Are the Gospels Reliable?

For the next few weeks, the Path will focus on some essential Apologetics. Apologetics is the defense of the faith. While most people think that Christianity is a religion of unsustainable fairy tales, it’s actually a historically based religion that reveals the truth unlike any other. 1 Peter 3:15 states that all Christians must be prepared to give the reason as to why we have the hope we do. Consider how Paul and the Apostles preached after Christ’s ascension. They argued and discussed with others the proof they had to show that Christ was who he said he was. God has given us these tools to use for his Kingdom; we must embrace them and use them to help others know the truth.

This first installment will focus on the reliability of the Gospels and the New Testament. I will approach the situation with questions of a skeptic and answer each one in brief detail, so we can all be prepared for these types of questions when thrown at us. Books have been written on this subject, but I will do my best to keep it as brief as it can be while maintaining for it the attention it demands.

Who really are the authors?

It is agreed upon by biblical scholars that the names that are attributed to the biographies are who they say they are. With the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew was one of Christ’s apostles and former tax collector. Mark is essentially “anonymous,” but there is good evidence to believe that it was written by a close companion of Peter named Mark. No other competing claims carry any weight. Luke was written by Luke, one of Paul’s traveling companions. There is no reason to dispute this either. With the Gospel of John, it is clear that it was written by the Apostle John as he refers to himself throughout the book. He is “the one Jesus loved.” While some try to dispute these points, there is no good reason to doubt these traditional beliefs, not to mention the good proof that each provide.

Why do the Gospels skip parts of Jesus’ life?

A major error that people make when approaching the Bible is that they look into the book with twenty-first century eyes. The authors and literary styles were doing different things than what we would expect in a piece of contemporary writing. Ancients would only look at the important points in a biography and give attention to that. They would not give equal importance to all parts of Jesus’ life such as him growing as a young boy or late teenager. They looked to tell lessons to be learned; therefore, they focused on the important points in Jesus’ life.

Are they based on hearsay or actual eyewitness accounts?

Eyewitness accounts are what the Gospels are based on. One only needs to look at the authors to see this. Matthew and John were with Jesus during these events. Mark and Luke were close to the Apostles, so they were close to primary sources. It is also mentioned in the Gospels that others such as James brother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and 500 others all witnessed Jesus on multiple occasions. There were many actual accounts of this. What many do not realize is that the Gospels were written as historical biographies. For instance, Luke did exhaustive research on this, and the purpose was to give an accurate account of what happened.

Were the Gospels recorded accurately between the time the events happened and written?

While the dates of the Gospels were written no earlier than approximately twenty years after Christ’s Resurrection, they were still written within the time span of the eyewitnesses; therefore, many people who knew the truth would contest the Gospels if they were false, but this never happened except for the Jews who tried to deceitfully cover up the truth, but even they could not argue specific facts. Matthew was written around 70-90 A.D., Mark in the late 50’s, Luke about 62, and John in the 90’s.

This seems like a long time to us but to ancient text standards, this is a very short time. A good example that is given is the historical accounts of Alexander the Great. His biographies are considered historically viable, but they were written more than 400 years after his death, and they are still considered accurate.

Hasn’t legend and myth developed over time?

No, there was not enough time between the events and the writings to promote legend, especially since there were eyewitnesses still alive during these times. Alexander the Great did develop legend, but this did not happen until centuries after the writers of his biographies died. There was simply not enough time for this to happen with the Gospels. Also, the points that are made that tell of Christ’s divinity are mentioned previously to the Gospels. It is agreed upon by biblical scholars that Paul recites in his epistles early church creeds that he learned after his conversion only a few years after Christ’s ascension. These verses include Philippians 2:6-11, Colossians 1:15-20, and 1 Corinthians 15.

Were the Gospels and New Testament preserved accurately throughout the centuries?

Yes, we have over five thousand Greek copied manuscripts. This does not count other languages. That would bring the total to 24,000 in all. This is more than any other ancient manuscript available. The only other competing text is Homer’s Iliad which only has a little over 2000 copies in original language. Homer’s copies have approximately five hundred to a one thousand year gap between copies, also. With so many copies to compare, the idea that they were not preserved accurately has virtually disappeared.

But there are inaccuracies and copying errors. This means they are unreliable, right?

This is the best ammunition for a skeptic. Many try to say that since there are variants, the New Testament must be wrong. They are mistaken by what is meant by “variants.” There are variations among the manuscripts, but it’s all very small variations that do not jeopardize any doctrine. Most are small spelling variants and sentence structure changes that do not matter in Greek like it does in English. While there are some, none are detrimental.

All of these points made are all researchable and can be checked. If anyone wishes for a list of sources, please let me know. Hopefully the next time we are caught up in a discussion about the bible with a skeptic, these points can help give us the ability to speak boldly about the hope that we have in Christ.