Reliability of the Passion and Resurrection Accounts | Discussion with Dr. Craig Blomberg

One of the most significant questions to ask is, "Are the Gospels historically reliable?" Do they provide an accurate portrait of what really occurred? Are they more than just late legends or creative stories? And since my main focus is on the fate of Jesus, there are more specific issues surrounding the Gospels' descriptions of his passion and resurrection.

Dr. Craig Blomberg is an expert on this topic, with a PhD in New Testament studies and a long list of academic publications, including a massive book on the historical reliability of the New Testament. In our discussion together, I offer some questions and objections: why do the Gospel narratives matter? Were Jesus' trials illegal? Why should we trust the resurrection accounts? Did the Gospels know and use Homer to express their stories? If so, does that undermine their reliability? We discuss all this and more in this sixth episode of The Life Discussion.

RESOURCES

The Historical Reliability of the New Testament: Countering the Challenges to Evangelical Christian Beliefs (book by Dr. Craig Blomberg) --
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0805464379/

"The Reliability of the New Testament" (lecture by Dr. Craig Blomberg) --
https://youtu.be/rhPlg_p9TDY

"The Illegalities of Jesus' Religious and Civic Trials" (article by Laurna Berg) --
https://www.scribd.com/document/3084217/The-Illegalities-of-Jesus-Religious-and-Civil-Trials-Laurna-Berg

The Death of the Messiah: From Gethsemane to the Grave (two-volume work by Dr. Raymond Brown)

"Jesus Barabbas and the Paschal Pardon" (article by Robert Merritt) --
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3260593

Synopses of Epic, Tragedy, and the Gospels (book by Dr. Dennis MacDonald) --
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BPGCDV2F/

"Inescapable Evidence the Gospels Used Homer to Create their Narratives" (video with Dr. Dennis MacDonald, as well as Dr. Richard Carrier and Derek Lambert)

The Trial of Jesus: The Jewish and Roman Proceedings Against Jesus Christ Described and Assessed from the Oldest Accounts (book by Josef Blinzler)