Week 11: Section 2, Chapter 10 — Principle #4: Were They Biased?

1.Wallace acknowledges that the Gospel writers were not neutral observers — they were passionate believers in what they had witnessed. Does passion or personal investment automatically invalidate a witness's testimony? How do detectives navigate testimony from witnesses who clearly care deeply about the outcome?

2.He distinguishes between bias that distorts testimony and perspective that simply shapes which details a witness notices and emphasizes. Can you think of examples from your own experience where two people both told the truth about the same event but emphasized completely different aspects of it?

3.Wallace argues that the disciples' bias actually works against the fabrication hypothesis: if they were making up the story, they would have constructed a more flattering version — one where they don't fall asleep in the garden, where Peter doesn't deny Jesus three times, where none of them abandon Jesus at the cross. Why do these embarrassing details actually increase the credibility of the accounts?