As conservatives and Republicans we have almost no options when it comes to technology. Big Tech — Google, Twitter, Facebook and the like — hold most of the cards. There is a little wiggle room, however, when it comes to choosing a search engine.
For years, I have used Google for my internet searches, thinking a had little choice in the matter. I was aware that Microsoft has a search engine — the name is Bing. It’s used by relatively few peo- ple, but I’ve been using it for the past few months and find it much preferable to Google, because Bing does not try to hide the materials I am looking for. Unless you know precisely what you’re looking for on Google, many times you can’t find it because Google wants you to see something else and what you want to see is buried at the bottom of the pile.
Here is a good case in point: Who wrote the Gospels? People my age would readily respond that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote the Gospels. Many students in our nation’s public colleges and universities are taught that the Gospels were originally anonymous. That the Gospels were written without the authors being named. That the names of the authors were later added to give the Gospels “much needed authority.”
This anonymous argument is drivel. It’s totally false and is put out there by elitists that want to weaken Christianity by showing that the Gospels have no historical foundation. One of the leading proponents of this argument is Bart Ehrman, a professor at North Carolina State University, one of America’s leading public universities. Note that it’s OK for a government institution to spread lies about Christianity, but they damn well better not say anything favorable about religion or they’ll lose their funding.
How did I find out about this? It’s all contained in a relatively new book written by Brant Pitre, The Case for Jesus. Pitre himself as a young man believed in the anonymous idea, because that is what is making the rounds of public schools. Once he started his studies, he learned that not a single Gospel was anonymous. Pitre’s book destroys the idea that the Gospels were anonymous. Pitre is a
Catholic, a graduate of Notre Dame. But he has the support in this area of scholars of many faiths. Simon Gathercole, a Baptist, along with Michael Bird and Richard Bauckham, both Anglicans, are just three of many New Testament scholars on the same page.
While other New Testament scholars may be supportive of Pitre’s work, Google certainly is not. Please search on Google by asking the question: Are the Gospels anonymous?
The first result states: “A further reality is that all the Gospels were written anonymously.”
The second result is from our old friends at National Public Radio, which also gets our taxpayer money and feels free to bash religion. The third result is an amalgamation of 10 images, most of which
say the Gospels were anonymous.
The fourth result says the Gospels were clearly anonymous. Finally, at the fifth result we have a clear and unequivocal story
that states there has never been evidence to suggest that the original Gospels were ever circulated without the names of authors, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The sixth result is Bart Ehrman.
Pitrie gets mentioned on his own for the first time in result 20. Ehrman, who is spreading falsehoods, gets four results in the top 19. Now, please search on Bing, by asking the same question: Are
the Gospels anonymous?
Result No. 1 lists Brant Pitre and quotes him as saying there was
an “Exactly Zero” chance the gospels were anonymous. “There are no anonymous manuscripts of the gospels in Greek, even though we have hundreds, in fact, thousands of manuscripts in the New Testatment.”
Go on down the list and the results are balanced.
This is just one area where I have found Bing to be fair. I’d urge you to use Bing. And you also might want to read Pitre’s book.
