The Gospels’ Historical Reliability

Throughout history, a distinction has consistently been drawn between reliable historians and unreliable historians, between reliable sources and unreliable sources. The question for us is: Did the authors of the four gospels write reliable or unreliable records of Jesus’ life? While the criteria of our day are not identical to the criteria they followed, there is plenty of evidence that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John had the resources and motivation to write trustworthy accounts about Jesus.

Although there are countless ways that we might prove that the Gospels are trustworthy historical records of Jesus’ life, we’ll focus on just six pieces of evidence. First, the gospel writers had access to records of the events they recorded. Each of the gospel writers was either an eyewitness to the life of Jesus or had direct contact with eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life. Since Matthew and John were disciples of Jesus, they were present for many of the events they recorded. Mark was a close companion of Peter and learned directly through him. And Luke traveled with Paul and sought out reliable eyewitnesses for his Gospel.

Second, we can also see the historical reliability of the Gospels in the high level of candor in their works. Ancient standards for good historiography required historians to be candid or honest in the way they reported history. They were expected to report a spectrum of details, including those that were not necessarily favorable to the message being portrayed.

In this respect, it is significant that the gospel writers so frequently described the failures of Jesus’ disciples. And in the case of Matthew and John, that meant describing their own personal failures. As just one example, Mark 6:51-52 records the disciples’ failure to understand Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the five thousand:

They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

Third, our confidence is strengthened by the corroboration of other historical sources. Both Roman and Jewish historians confirmed a number of the claims of the gospel narratives, and even modern archaeology has found evidence that their records are true.

So, we have the Jewish historian Josephus writing a history of the Jews for the Roman government in the first century A.D. who mentions Jesus Christ as existing and having a band of followers. We have the Roman historian Tacitus in the first century A.D., same time period as Josephus, writing about Jesus Christ and having a band of followers. Even the Jewish Talmud mentions that Jesus existed. [Dr. Steven Tsoukalas]

A fourth reason to trust the gospel accounts is that the training Jesus’ disciples received should have taught them how to preserve an accurate record of his words and deeds. Within Jewish culture, discipleship was a well-established way of life. In fact, the Hebrew word for disciple is talmid, which means “student” or “learner. “Moreover, in the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day, one of the key exercises in learning from a rabbi was memorization. And one of the responsibilities of his disciples was to learn the words and wisdom of their teacher.

Fifth, we must never underestimate the fact that the gospel writers had strong theological convictions that emphasized the need for a true, reliable record. For example, in John 20:31, the apostle wrote these words:

These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

In this passage, John stated plainly that people could receive God’s gift of life only if they knew and embraced the truth about Jesus.

Sixth, like all biblical writers, the gospel writers were not left on their own to write their records of Jesus’ words and deeds. The Holy Spirit led them in this effort.

The inspiration of Scripture is such a vital doctrine because it gives all of Scripture one ultimate author. So, when we look at the Gospels and we see four different authors giving four different perspectives on Jesus, we need to appreciate those perspectives, but realize that the Holy Spirit inspired all of them. [Dr. K. Erik Thoennes]