Next-Wave Ezine > church & culture

Can We Trust the Gospels?: a Review
By Kristen Jeffrey

One night, as freshman in college, I was doing homework at my favorite coffee shop when I found myself in a conversation with a complete stranger. It came out that I considered myself a Christian and there was an immediate change in the young man’s face. This was a subject he obviously wanted to talk more about. What followed was a one of the most memorable conversations of the like I have ever had. When it came to the existence of some sort of God we could agree, but the conversation reached its climax in the person of Jesus. Basically, when he asked something to the effect of, “Why should I believe this man Jesus to the exclusion of other prophets like Mohammed or Buddha?” my response was, “Because he is completely different in what he taught, especially in that he claimed to be God.” That led us to the Bible, which the young man claimed he could not believe in. He then went on to highlight all sorts of inconsistencies and irregularities between the gospel accounts of Jesus. The man was well read. I had nothing to say to him. This, unfortunately, was not my shining moment. I had no facts off of the top of my head to argue why one could believe in the Scriptures. I just did. I think I responded with something that included faith and the Bible being inspired. With that the conversation was over. I made the jump from reason to faith because I couldn’t reason any further with this man who obviously knew more about Bible criticism than I did. Of course, it ultimately takes faith to trust the scriptures as inspired by God, I believe that wholeheartedly, but I left that night feeling ashamed that I had had to pull faith out like a card. I said before that this was one of the most memorable conversations I have had, this was because it opened my eyes to how little I knew about the dependability and the history of the Scriptures, and was the catalyst for a crucial season of doubt and searching.

For Christians or seekers who find themselves in conversations like the one I’ve described, in a religion course in college, or maybe doubting because of current issues like the Jesus Seminar, the hype over the Da Vinci Code, or the Discovery Channel’s recent documentary claiming to have found the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth, it is important to know that there is a solid base for believing in the truth of the gospels.

Pastor, blogger, and author, Mark D. Roberts has a new book from Crossway that attempts just that. Can We Trust the Gospels?; Investigating the Reliability of Matthew Mark Luke and John, is a clear and reasonable argument for the historicity of the gospels. It implies more than preaches that they offer a trustworthy basis for faith as well.
With a Ph. D. in New Testament from Harvard, one can hardly doubt that Roberts is up to the task. He is uniquely qualified to speak from an academically conservative viewpoint having studied intensely with liberal professors and colleagues. Though he comes to conservative conclusions (which might lead some to claim biased conclusions) he cites both liberal and conservative scholars. His voice is mostly that of a historian who happens to be a Christian, not the other way around... A fact I appreciate.

Another successful aspect of Robert’s book is the way that he makes Internet culture is integral to its style. It is written in a useful FAQ format in intimation of a website. Each chapter title is a different question he then addresses, such as: Can we know what the original manuscripts really said? … Are there contradictions in the gospels? … and … Do miracles undermine the reliability of the gospels? Most of these questions have come up through his blog, from which the book was born, (check out www.markdroberts.com.) He fittingly dubs his work a "blook," and it really is one. The tone is conversational like much like a blog: straightforward, and easy to read. If you’re looking for an in-depth treatise, however, you should check out some more scholarly works. This book is perfect for the doubting or seeking lay reader. Plus, if you have questions, you can actually join in on a conversation in the discussion section of the website. So it is not merely conversational in tone, the book is connected to an actual dialogue.

Can We Trust the Gospels? is successful in its aims. Roberts argues as one qualified, solidly and clearly, defending the historicity of the gospel accounts of Jesus. Luckily for us non-specialists, he manages to present a scholarly discussion in an accessible and culturally appropriate way.

All that to say, this has truly been one of the more interesting and encouraging books I have read in a long time. Encouraging, because it has helped me to see again that my faith in Jesus holds up to reason, even though it goes further than that. I feel more equipped to meet the cynicism of my teachers, friends, and co-workers, and am closer, I believe, to having my interactions “seasoned with salt” as the writer of Colossians exhorts us.

Kristen Jeffrey lives in Seattle, WA, with her husband, Daniel, where she spends her free time reading, participating with the worship team at Crosspoint Greenlake where she attends, and enjoying the outdoors. She has a degree in English from the University of Washington and is currently working on a MA in Teaching English as a Second Language at Seattle University.