then Mark then Luke.
One thing I think could help strengthen this case even more would be to use this formula on a modern work, perhaps something from ww2 that we know to be historically accurate.
I took an apologetics class this past semester, and my professor mentioned the names used helped give reliability of the Gospels. It was more or less a passing detail. But wow I didn't realize it would be THAT strong of a detail in reliability
This is a great addition to other evidences that the gospels are true historical writings. Eventually society will have to accept it as at least true history. Then they'll be faced with how to respond.
Looking at Revelation, probably hostility. It’s very interesting that the unrepentant in Revelation seem to know who God is but continue to rebel and paint him as an enemy. We already see nonbelievers saying that they’d hate God if he exists.
Hey IP! I know you're working on a lot, but there's a video by ESOTERICA talking about YHWH and how it originated from paganism and polytheism and was some storm deity. It seems pretty in depth.
I've always loved analyzing Biblical names. Both the Hebrew and Greek names are packed with meaning. Moreover, since names go through cycles of popularity (think of how many American kids got stuck with Michael or Deborah back in the 1950s), they can be used to determine when and where something was written. "A watermark of authenticity", indeed. Great video.
Amazing video what amazing data and statistical analysis. Can't believe something like this can even be extrapolated. Please keep up the great work my brother
I can already imagine Atheists going "But IP, the Gospel writers knew statistics and forged it exactly right to get to those numbers!" Next they'll claim it was written by an advanced Alien Civilization trying to mess with us.
@@Greyz174 okay so enlighten me on your particular reasoning for commenting on a Christian channels video, suggesting the idea of the devil is absurd. I'm a patient guy, and I don't mind people who don't believe, just curious why you felt the need to comment what you did.
Also, the repetition of names makes the story more difficult to understand. Look, for example, at the Gospel of John. It describes Judas Iscariot, then Judas, who is not Iscariot. Such a movement tires the reader and writer because repeating names is boring. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine that the Gospel writers wanted to make the matter more difficult to understand. Rather, they would try to make it easier by adding new, easier name
I have thought this myself. For example, the NT mentions around 9 people named "Herod". It isn't always easy to differentiate between them. Confusing, but unavoidable if all these men really were named "Herod".
Great video man, I finished reading one of the books from J. Warner Wallace and this was one of the arguments. This video helps put more data on the argument.
ok, but to play devil's advocate, are the amount of names enough to be statistically significant? edit: nevermind, this was sufficiently addressed in the video
Gnostic texts don’t present themselves as history and tend not to have any names other than a few puppets drawn from the gospels and maybe the family ot Adam. There’d be nothing to work from.
Notice how the trend of evidence (which was already good) is going in favor of the Bible. It isn't going the other way and it isn't even mixed. It is flat out improving as time goes on. When there is already a great foundation of evidence.
This is really good stuff! I always knew Gregor and Blais' study was highly flawed, but it's nice to see people give such a robust statistical defense of the name statistics argument
I once saw a study on the freequency of place names in the gospels. The gospels and real historical narratives use place names at roughly a certain frequency, but forgeries are significantly less likely to use them
All it potentially proves is that they were written contemporaneously to events they describe. It doesn't resolve the contradictions and inconsistencies. They're still second-hand accounts. And that's fine.
How about listing those contradictions? Many of the books are first-hand accounts. Luke was reporting what actual eyewitnesses told him. That's proved by the Aramaic words and turns of phrase contained in his original Greek writing.
To summarize: the consistency with the names in the gospels to the popularity of those names during the time in which they were claimed to have been written strongly support the authenticity of the gospels. For example, if I wrote a biography detailing the account of events that took place in the 90s, but named all the characters had names common in 2024, it would call into question the validity of my writing.
Correct, but the reverse is not necessarily true. If you were to do in-depth research and get all the names right - or just adapt and modify real-life stories about real people - then your name statistics would match but that would not make your stories any more true.
IP, as a Christian, this is fantastic. However I have to point out that Tal Ilan has included both Maccabees, the NT, the apocrypha (both Jewish and Christian), Sirach and other LXX names into the Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity. I'm not sure if that was addressed in the correlation study, I didn't see a mention of it in the study. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if they didn't correct for this problem it's a little bit like removing a jigsaw puzzle piece from a puzzle and then analyzing whether that piece fits into that puzzle or not.
It says in the study that they removed the numbers of the occurrences of the names from GA and Josephus . When they add it back it the GA is like 97% likely if I remember correctly. Also Maccabees and the Apocrypha wouldn’t matter because the occurrences are what counts with all of it together. So even if the apocrypha is made up it shouldn’t align with the Gospels and Acts if they’re all made up. Also they use other sources outside of the Bible to get the Hebrew Names. They used inscriptions, left over papyri, names of synagogues and other documents. It’s way more than the apocrypha. So its influence is minimal since it’s just seek a the names of the those in Jesus’s day not the time period before him which most apocryphal account are writing about.
