The Historic Reliability of the Gospels (2 vols.)

by Craig L. Blomberg

Publishers:

IVP Academic; Apollos

, 2001–2007

Overview

The historical reliability of the gospels is an important part of their witness to the world. Craig Blomberg addresses questions, skeptical arguments, and methodology in an effort to communicate the validity of the gospel texts. Gleaning from research done by the Gospels Research Project of Tyndale House, Blomberg makes the dense academic findings accessible. Probing into issues such as authorship, harmonization, and authenticity, these volumes contribute a valuable defense of the trustworthiness of the four gospels.

Key Features

• Provides thorough examinations of the four gospels.
• Interacts with skeptical arguments
• Addresses common textual and theological questions

Product Details

• Title: The Historic Reliability of the Gospels (2 vols.)
• Author: Craig Blomberg
• Publisher: IVP
• Volumes: 2
• Pages: 762
• Resource Type: Topical
• Topic: Gospels
• Resource ID: {7D79C52B-32AF-4696-BB32-DA32AC157146}

The Historical Reliability of the Gospels Second Edition

• Author: Craig Blomberg
• Edition: 2nd Edition
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2007
• Pages: 416

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

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.

This volume offers the most complete, accurate and up-to-date defense of a maximalist approach to the Jesus tradition.

—Thomas E. Phillips, Religious Studies Review, September 2008

The Historical Reliability of John’s Gospel: Issues & Commentary

• Author: Craig Blomberg
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2011
• Pages: 346

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Throughout much of the twentieth century the Fourth Gospel took a back seat to the Synoptics when it came to historical reliability. Consequently, the contemporary quest of the historical Jesus discounted or excluded evidence from the Fourth Gospel.

The question of the historical reliability of John’s Gospel is well overdue for a thorough reinvestigation and reassessment. In this foundational study, Craig L. Blomberg sheds new light on persistent questions. He presents his conclusions largely in commentary form, following the principal scenes of the Gospel. His introduction frames the pathway into the discussion, taking up critical issues such as

• authorship, date and provenance of the Fourth Gospel
• sources and omissions of the Fourth Gospel
• points where John’s Gospel interlocks with the Synoptics
• general indications of historicity
• literary genre and unique audience of this Gospel
• burden of proof and criteria of authenticity

In his commentary examining the text of the Fourth Gospel, Blomberg asks two essential questions. First, using the recently nuanced criteria of authenticity, “What positive evidence do we have that the actions or words of the characters in John’s narratives are indeed historical?” Second, “Is there anything in the text... that is implausible within the historical context to which it is attributed, particularly if we assume the general historical trustworthiness of the Synoptics?”

The result is a seminal work for the present day—one that affirms the historical reliability of John’s Gospel with intelligence and sure-footed care.

This is a book with extraordinary strengths. In form it harks back to the approach of Sanday in 1872: Blomberg not only tackles many topical questions but works through the Gospel itself, chapter by chapter, asking pertinent historical questions. The evenhandedness of the evaluation, the eminent good sense of so many of the judgments and the clarity of the exposition (not to mention the excellent bibliography) conspire to make this an outstandingly useful book.

—D. A. Carson, research professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Illinois

About Craig L. Blomberg

Craig L. Blomberg (PhD, Aberdeen) is Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary in Denver, Colorado. His books include Interpreting the Parables, Neither Poverty nor Riches, Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey, The Historical Reliability of John’s Gospel, commentaries on Matthew and 1 Corinthians, Making Sense of the New Testament: 3 Crucial Questions and Preaching the Parables.