Are the Gospels Historically Reliable? EVERY Major Critique Debunked

Hey everyone, I'm diving in to what I have personally found to be the most convincing arguments for the historical accuracy of the gospel accounts of Jesus's life.

First, here are my sources I used to create this video. It's not everything I've read or watched on the topic, just stuff I consulted to make this video:

Books (no particular order):

Timothy Keller, The Reason for God
Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses
Craig Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of the Gospels
Metzger and Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration, 4th ed.
Bart Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
Bart Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings
Darrell Bock, Studying the Historical Jesus
Robert Stein, Studying the Synoptic Gospels

Videos (no particular order):

Obviously in my video watching, I focused heavily on Ehrman's arguments for the New Testament's lack of trustworthiness. He's by far the biggest name in the field, and its biggest popular "critic," so I wanted to get a very good idea of the types of things he was saying in his debates.

Ehrman vs. Wallace Debate: https://youtu.be/WRHjZCKRIu4?si=TGnaMMOKuOeeyymv
Ehrman and Peter Williams Debate: https://youtu.be/foLI3KGbMnk?si=nWjXCIpqr9jmaeK_
Ehrman and Robert Price Debate: https://youtu.be/GzjYmpwbHEA?si=JhFEK85CTq4rHEDI
Ehrman and Licona Debate: https://youtu.be/bTw8sGfuMOs?si=RQDkTjNH9apS_kbQ
Ehrman solo presentation: https://youtu.be/AymnA526j9U?si=OE6AztK4JVf-4xiG

So the question is, are the Gospels historically reliable?

In this video, my goal isn’t to prove Christianity conclusively but to show that the gospels are "true enough" for you to decide for yourself who Jesus is.

We’ll explore:
- The historical trustworthiness of the gospel authors.
- External evidence, like archaeology and corroborating documents.
- Internal evidence, including “embarrassing” details and cultural context.
- Why contradictions in the gospels might actually strengthen their reliability.
- Early written sources and the reliability of oral tradition.

I also discuss key questions like:
- How do we determine trustworthiness in ancient texts?
- Do contradictions disprove Christianity?
- Can we trust the gospels to tell us about Jesus’ life and claims?

Ultimately, this video is about showing you that you have the ability to decide. With a reasonable understanding of the evidence, you can decide for yourself what to make of Jesus.

#Christianity #FaithAndReason #HistoricityoftheGospels

00:00 Intro
01:40 The Importance of Trustworthiness
04:00 External Evidence for Historicity
05:55 Internal Evidence | Criterion of Embarrassment
10:08 Internal Evidence | 1st Century Theological Debates
11:39 Contradictions and Trustworthiness
13:45 Does a Single Contradiction Disprove Christianity?
14:45 The Reasonableness of Inerrancy
17:20 The Beauty and Usefulness of a Contradiction
22:26 An Analogy for Gospel Contradictions
24:23 Dates of Composition for the Gospels and Q
26:54 Reasons the Disciples Had Hand-Written Notes
31:51 Oral Tradition and the Telephone Game
36:22 Evidence for Oral Tradition in the NT | Philippians 2:5-11
38:13 Outro