I am a student of data science. I have to calculate everything again,.but if the scores are correct, then this is indeed a game changer. Can't believe the difference between NT and Josephus, while later is acknowledged as a overall trustworthy historical source
*Checks atheist list of arguments.* > If gOD reel y bad thing happen? > gOD create heavy stone?? > If gOD reel y m I 2 stuborn to bliv? > The gospels were written by anonymous people decades after the events relying on a telephone game-like oral tradition. *Crosses the last one.* *Smirks.*
if you don't think the problem of evil is a real argument, then you are severely unintelligent or uninformed. It is the one argument that should make every theist uncomfortable, I say this as an Orthodox Christian.
I do always enjoy and appreciate studies like this which assess veracity without first being based upon the assumption that the bible is true and inerrant. Even though I am not a believer, it is papers like this that we need more of - no theological perspective should escape a strong challenge. Thanks IP for bringing this to our attention. However, I do have a view objections that I would appreciate hearing feedback on: Whilst your video attempts to deal with the issue of sample size by discussing binning, and statistical testing, the inherent limitations of a small sample size and the potential for biases in the methodology mean that this issue is not fully resolved. Even with the best statistical methods, a small sample size inherently limits the power and reliability of the conclusions. Larger samples generally provide more robust results. The study's methodology and the assumptions made (e.g., about the distinctiveness of naming patterns in fiction versus historical accounts) can influence the results and should be further scrutinised. The paper relies heavily on the assumption that forgery or later additions would not pay attention to naming conventions, which underestimates the capability of ancient writers to produce plausible narratives (although I don't personally think they are forgeries). Given that early Christians had access to Jewish texts and traditions, it is plausible that names were selected or emphasized to reflect contemporary naming conventions. Are you familiar with E. P. Sanders' "The Historical Figure of Jesus? Sanders examines the likelihood of names being historically accurate based on the transmission methods and the purposes of the Gospel authors. Sanders also points out that the Gospel writers had specific theological and community agendas - they were not merely chroniclers of historical facts but were also interpreters and promoters of theological messages - and so the inclusion and emphasis on certain names could serve theological purposes rather than purely historical reporting, leading to potential distortions or inventions of names to fit their narrative goals. Thanks for always being a source that can be relied upon to present interesting, nuanced, rational and challenging content.
But anyways, if you think Ancient forgers would pay attention to name frequencies then give me the accepted forged narrative that does that. In my experience, forged ancient documents don't even go as far as to be detailed on places they've never been nor have no source from someone that's been there and when they do try that, they fail basic geographical checks first and avoid names. Also, I have never read of any Ancient person arguing against the truth of some text, using name frequency analysis for you to assume that an ancient writer would be aware of this, you have to give us an example of an ancient writer or debunker being aware of name frequency analysis, unless, this is just essentially assuming precognition for the hypotheital forgers of the gospel.
@@ikengaspirit3063 I can think of a few examples: The Acts of Paul and Thecla - includes detailed descriptions of people, places, and cultural practices. The narrative includes known cities like Iconium and Antioch, and names characters such as Thecla and Alexander, which were common in the region. The Gospel of Thomas - uses names such as Thomas (a common Jewish name) and includes sayings attributed to Jesus. The Infancy Gospel of James - details the early life of Mary and the birth of Jesus, using names like Joachim, Anna, Mary, and Joseph. The Letter of Aristeas - claims to be written by a court official under Ptolemy II, detailing the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek (the Septuagint). It includes detailed descriptions of the court, cultural practices, and names like Eleazar, which align with known historical contexts. The Sibylline Oracles - mixes Jewish, Christian, and pagan elements, including names of well-known historical figures and places. The idea that ancient forgers didn't pay attention to name frequencies underestimates what ancient writers were capable of. Ancient forgers, being part of their own cultures, would naturally use common names, making their stories more believable without needing any formal statistical knowledge.
@@tenmilesfm We're not just talking about names but name frequencies and number of names on the order as to be able to make such an analysis and a number of the texts you mention are probably among the heretical texts used in the study, that failed the test. Paul and Thelca are really the only comparable ones. Thomas is a sayings gospel, like the Quran it doesn't include much names you can't really do such an analysis with it; and like with the Quran the names it does have are clearly directly taken off earlier stories. The Infancy Gospel barely mentions anyone else aside from the characters you mention, it literally just calls the high priest, "high priest". This is why the paper had to use these books in its final analysis, which showed very low P values. So yeah, I can pretty confindently say that they didn't pay attention to name frequencies just borrowed names of people important in Christianity. Some book mentioning Caeser and Pompey several times doesn't show carefullness to names, it shows borrowing the names of important people. The Sibylline books being more of a Psalm or Proverbs than a narrative doesn't exactly fit and even then as you said youself fits more with the above heretical books of largely borrowing mentioning popular people. As such, I don't even need to do an Analysis to know it won't fit the naming frequency as a book with fews names but for the infrequent mention of uncommon names like "Vulcan" and "Sambethe" isn't gonna fit the naming patterns of anywhere in late antiquity. Finally, I don't know enough about Aristeas letter to talk much about it but... given the rest of them don't fit, I am willing to bet it won't fit either.
