Can We Trust the Gospels?

Can we trust the gospels? This is a common question for serious seekers. Is there solid evidence to support the accuracy of these biographical accounts of Jesus’ life? Or are believers simply relying on blind faith? While a full discussion is beyond this short blog post’s scope, I’ll offer three reasons to trust the Gospels.

Jesus’ contemporaries could verify the Gospels.

The composition of the Gospels occurred during the lifetime of some who had known Jesus, enabling fact-checking of their assertions. Most Bible scholars, agree that all four gospels were written between AD 65-100. If Christ’s death and resurrection occurred around AD 30-33, this places the writing of at least one account within 30-40 years of the event. Therefore, it would have been easy to verify the claims of each book.

The Gospels are linked to the Apostles.

The Gospels, apart from Luke’s (which he attributes to eyewitness accounts [1:1-4], not to mention he was a traveling companion with Paul), were all written by an apostle or individuals closely associated with the original apostles. In his Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius, recorded that Papias of Hierapolis attributed the first Gospel to the tax-collector turned disciple, Matthew (Levi). Other church fathers that agree with this are Irenaeus (Against Heresies 3.1.1) and Origen. Next, Irenaeus claims John the Apostle was the writer of the gospel that bears his name (Against Heresies 3.1.1). Finally, Papias, as quoted by Eusebius, claims Mark (or John Mark in Acts) was Peter’s interpreter and wrote down Peter’s testimony.

The Gospels are inspired.

Ultimately, and most significantly, the Gospels’ reliability stems from divine inspiration. Of course, I know someone with a secular worldview will not want to accept this, but the inspiration of the Bible must be taken in account if you believe in and all-powerful God. Like the Old Testament, the New Testament, as declared by its authors is the Word of God (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet. 3:15-16).  

Conclusion

As I mentioned from the outset, this topic deserves a lengthy treatment that I cannot do in this post. However, I wanted to give you some food for thought on the trustworthiness of the Gospels. I look forward to having a conversation with you in the comments section.