4.36 Guy Waters, Trent Hunter & Stephen Wellum • Interview • "The Reliability of the Gospels: Rock or Sand?"

ABOUT THE EPISODE

Christianity hinges on history: if the Gospels are not trustworthy accounts of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, the faith collapses. But are they myth shaped by early belief, or historical testimony grounded in eyewitness experience and apostolic oversight? This question is not peripheral—it is foundational.

Timestamps

• 00:36 – Intro
• 02:18 – Guy Waters’ and Stephen Wellum’s Introductions
• 05:43 – Christianity Stands or Falls Upon Historical Facts
• 11:10 – Four Gospels and No More
• 15:48 – What About Gnostic or Apocryphal Gospels?
• 17:32 – Why is the Idea of ‘Myth’ Appealing?
• 23:00 – The Gospels Are Reliable Accounts
• 26:33 – The Gospels Are Historical Accounts by Eyewitnesses
• 30:46 – The Synoptic Problem
• 34:03 – Three Proposals to This Problem
• 38:00 – When to Turn to a Passage in Another Gospel?
• 44:35 – Why Is John Just Different?
• 49:12 – Concluding Thoughts
• 53:47 – Outro

Resources to Click

• “The Reliability of the Gospels: Rock or Sand?” – Guy Waters
• Theme of the Month: One Gospel, Four Witnesses
• Give to Support the Work

Books to Read

• Jesus and the Word – Rudolf Bultmann
• Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence – Robert E. Van Voorst
• The Canon of Scripture – F.F. Bruce
• The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance – Bruce Metzger
• The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission and Authority – Lee Martin McDonald
• The Gospel and the Gospels: Christian Proclamation and Early Jesus Books – Simon J. Gathercole
• The Genuine Jesus and the Counterfeit Christs: New Testament and Apocryphal Gospels – Simon J. Gathercole
• Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey – Craig Blomberg
• The Life of Jesus Critically Examined – David F. Strauss ed. Peter C. Hodgson
• Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony – Richard Bauckham
• Matthew (BECNT) – David L. Turner
• The Gospel According to John (PNTC) – D.A. Carson
• Studying the Synoptic Gospels – E.P. Sanders and Margaret Davies
• The Synoptic Problem: An Introduction – Robert H. Stein
• The Reliability of the Gospel Tradition – Birger Gerhardsson
• John: The Maverick Gospel – Robert Kysar
• The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple: Narrative, History, and Theology in the Gospel of John – Richard Bauckham
• The History of the Church – Eusebius
• “Why Four Gospels,” in Selected Shorter Writings, Vol. 2. – B.B. Warfield ed. John Meeter