As time passes, it becomes more apparent to me that it’s very possible and perhaps likely that as time passes, and we naturally draw nearer to His return; God increases steadily the amount of evidence available to the common man. Not just through supernatural displays but also just as He always used His people to serve His purpose, even today He uses His people to break grounds on scientific, historical and spiritual fronts; ultimately strengthening the case for Christ and reliability of the gospel accounts ✝️
@@LorenzoPelupessy Great Channel. Considering that the Qurans were developed over many years, that's likely. However, the more finalised books began to emerge in the mid-8th century.
@qetoun I already sort of got an Idea lol we should search when is the name "Aisyah", "Fatimah" , and "Muhammad" started to get popular Ie we'll know when the finalized story of Islam starts to spread... Watching Pfander was a crazy experience tbh (argument from silence), but they got a good point it was rather surprising to know that such a big religion is able to get away with smt small like a City ☠️ My main problem is that how could they spread so rapidly and with seemingly zero people noticed their ever growing legend? Idk if Pfander has answered that lol...
@@LorenzoPelupessy I'm pretty sure people did notice. People certainly noticed that the Quran was being edited. The Chinese noticed that the origin story of the Muslims was changing.
For more, Exploring Reality has a more detailed analysis of the study: ua-cam.com/video/fyLiC4aFCg8/v-deo.html
This study changes Ehrman’s dating of the Gospels and Acts in his NT textbook in what way?
@@edwardtbabinskiI’ll be making a video on the implication of this in the near future!
Can You,Godlogic,Sam shamoun go life together
1st English is not a Language of meaning like other
@@ChristApologetics09the three are actually one ( co equal)
Thanks Michael, I just shared this out on my community tab. I hope it strengthens people's confidence in Scripture. It's crazy how low of a view so many scholars have of the New Testament when it has so much evidence in support of it's reliability. More and more scholars seem to be seeing it, and showing it.
There are tons of scholars who argue and make great points of early gospel dating, reliability of the text, Eye witness accounts, It's just that unbelieving scholars are more vocal but their arguments are pretty weak in my opinion.
Nerd!
@@DivineMercy0414ha. I love it
Still a nerd
then have him on your channel nerd
Gregor and Blais have been real quiet since this dropped
That will change
It's a 2024 paper, right? They probably need time to respond.
@@InspiringPhilosophy YEP! 2024 study... they'll respond after taking time to read through it.
Yow what's up😂 been binge watching yr videos
@@SuperMeatBoa Yes. That explains why they haven't responded.
18th-21st century skeptics: oh what a funny little part of the world we can scrutinize from our arm chair.
Gospel writers: I live here
Same vibe I get from the "Luke's census never happened".
@@matheusdardenneFr. Like, how are you gonna say there are no accounts of a census of Palestine at that time, when there is literally an account of a census in Palestine at that time.
@withlessAsbestos
They want "extra biblical evidence," which translates to "I will pressupose what is in the Bible is false."
@@matheusdardenne There happened a Census, nmbut it was not tax-related.
Just watched a recent "debate" between Jeff Durbin, James White, and Greg Clark and Dan Ellis.
Dr. Clark said one reason the Bible is bunk is because the Gospels' names like Luke and Mark couldn't have been real names back then.
It was already a dumb argument, but this kills it entirely. Awesome stuff.
God that's almost as bad as people saying Paul couldn't have gone to Spain since Spain was a place back then.
Like bruh it was Espana back then and that's just the old name for the area of Spain, smh
"Lucas" is the Latin form of the English Luke. Similarly, "Marcus" is the Latin form of Mark, so they could certainly been living in the Roman Empire during the first century, C.E., & although their names are attributed to two of the gospels, they may -- or may not have authored & compiled these works within 50 years of Jesus' (Yeshua's) death & resurrection. Since the Jewish people living in the Galilee could speak both Aramaic & koine Greek, occasionally, historical figures, such as Andrew, or Andreas, bore Greek names. Obviously, Jesus (Yeshua) & James (Jakob) are Jewish or Aramaic names as are Joseph (Yosef) & Mary (Mariam) as is Simon (as in Simon Peter), John (Yahan, a shortening of Johnathan), & Marta (Martha).
Whattt??!!! That’s so ridiculous. That’s literally the “Tiffany problem”, where people see names like Tiffany as unhistorical, even though it was a widely used name in medieval Europe.
They must be running out of space to shift the goal posts by now.
