The Historical Reliability of the Gospels

This book is almost 20 years-old, but it is still relevant. Blomberg presents the best case for the Historicity of the Gospels and the falicies of "Historical Criticism," which is at the heart of the popular, and contentious, Jesus Seminar. Blomberg provides the necessary pause for Christians who are on the brink of conceding defeat to Anti-Religionists, by shedding reasonable doubt on "Higher Criticism" and providing validity to the Gospels. Consequently, people have to understand that the writing process is not the same as the Scientific Method. When writing a book, one first formulates a Thesis. In this case: Higher Criticism is wrong, the Gospels are Historically accurate. After forming a Thesis, then one must prove his Thesis with supporting evidence Finally, one brings it all together in his conclusion. This is different than the Baconian method of Scientific Inquiry. People must understand that the Humanities and Sciences are seperate disciplines which demand seperate methods. Scienticians, individuals who view science as the be all to end all, are misguided in their demands to conform everything to their way of doing things. For those individuals I recommend the book A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED by E.F. Schumacher. Both the Writing Process and Scientific Method are valid ways attaining and transmitting facts. Proof comes under scutiny, i.e. do the Gospels stand under fire from Higher Critics. Blomberg says yes, and provides the evidence. Further, one should understand that this book is indeed an apologetic book. It has been written for the expressed purpose of criticizing Higher Critics and defending the Gospels' authenticity. If people don't like such an idea, then the problem is with them and not this text. All in all, this is an important work that can change they way one views the Bible. Since this book is specific to the Gospels it is best used as a follow up to THE NEW TEASTAMENT DOCUMENTS: ARE THEY RELIABLE? by F.F. Bruce which lays the foundation of New Testament reliability. Both books along with ON THE RELIABILITY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT by K.A. Kitchen should be required reading for all serious Bible Students.

Craig Blomberg has given an excellent argument for treating the four gospels as reliable sources of historical information pertaining to the life of Jesus. This is a welcome contrast to so many of the trendy "Jesus Seminar"-ish books being hyped by much of the mainstream media today.Blomberg covers some of the current methods of studying the gospels; such as form criticism and redaction criticism. He doesn't entirely reject their use, but he does point out their limitations so often forgotten by many NT scholars today. In the next section, he briefly addresses the issue of miracles and the fact that it is impossible to prove their non-existence.I found the next two sections to be the most interesting. First, Blomberg covers some of the approaches to addressing apparent contradictions in the gospels and gives some possible solutions. Next, he covers the gospel of John and some of the difficulties encountered when comparing it to the synoptic gospels. The final section covers information on Jesus found outside the gospels in the rest of the New Testament, along with Jewish and Roman sources.Overall, this book is best suited for someone with at least a background in New Testament historical study. If you are just beginning in this area, then you may want to try a book such as F.F. Bruce's "New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?" which gives a good introduction to this field. After you've had an introduction, Blomberg's book is perfect for taking the next step in your study of the New Testament.

This won't get the media hype that the Jesus Seminar gets. But there is more information, background, briefings on the key thinkers, and reveals the insights and theories from very hard-to-find sources that show the accuracy and historical reliability of the NT. Packed with easy to understand summaries culled from many volumes of sophisticated "conservative" research. Should be required reading... especially for anyone who's read Crossan, Jesus Seminar, Funk, Burton Mack, etc.