Luke 1:1-4, John 19:35, 2 Peter 1:16
The Primary Sources
If we want to know what Jesus said, did, and claimed, we are primarily dependent on the four Gospels. Every other source — Paul's letters, extra-biblical references in Josephus and Tacitus, non-canonical gospels — is either secondary or less detailed. The question of the Gospels' reliability is therefore foundational to everything else in Christian apologetics.
Early Dating
The dating of the Gospels is crucial. Late dates (second century or late first century) create distance from eyewitnesses and increase the possibility of legendary development. Early dates keep us close to the events and to living witnesses.
The argument for early dating:
- Paul's letters (undisputed by all scholars) were written in the 50s AD — within 20-25 years of the crucifixion. Paul quotes what appear to be pre-Pauline traditions (1 Corinthians 15:3-8, Philippians 2:6-11) that are even earlier.
- Acts ends without recording the deaths of Paul (AD 64) or James (AD 62) or the destruction of Jerusalem (AD 70) — suggesting it was written before these events, i.e. before AD 62. Luke's Gospel predates Acts.
- If Luke was written before AD 62, and Luke used Mark as a source, Mark dates to the 50s or even earlier.
A Mark dating to the 50s puts the first Gospel within 20 years of the crucifixion — well within the lifetime of eyewitnesses.
Eyewitness Testimony
New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham's work Jesus and the Eyewitnesses argues that the Gospels are grounded in the testimony of named eyewitnesses who were known to the communities for which the Gospels were written. The named individuals in the passion narrative — Simon of Cyrene, identified as "the father of Alexander and Rufus" (Mark 15:21) — are named because they were known to Mark's audience, not for narrative decoration.
The Criterion of Embarrassment
Details that the author would have been unlikely to invent (because they are embarrassing or counter-productive) are historically more reliable. Jesus' baptism by John (implying subordination), the desertion of the disciples, the women as first witnesses of the resurrection — none of these serve an apologetic purpose, which is precisely why they ring historically true.