I see this argument quite often, but not just with Mark and Luke. "Funny how Jesus found a bunch of Palestinian followers with European names like John, Matthew, Simon, and Thomas." They do not know the irony of their argument. These aren't European names. They're Jewish names that have been adapted through various languages for 2000 years. John is a variation of Yohhannan; Matthew is a variation of Mathias, Simon is a variation of Simeon, and Thomas is literally the Hebrew word for "twin".
Luke, the Gentile, is a variation of Lucas/Lucus, and Mark is a variation of Marcus. You know these are Greek/Roman names because of their ending "us" sound, like Sparticus, Tacitus, Julius, Augustus, ect.. But Even Mark is a Greek nickname, as his Jewish name was John (Yohhannan).
The reason these ancient Jewish names are so common in Europe/America is because of 2000 years of Europeans naming their kids off of Bible characters from the Jewish scriptures. Actual European names include: Olaf, Astrid, Bjorn, Ingrid, Agmundr, Filix, Amadeus, Wolfgang, Adolf, Ludwig, Cicero, Camille, Colette, Eric, Amy. You don't see anybody with those names following Jesus in the Gospels.
Praise God for the apologists who take the scholarly approach to biblical studies and theology. We need more like you Mr. IP 🙏🙏🙏 inspiring so many of us to pursue God and use the gifts He instills within us.
This is such a fascinating argument. Thanks for putting this together into a helpful video!
Glad to help
Christian scholarship : here's some data and evidence
Atheist scholarship : here's some stuff I imagined
Imagining things is probably too much work for most atheists most of the stuff they say is recycled from decades old books by the Horseman
Babe wake up, inspiring philosophy uploaded
One of the coolest things from Bauckham's book for me (though I admit, I never finished the book) was the awareness that named characters in the Gospels likely indicate the source of the story in which they occur, the person maybe even still around in the Christian community at the time of the writing of the Gospel. For example, why is Bartimaeus named in Mark 10:46 when he is healed of his blindness, but the blind man Jesus heals in Mark 8:22-26 is not named? Likely, Bartimaeus was a Christian whom the audience may have known and who would tell the story of Jesus healing him.
Some of the figures have suppressed names because it may have been dangerous for them to be known at the time the gospels were first circulated.
Good stuff!!
Thank you, sir
God bless you Mike!!!
This argument actually has me thinking that if my own personal journals and writings were documented and questioned for authenticity, then the names of people I talk about would show great skepticism. Somehow, I have happened to have known people with less common names. Sure, I've known several Michaels, Ethans, Rachels, and half a million Emilys, but I have also oddly enough known at least 4 other Kentons (my own very rare name).
When the Bible is more credible than your own personal memoirs, it's hard to doubt the Bible's authenticity.
Eyyy what up Kenton!
That’s a great point Kenton
I have a lot of relatives whose last name is Kinton, which is related to Kenton. It's a very uncommon name. I am a genealogist and study names a lot.
You missed the point
@@matijavukelja5723 no, he didn't. You missed HIS point.
Inspiring Philosophy, thank you for answering so many questions about the Bible that have stumped many for so long. You have helped me keep my faith strong.
Bro has cooked once again
Gregor and Blais' critique was already put in the dumpster (in my opinion) by Lydia McGrew when she pointed out their methodological errors of arbitrarily leaving out names based on who they believed were historical/fictional characters.
This right here just buried it for good.
wow
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing and breaking down this study with us
I got teary eyed. thank you
you’re welcome
You have an intense way of saying “Jesus”, gets me every time lol great video
Mike Winger's post brought me here.
Same!
Same
Example. My name:
Monique Marie LeMaire.
Monique comes from the Latin: "monere" which means :
To counsel, to encourage, to advise, to warn
Marie: from old Hebrew: "mara" which means: "bitter"
LeMaire: from the French:
Which means: "the mayor, the magistrate, or the overseer."
What do I do for a living???!!!
I am a Chaplain/ Counselor....
Yes...I do deal with some subjects which can be difficult to deal with and...
I oversee two ministries:
A local one to Rhode Island and an International interdenominational one.
Yes, my name fits me just right!!
And a very big, YES, God doesn't make mistakes in His Word, yes, all these unusual names to us make perfect sense to God and those of the Biblical generations.
Just found your channel.... keep up the great work.
Sister Monique 🙂🙏🌷💗
Beautiful name, good luck with your ministry 😀
@@dominicguye8058 Thank you so much for your reply. May God continue to bless you and your family! Miss Monique 🙂🌷🙏
I love this channel. It presents interesting, scholarly information like this in an accessible manner that you can't find anywhere else.
So you're saying there's a chance that the Bible uses historical sources? That's not what Ancient Aliens told me.
Which aliens? Vulcans or Klingons? :p
@@charliedontsurf334 Clearly the Annunaki were Vulcans? How did you not know? And Yahweh's one of them. Trust me.
