Three scientists\u2014Papaia, Banani, Ravioli\u2014and their assistant Igor, who were supposed to attend the famous dark matter conference, miss their flight and end up on the other side of the world. Arriving at the wrong airport, they book a hotel for the night, but it\u2019s not exactly what they expected\u2026 meaning, it\u2019s awful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re in Banani\u2019s room, where Banani is talking on the phone with Ravioli. They\u2019re discussing the book Banani found on the plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ravioli: Exactly, and this is where the assumptions come into play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Banani: What do you mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ravioli: Secular historians don\u2019t believe in prophecies. For them, no one can predict the future. So, if the Gospels talk about the destruction of the Temple, they assume that the person who wrote the text must have done so after 70 AD, when the Temple had already been destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Banani: But if we accept that the prophecy is authentic, then the reasoning changes\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ravioli: Exactly! In the Gospels, there\u2019s a clear rule: when they report a prophecy that has already come true, they specify it in the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Banani: But this doesn\u2019t happen with the prophecy about the destruction of the Temple!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ravioli: Exactly! If the evangelists had written after 70 AD, knowing that the Temple had been destroyed, they would have surely added a note saying that the prophecy had been fulfilled. But this doesn\u2019t happen in any of the four Gospels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Banani: So, this means they were writing before 70 AD, when the destruction hadn\u2019t happened yet!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ravioli: Exactly! And this is where the debate about the dating of the Gospels arises. If we assume the prophecies were invented after the events, then we must ignore all the other historical testimonies, like those from the Church Fathers, who clearly state that the Gospels were written in the first century!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Banani: Interesting, I\u2019ll try to sleep now, goodnight!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ravioli: Goodnight!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Banani hangs up the phone and grabs his cellphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Igor: There\u2019s also a way to date my jokes! How can you tell if one of them was written before or after traveling with Papaia? If I had written it before the trip, it wouldn\u2019t have been that funny. But after\u2026 well, let\u2019s just say the comedy writes itself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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