1Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them. 4They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.
5Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under the sky. 6When this sound was heard, the multitude came together and were bewildered, because everyone heard them speaking in his own language. 7They were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Behold, aren’t all these who speak Galileans? 8How do we hear, everyone in our own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, 10Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabians—we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!” 12They were all amazed and were perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13Others, mocking, said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and spoke out to them, “You men of Judea and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words. 15For these aren’t drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is only the third hour of the day. 16But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:
17‘It will be in the last days, says God,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.
Your sons and your daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions.
Your old men will dream dreams.
18Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days,
I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy.
19I will show wonders in the sky above,
and signs on the earth beneath:
blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.
20The sun will be turned into darkness,
and the moon into blood,
before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
21It will be that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
22“Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him among you, even as you yourselves know, 23him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed; 24whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. 25For David says concerning him,
‘I saw the Lord always before my face,
for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.
26Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced.
Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope,
27because you will not leave my soul in Hades,
neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.
28You made known to me the ways of life.
You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
29“Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31he foreseeing this, spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul wasn’t left in Hades, and his flesh didn’t see decay. 32This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses. 33Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you now see and hear. 34For David didn’t ascend into the heavens, but he says himself,
‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit by my right hand
35until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’
36“Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” 40With many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
41Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls. 42They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer. 43Fear came on every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44All who believed were together, and had all things in common. 45They sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need. 46Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.
Many novices in biblical studies, and even a few scholars, have attempted to identify the virginal conception of Mary with pagan myths, as though the New Testament authors relied on these myths to create the story of Mary and Jesus. Such a view is based on a number of faulty assumptions and methodology. First of all, there is bias rhetoric, in which unstated bias is against supernatural intervention in the world. Biblical history and teaching is simply the result of evolutionary development.
Second is a faulty historical methodology. A few detractors to the virgin conception of Jesus seek to connect alleged parallels between mystery religions and Gnosticism with Christianity. It is true that world religions, ancient and modern, have some similarities, such as ritual meals, belief in some form of afterlife, ceremonies of initiation into the community, and some ancient religions practiced circumcision and sacrifice. To establish Christianity's dependence on these religions, though, would require not simply similarity of form, but agreement in essence. Having similarity is to be expected since we have a common human nature, experiences, and desires. What is important, however, is not the similarity of words and practices, but the meanings and significance attached to them.1 One example of such borrowing is made by two authors, in which they state, “Like Jesus, who at his crucifixion is given a crown of thorns, Dionysus was given a crown of ivy." This suggested parallel ignores the significant differences: a crown of thorns was on one occasion only forced on Jesus as a cruel mockery of Him as “King of the Jews,” while a crown of ivy was frequently and willingly worn by both Dionysus and the pagan worshipers as part of pagan ritual. Such “parallels” are merely superficial and do not indicate dependence."2
Third, those claiming that the authors of the New Testament borrowed from pagan myths fail to demonstrate that many of the myths of the pagan mysteries existed prior to Christianity. It is true that certain mystery religions existed before Christianity, but there is little information on them historically. It is more likely that they borrowed from Christian stories.
Fourth, authors like those above do an inadequate examination of the Hebrew background of Christianity. Many of the Christian terms such as "mystery," "sacrificial lamb," and "resurrection" are found in the Hebrew religion even predating the mysteries from Greece, rather than from the Ancient Near East, and ancient Greece. There is no evidence that the Jewish culture framed its religion after Greek culture, and the Maccabean wars were fought over this attempt by the Greek rulers after the time of Alexander.
Fifth, and last, there is a considerable historical connection between those matters relating to Jesus, supposedly borrowed by the authors of the Gospels. All of the books of the New Testament were written between 20-60 years after the historical events. "These were matters not done in a corner (Acts 26:26) and were not cleverly devised tales (2 Pet 1:16), but were testified to by many witnesses (Acts 2:22; 13:30-31). That the claims about Jesus were part of a grand hoax perpetrated by the early Christians, as the authors suggest, is an implausible explanation since they could be easily disproved in such a historical situation. Claims about Jesus’ resurrection, for example, could be easily disproved by a visit to His still-occupied tomb."3
Additional errors could be answered, but it is sufficient to say that the stories of Jesus are based on reliable records and personal testimonies from those who heard and recorded the words and deeds of Jesus.
NOTES
See my article on the alleged dependence of Christians on pagan myths of the ancient world, from which this article was written, and for further sources that support the historicity and accuracy of early teaching about Jesus, and early Christianity.