@@charliedontsurf334neither, the bird people from Buck Rodgers
they do argue the bible uses historical sources, just ones attributable to aliens
I can't say too much, They are after me. But there's way to much coincidence that every civilization on earth was able to pile rocks up a similar way. And the Emerald tablets of Thoth have been found. Graham Hancock is being silenced by big Pharmarcheology, the mainstream googledybunkers don't want you to know the truth. I gotta go I said too much about the hollow earth that was discovered in 1889 and proves that there is a giant ice wall surrounding our flat earth. Free Graham Hancock from the oppression of mainstream archeology
I absolutely love your editing.
Another fun fact about names;
In the Book of Daniel, the names he and his friends were given in Babylon were meant to emasculate them (not so different than what some do today)
I don't recall the names exactly but imagine you name is "Lord is king" and they rename you "Baal is King". So whenever you give your name, are referred to or see your name is a constant demoralization
@@kriegjaeger Beltshazar i think yeS?
Daniel's name was changed to Belteshazzar.
Belteshazzar means "Bel's Prince" or "Lord of the straighened's treasure"
Daniel means "God is my Judge"
However, due to Daniel's dream interpretation, the Babylonians called him Daniel, for it was far more befitting than Belteshazzar
Excellent video! I have been watching your debates and videos for clarity on certain topics, and this channel has helped me understand the context and reliability of the gospels.
Beautiful breakdown of the conclusion, Mr. Jones!
Bless the most holy name of Jesus, Son of God 🙌
Thank you for your hard work, Michael; you are a gifted academic who has the ability to communicate with the rest of us, and it is much appreciated. Greetings from the UK 🇬🇧
It would be interesting to do a correlative study of the distribution of names in today's USA, and the occurrence of names in a selection of AP and Reuters articles. I'd bet the P-value is similar to that of the gospels with historic Judean names.
It would probably be deemed racist since the names associated with “protected people group” would appear too often associated with crimes.
@@jfr45er And how would you handle the 27 distinct spellings of the name "Unique"?
@@jfr45erwhat....
You would have to specify what part of the USA and what years you were studying. Names in the deep south are very different from the Northwest while popular names even 50 years ago are different from today. This analysis of the Bible is extremely powerful
Awesome video! The quality is always top notch!
God bless you Michael I really enjoyed this video, I pray that our Lord enlarges your territory and make your service more fruitful o brother in Christ🙏
This is interesting. Add to this that unlike Ben Hur, there were several gospel writers. And the names were not only in the right ratio, but often have symbolic significance in the story.
One thing I think is fascinating about names in the Bible is that the names of the pre-flood Patriarchs, when translated, spell out a short summary of the Gospel.
That is soft proof that Bible codes are relevant when used in context.
There's a video where they spell out an even greater retelling via the names from Adam to Jesus.
Yeah thanks to the internet I think we’ve all seen that. It really is a cool video. Especially knowing that so many of those people had other names in other languages. We know Moses was called numerous different names from multiple different cultures. But the Bible used names that had a prophetic story within itself.
I'm very happy that this line of research has continued. I have heard of early attempts in the '90s that were very compelling. With better data, the fit has only improved.
Amazing as always Mike! God bless you brother, can't wait to watch this video!
Simply fascinating.
I think if someone writes a fictional story he would never use the same name for several important people so they can be confused. But in a real story that can happen easily with popular names as it happened in the Bible. It makes it more believable.
Fantastic work! Thanks bringing it to our attention!
Now that is impressive work. Thank you for promoting this and sharing the link to the paper.
Great stuff mate
That was impressive.
"Trust the Science!"
Jesus is king
Jesus Christ is the soon returning King of all kings and the Lord of all lords.
Did not look like one when he was alive.
@@almazchati4178 because Jesus isn’t interested at that point on to simply rule some country.
He wants to rule the hearts and minds of all who willingly trust Him and obey out of love for all He has done hope for them.
Then at another soon to come appointed time, He will return no more like a helpless baby, but as the King of the earth.
@@I9s7lam5is-S3tu1pid What happened in the meantime? Is he learning how to be a king? No more love? What was wrong with simply ruling a country with love for everybody? What was his interest, why did he change it? What is he waiting for?
@@mehmetcirit678 you must be an Abdul from Turkey 🇹🇷, so if you’re dead serious in wanting to know the Christian gospel message, then get a Bible in your local language and was starting from the book of John, then Matthew, then Mark then Luke.
One thing I think could help strengthen this case even more would be to use this formula on a modern work, perhaps something from ww2 that we know to be historically accurate.
That might be actually difficult to find, as so much falsity exists in that field.
@@bite-sizedshorts9635 right but I just mean some semi-modern time/event. I don't necessarily specifically mean WW2. Just something like that.
Very nice sir
Awesome video!
Good video, Dr. Peter Williams was talking about this same type of thing years ago.
