Jesus and the Eyewitnesses

While I disagree with him on Christology and, to a lesser extent, Mariology (he holds to the Epiphanian view of the brothers and sisters of Jesus), Richard Bauckham wrote one of the most important volumes in recent years defending the reliability of the New Testament Gospels:

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2006, 2017).

I read the first edition shortly after it came out and thought it was great (I don't have the 2d ed yet, but if anyone wants to send a copy my way, I won't object 😏)

N.T. Wright praised the volume thusly:

Richard Bauckham draws on his unparalleled knowledge of the world of the first Christians to argue not only that the Gospels do indeed contain eyewitness testimony but that their first readers would certainly have recognized them as such. This book is a remarkable piece of detective work, resulting in a fresh and vivid approach to dozens, perhaps hundreds, of well-known problems.

I should note, however, that Brent Metcalfe (click here for a listing of his academic training in biblical studies) offered the following review and response to Bauckham's volume. Perhaps one should forward this to Bauckham--it may result in a retraction of this book . . .

For the Bauckham/Ehrman radio debate on the reliability of the Gospels ("Are the Gospels Based on Eyewitness Testimony?"), check out:

Bart Ehrman vs Richard Bauckham - Round 1

Bart Ehrman vs Richard Bauckham - Round 2