More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell
Week 5: Chapter 5 — The Bible's Reliability: Can We Trust It?
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If the Gospels are historically unreliable, the whole case for Jesus collapses — so McDowell spends significant energy establishing that the New Testament documents can be trusted. Approach this chapter as though you are a juror evaluating evidence for the first time.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.McDowell uses three standard tests of historical document reliability: the bibliographical test, the internal evidence test, and the external evidence test. Briefly explain each in your own words. Which did you find most persuasive?
2.The bibliographical test compares the New Testament manuscript tradition to other ancient documents we consider reliable, such as the works of Caesar or Plato. What did you find most surprising about that comparison? How does the New Testament fare?
3.McDowell quotes scholar F. F. Bruce and others to establish that the New Testament documents were written close enough to the events they describe to be held accountable by eyewitnesses. Why does the time gap between event and written account matter so much for establishing reliability?
a.What is the difference between a document written within a generation of the events and one written centuries later?
b.How does hostile eyewitness testimony — people who would have debunked false accounts — factor in?