Absolutely brilliant! Thank you, IP!
Nice research. Good job.
I took an apologetics class this past semester, and my professor mentioned the names used helped give reliability of the Gospels. It was more or less a passing detail. But wow I didn't realize it would be THAT strong of a detail in reliability
Thank you for your work !
May God bless you and your family Michael. Your videos have really helped to strengthen my faith in Christ our God and Savior.
Exciting research
This is a great addition to other evidences that the gospels are true historical writings. Eventually society will have to accept it as at least true history. Then they'll be faced with how to respond.
Looking at Revelation, probably hostility. It’s very interesting that the unrepentant in Revelation seem to know who God is but continue to rebel and paint him as an enemy. We already see nonbelievers saying that they’d hate God if he exists.
Thanks for what you do!
Hey IP! I know you're working on a lot, but there's a video by ESOTERICA talking about YHWH and how it originated from paganism and polytheism and was some storm deity. It seems pretty in depth.
Except pagan, as the truth came first and paganism, as well as all the other religions, came later.
I've always loved analyzing Biblical names. Both the Hebrew and Greek names are packed with meaning. Moreover, since names go through cycles of popularity (think of how many American kids got stuck with Michael or Deborah back in the 1950s), they can be used to determine when and where something was written. "A watermark of authenticity", indeed. Great video.
Amazing video what amazing data and statistical analysis.
Can't believe something like this can even be extrapolated. Please keep up the great work my brother
That's pretty remarkable! 😳🙏
I can already imagine Atheists going "But IP, the Gospel writers knew statistics and forged it exactly right to get to those numbers!"
Next they'll claim it was written by an advanced Alien Civilization trying to mess with us.
That's Scientology LMFAO 😆
Only slightly more absurd than an invisible rebellious angel civilzation trying to mess with us
@@Greyz174 well if you don't believe, then why you commenting?
@@johnfairweather7012 there are all sorts of complex underlying reasons for why anyone does anything, chief
@@Greyz174 okay so enlighten me on your particular reasoning for commenting on a Christian channels video, suggesting the idea of the devil is absurd.
I'm a patient guy, and I don't mind people who don't believe, just curious why you felt the need to comment what you did.
Fascinating! Hope this strengthens faith in the reliability of the New Testament
Super cool video! Try adjusting your speach cadence so as to not sound like a narrator on the history channel.
Awesome
Thanks for sharing
God increase you 🙏
Amen and Amen!
Also, the repetition of names makes the story more difficult to understand. Look, for example, at the Gospel of John. It describes Judas Iscariot, then Judas, who is not Iscariot. Such a movement tires the reader and writer because repeating names is boring. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine that the Gospel writers wanted to make the matter more difficult to understand. Rather, they would try to make it easier by adding new, easier name
I have thought this myself. For example, the NT mentions around 9 people named "Herod". It isn't always easy to differentiate between them. Confusing, but unavoidable if all these men really were named "Herod".
Yes!!! Love it.
Great video man, I finished reading one of the books from J. Warner Wallace and this was one of the arguments. This video helps put more data on the argument.
This is amazing.
Just fascinating stuff! Thank you Michael for making this digestible for laypeople like me! :)
ok, but to play devil's advocate, are the amount of names enough to be statistically significant?
edit: nevermind, this was sufficiently addressed in the video
Shout-out to our boy IP fr 🍷🗿
Can we test this with gnostic and heretical texts as well? Id be interested to see if it confirms the lack of authenticity of those
It was, that was under the non-canonical gospels category
Gnostic texts don’t present themselves as history and tend not to have any names other than a few puppets drawn from the gospels and maybe the family ot Adam. There’d be nothing to work from.
Notice how the trend of evidence (which was already good) is going in favor of the Bible. It isn't going the other way and it isn't even mixed. It is flat out improving as time goes on. When there is already a great foundation of evidence.
Actually, it is not. The Bible has been overturned by numerous facts, and continues to be...
As usual, I IP delivers insights that are both insightful and powerful. Thank you, again, Michael!
Snazzy 😉 🙏
thanks for everyone that watched this video..This is the most important topic whether you are christian or not
This is really good stuff! I always knew Gregor and Blais' study was highly flawed, but it's nice to see people give such a robust statistical defense of the name statistics argument
Just have faith in Gods ability to inspire and preserve his word
This is some good internal evidence 😊
Truth Holy Truth. Eternal Truth is what.
Sadly, the atheist would listen to this video and still say, "It's a made-up story!"
I suspect if a project like this was done on Cities and Towns Named in the New Testament ... we would get good results too.
That's almost cheating, because those place names don't change much.
Geography is one of the reasons the Bible itself is reliable because it talks about places we know actually exist and they talk about them accurately.
