Hello George,
You wrote: That _some_ of the words attributed to Jesus in the gospels were
creations of the gospel writers is quite clear.
I don't think that is clear at all. Simply because some of Christ's words are
quoted differently in one gospel account than they are in another does not
mean that those differences were created by the gospel writers. One writer
may be reporting some of the words Christ spoke and another gospel writer may
be quoting some others. For instance, Matthew may have only reported Christ's
reference to "the abomination that causes desolation spoken of through the
prophet Daniel" and not reported his also equating it with the Roman armies
which would surround Jerusalem, while Luke may have reported Christ's
speaking only the other half of the equation.
You wrote: it's extremely unlikely that the entire Book of Daniel was written
by a Jew of the 6th century B.C. ... The gospel writers, probably a couple
of hundred years after the composition of Daniel ...
You've told me where you are coming from. From the schools of higher
criticism. The book of Daniel clearly claims to have been written by Daniel
himself from beginning to end. The words "I, Daniel" and other such claims of
authorship can be found in every part of the book, from beginning to end. If
it was not then the Bible is not a book which can be trusted. If it is not,
how can we believe it when it tells us God raised Jesus Christ from the dead?
Mike
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