If you’re anything like me, you find the study of textual criticism fascinating. But, most folks in the pews today do not. They instinctively or subconsciously trust the translators down through the centuries that the Bible they have is God’s Word. Moreover, they trust the Lord that He has given them His Word. And that’s OK. However, what about the man on the street who struggles with questions of the age, transmission, accuracy, and therefore the truthfulness of the Bible. Can We Trust the Gospels? by Peter J. Williams seeks to answer those questions and does so successfully.

I have personally encountered these objections from people who reject Christianity based almost solely on the rejection of Scripture and therefore they reject God. This is one area that we who accept Scripture as God’s Word must have a basic understanding in order to defend what we believe. I was drawn to this book as soon as I read the title.

At 160 pages, it is not an in depth study of the Gospels or their defense and was not intended to be so. This work offers a basic understanding for evidence to believe the Gospels are worth trusting. It is, however, also more than just a cursory walk through of the evidence. Each chapter is written to enable the reader to have confidence that what they are reading in their Gospels is not superfluous nonsense written long ago.

Chapter Titles

1 What Do Non-Christian Sources Say?
2 What Are the Four Gospels?
3 Did the Gospel Authors Know Their Stuff?
4 Undesigned Coincidences
5 Do We Have Jesus’s Actual Words?
6 Has the Text Changed?
7 What about Contradictions?
8 Who Would Make All This Up?

What stood out, among many, many things, is why we have four Gospels. What was the focus of each one? Why do they seemingly disagree at times (chapter 2 & 7)? How the Gospels authors were aware of people, places, names, and culture (chapter 3). Where the Four Gospels differ from the later non-canonical gospels and why. Contradictions – are they really contradictions (chapter 7)? How it would be impossible for four independent authors, at different geographic locations, at different times within the first century, be able to relate the same accounts in the life of Jesus. Chapter 4 is uniquely interesting. It demonstrates how small details that may appear in one Gospel account but not in another Gospel, such as the feeding of the 5000, corroborate the accounts as accurate and true and impossible to coordinate between the independent authors if they were not true. Thus authenticating the accuracy of the individual accounts and the Gospels themselves.

This is a five-star work. Easy to read, easy to digest and easy to enjoy. Well worth your time and effort.

Crossway has provided a complimentary copy of this book through Beyond the Page. Thoughts and opinions are my own. ( )

Dette var bra, virkelig en god gjennomgang av historien rundt evangeliene og troverdigheten til de, hvor enn utrolig det kan høres ut. Takknemlig for at det finnes mange bibel- og historieforskere gjennom tiden som har lagt så mye grundig arbeid ned i dette. ( )

Can We Trust the Gospels is a short, 140 page, book outlining the reasons why Matthew, Mark, Luke and John can be trusted to be historically accurate. The author's intended audience are non-Christians. However, the arguments presented in the book are also encouraging for Christian believers.

The author uses the writings of non-Christians, such as Tacitus, with his Annals, and Josephus, with his Antiquities, to corroborate the gospels. He also tests the gospel writers' knowledge of geography, culture, names and Jewish law. For example, all four gospel writers mentioned obscure, small towns in Israel. They had to have been familiar with them in order to write accurately about them. If the gospels had been written hundreds of years later or were forgeries, the facts about these small towns probably would not be accurate. Similar arguments were presented for Jewish culture, law and names.

Other details that demonstrate the authenticity of the gospels include what the other calls "undesigned coincidences." In an undesigned coincidence, the gospels will give incidental details that someone without eyewitness information could not possibly know. An example of this is shown in Luke and John with their stories of two sisters, Mary and Martha. The stories are different but the personalities of the women are the same in both gospels. One is contemplative while the other is active. There are several more examples given in the book. In addition, questions concerning whether we have Jesus' actual words, whether the text of the gospels changed over the years, and contradictions are also discussed.

It is pretty amazing how much data is contained in this small book.The information presented is highly detailed, includes charts, but is easy to understand and is a quick read. The topic was well-researched. I recommend this book for skeptics and for those new to the faith. ( )