Are the Gospel Accounts of Jesus True?
The New Testament Gospels give us the accounts of Jesus’ life, words, death and resurrection. The book of Acts tells us how the apostles spread the message of Jesus throughout the 1st century, and the letters to early churches are foundational to Christian doctrines believed today.
They claim to be eyewitness accounts of Jesus and the apostles. Jesus’ close apostle, Simon Peter, wrote as an eyewitness when he declared,
We were not making up clever stories when we told you about the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming again. We have seen his majestic splendor with our own eyes (2 Peter 1:16, NLT).
Regarding their accounts of Jesus, the apostle John wrote, “We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard…” (1 John 1:3).
But skeptics have argued that the New Testament was corrupted through its two thousand years of history, and what we read about Jesus today is the result of conspiring church leaders.
Furthermore, since none of the original manuscripts exist today, skeptics say that the New Testament accounts of Jesus we have today are unreliable due to numerous copying errors and textual variants.
So, is the New Testament a reliable witness of who Jesus Christ is, and what he said? Can we rely on its gospel message that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day? And can we trust his promise of eternal life to all those who embrace him as their Savior?
In the following pages we will examine the evidence for the following:
- When were the original New Testament manuscripts written?
- How do we know if the copies are faithful to the original words?
- How does the New Testament compare with other ancient writings?
Click here to read page 2 of 10 about “Are the Gospel Accounts of Jesus True?”