I once saw a study on the freequency of place names in the gospels. The gospels and real historical narratives use place names at roughly a certain frequency, but forgeries are significantly less likely to use them
All it potentially proves is that they were written contemporaneously to events they describe. It doesn't resolve the contradictions and inconsistencies. They're still second-hand accounts. And that's fine.
It's fine, most of the historical writings are second hand accounts with contradictions and inconsistencies
How about listing those contradictions? Many of the books are first-hand accounts. Luke was reporting what actual eyewitnesses told him. That's proved by the Aramaic words and turns of phrase contained in his original Greek writing.
@@bite-sizedshorts9635 many of the society called contradictions have actually been resolved or can be harmonized
well done
I honestly believe Gods divine providence is at work right now
Very nice.
Please do a video about who Neri is, and why he’s also the father of Shealtiel (whereas in Matthew it was said to be Jeconiah) 🙏
(For the genealogy in Luke)
probably just a nick name
i think mike winger is his mark series also proved this to be true which is so cool(one minute in i haven't seen the whole video yet)
To summarize: the consistency with the names in the gospels to the popularity of those names during the time in which they were claimed to have been written strongly support the authenticity of the gospels.
For example, if I wrote a biography detailing the account of events that took place in the 90s, but named all the characters had names common in 2024, it would call into question the validity of my writing.
Correct, but the reverse is not necessarily true. If you were to do in-depth research and get all the names right - or just adapt and modify real-life stories about real people - then your name statistics would match but that would not make your stories any more true.
@@JNSchneider true, but it's also hard to do
IP, as a Christian, this is fantastic. However I have to point out that Tal Ilan has included both Maccabees, the NT, the apocrypha (both Jewish and Christian), Sirach and other LXX names into the Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity. I'm not sure if that was addressed in the correlation study, I didn't see a mention of it in the study. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if they didn't correct for this problem it's a little bit like removing a jigsaw puzzle piece from a puzzle and then analyzing whether that piece fits into that puzzle or not.
It says in the study that they removed the numbers of the occurrences of the names from GA and Josephus . When they add it back it the GA is like 97% likely if I remember correctly.
Also Maccabees and the Apocrypha wouldn’t matter because the occurrences are what counts with all of it together. So even if the apocrypha is made up it shouldn’t align with the Gospels and Acts if they’re all made up.
Also they use other sources outside of the Bible to get the Hebrew Names. They used inscriptions, left over papyri, names of synagogues and other documents. It’s way more than the apocrypha. So its influence is minimal since it’s just seek a the names of the those in Jesus’s day not the time period before him which most apocryphal account are writing about.
@@sweetxjc Thanks, I was hoping I missed something!
I am a student of data science. I have to calculate everything again,.but if the scores are correct, then this is indeed a game changer. Can't believe the difference between NT and Josephus, while later is acknowledged as a overall trustworthy historical source
You might want to reach out and look into Richard Hess' work on names in the Old Testament. He did something very similar.
Bro never misses
Why was Josephus so improbable?
Amen names in the bible are really important they tell a story on their own😊
My first thought before watching the video: Is this about the one-Steve limit?
*Checks atheist list of arguments.*
> If gOD reel y bad thing happen?
> gOD create heavy stone??
> If gOD reel y m I 2 stuborn to bliv?
> The gospels were written by anonymous people decades after the events relying on a telephone game-like oral tradition.
*Crosses the last one.*
*Smirks.*
if you don't think the problem of evil is a real argument, then you are severely unintelligent or uninformed. It is the one argument that should make every theist uncomfortable, I say this as an Orthodox Christian.
I do always enjoy and appreciate studies like this which assess veracity without first being based upon the assumption that the bible is true and inerrant. Even though I am not a believer, it is papers like this that we need more of - no theological perspective should escape a strong challenge. Thanks IP for bringing this to our attention.
However, I do have a view objections that I would appreciate hearing feedback on:
Whilst your video attempts to deal with the issue of sample size by discussing binning, and statistical testing, the inherent limitations of a small sample size and the potential for biases in the methodology mean that this issue is not fully resolved. Even with the best statistical methods, a small sample size inherently limits the power and reliability of the conclusions. Larger samples generally provide more robust results. The study's methodology and the assumptions made (e.g., about the distinctiveness of naming patterns in fiction versus historical accounts) can influence the results and should be further scrutinised.
The paper relies heavily on the assumption that forgery or later additions would not pay attention to naming conventions, which underestimates the capability of ancient writers to produce plausible narratives (although I don't personally think they are forgeries). Given that early Christians had access to Jewish texts and traditions, it is plausible that names were selected or emphasized to reflect contemporary naming conventions.
Are you familiar with E. P. Sanders' "The Historical Figure of Jesus? Sanders examines the likelihood of names being historically accurate based on the transmission methods and the purposes of the Gospel authors. Sanders also points out that the Gospel writers had specific theological and community agendas - they were not merely chroniclers of historical facts but were also interpreters and promoters of theological messages - and so the inclusion and emphasis on certain names could serve theological purposes rather than purely historical reporting, leading to potential distortions or inventions of names to fit their narrative goals.
