The Historical Reliability of the Gospels
Pages
416
Publisher
IVP Academic
Published
1/30/2008
ISBN-13
9780830828074
For over twenty years, Craig Blomberg's The Historical Reliability of the Gospels has provided a useful antidote to many of the toxic effects of skeptical criticism of the Gospels. Offering a calm, balanced overview of the history of Gospel criticism, especially that of the late twentieth century, Blomberg introduces readers to the methods employed by New Testament scholars and shows both the values and limits of those methods. He then delves more deeply into the question of miracles, Synoptic discrepancies and the differences between the Synoptics and John. After an assessment of noncanonical Jesus tradition, he addresses issues of historical method directly.
This new edition has been thoroughly updated in light of new developments with numerous additions to the footnotes and two added appendixes. Readers will find that over the past twenty years, the case for the historical trustworthiness of the Gospels has grown vastly stronger.
Reviews
Review of Biblical Literature (RBL) (Robert H. Gundry)
September 1, 2010
September 1, 2010
Downer’s Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2008. Pp. 416. Paper. $24.00. ISBN 0830828079. Robert H. Gundry Westmont College Santa Barbara, California In this second, heavily updated edition of a book originally published twenty years ago, the author, Craig Blomberg of Denver Seminary, mounts a conservative defense of the canonical Gospels’ historical reliability and notes by way of contrast the nonconservatism of his religious and educational upbringing. The defense of reliability ranges widely through harmonization of the Gospels (starting in the early church), various criticisms (source, form, redaction, midrashic, literary), philosophy (regarding miracles and resurrection), the question of contradictions (among the Synoptics and between them and John), Jesus-tradition outside the Gospels (as to apparent historical errors, non-Christian testimonies, Christian traditions in Acts–Revelation and outside the New Testament), and historiography (in respect to genre, burden of proof, criteria of authenticity). Rounding out the volume are appendices on archaeology and textual criticism in relation to the Gospels’ reliability; a massive bibliography, with whose contents Blomberg displays an admirable firsthand acquaintance; and indices of authors, Scripture, and ancient sources. Detailed, fair expositions of the strengths and weaknesses of various positions characterize Blomberg’s discussions of the aforementioned topics. Budding theological students will learn much from the expositions, and scholars of all stripes are also likely to learn.
[Full Review]
