John Ankerberg and Gospel of Peter vs Gospel of Matthew

Tue Apr 30, 2019

back in the day one show i regularly watched was John Ankerberg show in the 80s

in 2019 he's still in business. still promoting protestant christian fundamentalism as the only truth.

I'm familiar with some of the noncanonical gospels like the Gospel of Thomas and Peter

How much I changed from 1980s till now.

Here John Ankerberg and guest talk about Gospel of Peter



ref
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqTycNrvBL0

he and his guest are trashing the Gospel of Peter on account of this passage

[39] And while they were relating what they had seen, again they see three males who have come out from they sepulcher, with the two supporting the other one, and a cross following them, [40] and the head of the two reaching unto heaven, but that of the one being led out by a hand by them going beyond the heavens.

in a nutshell, 3 men left the tomb and their height was so great it reached the skies,

as a fundamentalist christian John Ankerberg and his guest find this absurd and therefore we should reject the Gospel of Peter.

they compared this to an NBA team.

here's the problem,

here's what Gospel of Matthew describes Matthew 27:51-53:

   51And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

   52And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

   53And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

In this canonical NT gospel, we are suppsoed to believe that at Jesus death, dead people in tombs came to life and crawled out like Zombies.

Since John Ankerberg and fundamentalist christians want us to reject Gospel of Peter for having 3 men so incredibly tall they reach the heavens as nonsense, why shouldn't we reject Matthew and John and Luke for having absurd passages?

it's worth noting that the Gospel of Peter explicitly claims to be written by Peter, whereas  no where in the 4 gospels do they claim to be eyewitnesses nor apostles.

I've read the possible reason Peter's gospel has this claim is that he interpreted Psalm 19 as a messianic prophecy

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. ... It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.

the way Psalm 19 could be a messianic prophecy is if in Peter's Gospel, Jesus was so tall he proclaimed this.

In John a flesh and blood Jesus walked through walls like a ghost, yet insisted  to a doubting Thomas he's no ghost.

in Acts, Jesus floated into heaven, why is this any less absurd than having Jesus so tall he could proclaim from the Heavens.

If Peter had Jesus and the angels float to heaven, instead of being so tall, they announced his resurrection, would Psalm 19 then be a miraculous prophecy Jesus fulfilled?

Obviously Gospel of Peter was not included in the New Testament, but what if it had? Obviously if it or Thomas were in the New Testament Bible, Christians would defend it against skeptical attack.

I think Christian fundamentalists are nutjobs, Ankerberg included. Ankerberg has a series on Armageddon

it's a big money making scam to talk about the end times for Christians.