Thanks for always being a source that can be relied upon to present interesting, nuanced, rational and challenging content.
And I think we need far less papers that approach the Bible and Christian texts with the assumption that they're false forgeries.
But anyways, if you think Ancient forgers would pay attention to name frequencies then give me the accepted forged narrative that does that. In my experience, forged ancient documents don't even go as far as to be detailed on places they've never been nor have no source from someone that's been there and when they do try that, they fail basic geographical checks first and avoid names.
Also, I have never read of any Ancient person arguing against the truth of some text, using name frequency analysis for you to assume that an ancient writer would be aware of this, you have to give us an example of an ancient writer or debunker being aware of name frequency analysis, unless, this is just essentially assuming precognition for the hypotheital forgers of the gospel.
@@ikengaspirit3063 I can think of a few examples:
The Acts of Paul and Thecla - includes detailed descriptions of people, places, and cultural practices. The narrative includes known cities like Iconium and Antioch, and names characters such as Thecla and Alexander, which were common in the region.
The Gospel of Thomas - uses names such as Thomas (a common Jewish name) and includes sayings attributed to Jesus.
The Infancy Gospel of James - details the early life of Mary and the birth of Jesus, using names like Joachim, Anna, Mary, and Joseph.
The Letter of Aristeas - claims to be written by a court official under Ptolemy II, detailing the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek (the Septuagint). It includes detailed descriptions of the court, cultural practices, and names like Eleazar, which align with known historical contexts.
The Sibylline Oracles - mixes Jewish, Christian, and pagan elements, including names of well-known historical figures and places.
The idea that ancient forgers didn't pay attention to name frequencies underestimates what ancient writers were capable of. Ancient forgers, being part of their own cultures, would naturally use common names, making their stories more believable without needing any formal statistical knowledge.
@@tenmilesfm We're not just talking about names but name frequencies and number of names on the order as to be able to make such an analysis and a number of the texts you mention are probably among the heretical texts used in the study, that failed the test.
Paul and Thelca are really the only comparable ones. Thomas is a sayings gospel, like the Quran it doesn't include much names you can't really do such an analysis with it; and like with the Quran the names it does have are clearly directly taken off earlier stories. The Infancy Gospel barely mentions anyone else aside from the characters you mention, it literally just calls the high priest, "high priest". This is why the paper had to use these books in its final analysis, which showed very low P values. So yeah, I can pretty confindently say that they didn't pay attention to name frequencies just borrowed names of people important in Christianity. Some book mentioning Caeser and Pompey several times doesn't show carefullness to names, it shows borrowing the names of important people.
The Sibylline books being more of a Psalm or Proverbs than a narrative doesn't exactly fit and even then as you said youself fits more with the above heretical books of largely borrowing mentioning popular people. As such, I don't even need to do an Analysis to know it won't fit the naming frequency as a book with fews names but for the infrequent mention of uncommon names like "Vulcan" and "Sambethe" isn't gonna fit the naming patterns of anywhere in late antiquity.
Finally, I don't know enough about Aristeas letter to talk much about it but... given the rest of them don't fit, I am willing to bet it won't fit either.
@@ikengaspirit3063 I think you missed the bit where I said I don't think the gospels are forgeries...
As time passes, it becomes more apparent to me that it’s very possible and perhaps likely that as time passes, and we naturally draw nearer to His return; God increases steadily the amount of evidence available to the common man.
Not just through supernatural displays but also just as He always used His people to serve His purpose, even today He uses His people to break grounds on scientific, historical and spiritual fronts; ultimately strengthening the case for Christ and reliability of the gospel accounts ✝️
Amazing how gracious our God is :D
@@jonathananderson260 Amen 🙏🏾
Glory To The Triune GOD
They should try this with the Quran. My bet is that it will show the book to be 100 years younger.
According to Pfander films, it's either earlier or super late lol...
@@LorenzoPelupessy Great Channel. Considering that the Qurans were developed over many years, that's likely. However, the more finalised books began to emerge in the mid-8th century.
@qetoun I already sort of got an Idea lol we should search when is the name "Aisyah", "Fatimah" , and "Muhammad" started to get popular Ie we'll know when the finalized story of Islam starts to spread...
Watching Pfander was a crazy experience tbh (argument from silence), but they got a good point it was rather surprising to know that such a big religion is able to get away with smt small like a City ☠️
My main problem is that how could they spread so rapidly and with seemingly zero people noticed their ever growing legend?
Idk if Pfander has answered that lol...
@@LorenzoPelupessy I'm pretty sure people did notice. People certainly noticed that the Quran was being edited. The Chinese noticed that the origin story of the Muslims was changing.
@@LorenzoPelupessy PS. The argument from silence can be valid.
How was P calculated?