Can We Trust The Gospels, by Peter J. Williams

I thoroughly enjoyed this short book on the Gospels of the New Testament. Williams uses very broad brushstrokes to write about a very difficult topic. Thus this book reads like a primer for the lay person who is wanting to delve into whether we can trust the Gospels as they appear in our Bibles.

What is exceptionally good is the fact that while using broad brushstrokes Williams gives us a Bibliography that is filled with heavyweight works. Thus if you find yourself interested in a particular section you can find references to material that will further your study.

Williams talks about the non-Christian historians of the early 1^st century as a platform to add value to the Gospels as being historical in that these non-Christians affirm the early Gospels and affirm the personhood of Jesus of Nazareth.

Further he gives some good evidence for ways to determine if a historical writer truly knows his subject or not by his use of culture, custom, geography, politics, etc. The four Gospels certainly stand up to this litmus test.

All in all the lay-person will find this short book very helpful in giving them an overview of the Gospels veracity and will also give you a good amount of documented works that you can further read through to add to your knowledge and your decision about whether the Gospels can be trusted.

Enjoy!