John Ellis, a historian at...
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John Ellis, a historian at Mount Holyoke College, has lied about his role as a soldier in Vietnam and his involvement in the civil rights movement. He has done neither. But Edmund Morris, biographer of Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, has defended him, arguing that the truth doesn't matter, as long as you believe strongly in the emotional reality of the story you tell. Patricia Smith, fired as columnist at The Boston Globe, who wrote repeatedly about imaginary people and fake interviews, defended herself by saying that in her heart, she felt her stories were true. Nobel Peace Prize-winner Rigoberta Menchu falsified much of her book on the oppression in her native Guatemala. Yet the Chronicle of Higher Education has defended her because "her story speaks to a greater truth about the oppression of poor people in Central America." Two University of Pennsylvania instructors have written in the Journal of Social History, "Rather than believe in the absolute truth of what we are writing, we must believe in the moral or political positions we are taking with it."
Paul is quite different from these writers. He believes in absolute truth. The hope of salvation for him relies on the truthfulness of what Jesus Christ did. Therefore, he presents the authentic account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He reports that Jesus is alive, that he has appeared to many including Paul. It is on these facts that our faith rests.
Paul is quite different from these writers. He believes in absolute truth. The hope of salvation for him relies on the truthfulness of what Jesus Christ did. Therefore, he presents the authentic account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He reports that Jesus is alive, that he has appeared to many including Paul. It is on these facts that our faith rests.
