Why should we trust the gospels?
As part of a new series to prepare for/coincide with UNCOVER happening at All Souls over this year, I did a talk on Sunday evening on the question of the historicity of the gospels. It’s a contentious issue, full of mantraps and perilousness, not least because of the short length of time available to address it. But I had a stab, and aimed to touch on what I sense are the key issues, in the hope that the serious inquirer or thinker will follow whichever (or all) of them is important to them.
The talk is now online, in case it is of interest. I gave out a handout to accompany the talk, simply because there are so many facts and figures that would be tedious to read out. So I’ve made it available for free download here on Scribd. Just follow the links.
Handout & Slides
Here are the slides I used, including the points, subpoints, and photos of various things (like archaeological discoveries).
Following Up
On the handout, I suggested some books and sites for follow-up, so have put them here for easy access
Introductory level
If you want something small, Andrew Errington’s booklet Can We Trust What the Gospels Say About Jesus? (Matthias Press 2009) is a great place to start (only 32 pages!)
| Barnett, Paul | Gospel Truth | IVP (Nottingham) | 2012 |
| Bruce, FF | The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? | IVP (Nottingham) | 2000 |
| Roberts, Mark D. | Can We Trust The Gospels? | Crossway (Wheaton, IL) | 2007 |
More academic
| Bauckham, Richard | Jesus and the Eyewitnesses | Eerdmans (Grand Rapids) | 2006 |
| Blomberg, Craig | The Historical Reliability of the Gospels (2nd ed) | IVP (Nottingham) | 2007 |
| Wright, NT | The Resurrection of the Son of God | SPCK (London) | 2003 |
Useful Websites
| Be Thinking | Run by UCCF: a wealth of articles on all kinds of apologetic questions, esp. Bible & Jesus section | |
| Bible & Church | A growing site with various lectures (incl. on the Bible’s historicity) from Tyndale House, Cambridge | |
| Mark D Roberts | Much of the material (and more) included in his book is available here – including great photos and links | |
| Theology Network | UCCF’s companion site for more academic levels of theology |
QuaerentiaOLD 
Reblogged this on Partakers WOW Disciple… and commented:
Well worth a look! Go for it!
Thanks Mark. This is great. Re-posted it on svedek.org.
Awesomely useful – so very clear and really helpful Mark – thanks!!
Thank you Mark. This ties in nicely with the South Central Ministry Training course details on this topic, currently running at St Ebbes. Very helpful