The Historical Reliability of the Gospels
by Craig L. Blomberg
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Book Summary Information
Author: Craig L. BlombergEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1987-07
ISBN: 0877849927
Number of pages: 268
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Book Reviews of The Historical Reliability of the Gospels
Book Review: A useful and persuasive resource.
Summary: 4 Stars
Craig Blomberg is a thorough and methodical scholar. For the conservative Christian, Blomberg's positive approach to the useful insights of Biblical scholarship may be a revelation, so to speak. For the skeptic, the broad evidence he marshals in support of the basic historical reliability of the Gospels ought to be persuasive, or at least demand careful thought. When I do seminars on Da Vinci Code or Gnostic Gospels or the historicity of the Gospels, I often make this book available; it is an excellent resource. It may not be as in-depth as his work on John's Gospel or the Parables, but for readers unstudied in Biblical criticism, the detail and references to various scholars may make the book a bit difficult.
I can sympathize with the reviewer who credits Blomberg for a good defense of the Resurrection, but thinks he defends the Gospels a bit too much. Still, this is Blomberg's book, and the reliability of the Gospels is the thesis he has chosen to defend -- if he really thinks the Gospels are highly reliable, why shouldn't he give his reasons for thinking so? (Even if some "conservative" scholars do not go as far as him?) Also, the critic's idea of scholarship sounds a bit naive to me. ("You begin with no firmly fixed preconceptions. You collect your evidence, form a hypothesis that explains the evidence, collect more evidence, modify your hypothesis . . . Only after you have arrived at your conclusions in an unbiased fashion, do you then argue for your conclusions.") I have read many works of Biblical scholarship, mostly by skeptics, and cannot imagine what scholar he is thinking of who works this way. Philosopher Raymond Martin called N. T. Wright's historical methods "by far the most sophisticated" in the field, and Wright is realistic enough to understand that every scholar comes to historical study with bias. That alone does not mean an argument need be in any way fallacious.
Finally, the reviewer asks: "The Gospel never claims it was written by John, and authorship by John is not necessary to a finding of historical accuracy. Why, then, defend John's authorship so staunchly?" Perhaps because Blomberg thinks John was in fact the author? And certainly the book implies that he was involved.
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