Expert: Pastor Don Carpenter - 6/16/2007

Question
Hello. I understand that the Gospels are quite historical. I want to ask you this, how do we know that they are truthful? I could write four other narratives about how I meet Santa Claus and boiled and ate eggs with the Easter Bunny. Then two-thousand years later, people discover it. Sure, it's historical, but not truthful. How do we know if the Gospels are truthful and not just made-up?

Answer
Hi Joe,

Thanks for this great question.  It all comes down to faith.  At some point one needs to simply decide to believe the Bible.  Not, for sure that decision is not blind, it is reasonable to believe the Bible, not just the Gospels, but all 66 books.  Here are some reasons why I believe my faith in the Gospels is reasonable:

1. As you have said, they are historically correct.
2.  They agree with Old Testament accounts.
3.  Specific Old Testament prophecy is fulfilled specifically in the Gospels.
4.  There is an abundance of extra -Biblical evidence that these events actually took place.
5.  The most compelling evidence is that the message of the Gospels preached by a rag-tag bunch during rule of the Roman Empire, a time when paganism flurished; changed the course of human history!  Christianity did not promise a conquoring of peoples, it offered a way to get right with God.  People from every culture believed and embraced its message.  I believe that the strongest argument for its validity is the power of the Gospels.

Romans 1:16
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

I hope that this helps you.

In Christ,
Pastor Don