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Testing the Eyewitnesses Worksheet

Each group will be assigned 2 of these tests. Look at the passages recommended and determine if the gospels can pass this test or reliability. Be ready to answer as a group why or why not?

  1. Intention test: does the eyewitness intend to accurately report what they saw and preserve history? (Read Luke 1:1-4, John 20:31 and 21:24-25)

     
  2. Ability test: Would they have been capable of preserving that information intact? Wouldn’t the information get garbled like when playing the game telephone?

     
  3. Character Test: Were these evangelists trustworthy as people in general, or were they known con men and crooks? (Consider Philippians 1)

     
  4. Consistency Test: Don’t the gospels contradict each other by giving so many different details? (Compare Matthew 8:28 with Mark 5:1-5—are there two men or one? Is this a significant contradiction? Can it be explained rationally?)

     
  5. Bias test: But surely, the evangelists were biased towards Christ, and this colored their perceptions? (Consider Luke 1:1-4 again, Luke 9:26, and Revelation 22:18-19, how would bias affect them?)

     
  6. The Cover-up test: Didn’t the disciples love for Jesus lead them to white-wash details that might have been scandalous or difficult for people to accept? (John 6:60-68)

     
  7. Corroboration test: Can the people and places mentioned in the gospels be verified independently? (Consider Luke 3:1—is this something we should be able to verify?)

     
  8. The Adverse witness test: Are there any other witnesses contradicting the writers of the gospels at that time? Any one saying that they misreported or misrepresented the facts? (Consider Matthew 12:23-27 and the Pharisees as an example of adverse witnesses)
     


Deliberations:

  • Which of these eight tests do you consider most conclusive or significant?
  • How have these tests affected your confidence in the reliability of the gospels?
  • When more than one person gives you an eyewitness testimony, do you doubt their credibility or do you reconcile the differences between them? How?