Week 9: Section 2, Chapter 8 — Principle #2: Were They Corroborated?

1.Wallace argues that the Gospel accounts can be tested against external, non-Christian sources — both Roman and Jewish — that corroborate key details about Jesus, his ministry, his execution, and the early church's claims. What specific external sources does he cite, and what do each of them confirm?

2.He discusses the writings of Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, and others. Why is it significant that hostile or indifferent sources — people with no stake in promoting Christianity — confirm core facts about Jesus? How does this parallel the way detectives weigh reluctant witnesses?

3.Wallace introduces the idea that the Gospels corroborate each other as independent sources — meaning the same event, reported by different authors who did not simply copy one another, provides stronger confirmation than a single account. How does he establish that the Gospel writers are functioning as independent witnesses rather than copying a single source?