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Summary in 400 words or less:
Eyewitness testimony has been a vital part of family and community life for thousands of years. Moses told Israel – “by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established” (Deuteronomy 19:15). Jesus told His disciples – “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established” (Matthew 18:15-16).
There are two kinds of eyewitness testimony described in the Bible: ‘true’ witness and ‘false’ witness. One of the ‘Ten Commandments’ is, ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor’ (Exodus 20:16). Jesus and His apostles warned many times about ‘false’ witnesses. This is important to note because much of the evidence for Christianity is based on eyewitness testimony. Jesus and the apostles would not tolerate falsity in eyewitness testimony.
Eyewitness testimony is an important aspect of Christian apologetics, especially in the area of truth claims in the New Testament to the Person of Jesus Christ. The four accounts of the life of Jesus, accepted as true by the early Church, were written by two of Jesus’ closest disciples (Matthew and John) and two trusted associates of other close disciples (Mark and Luke). These four accounts of the ‘Gospel’ of Jesus Christ include hundreds of people who were ‘eyewitnesses’ of the Lord’s miraculous ministry. The Apostle Paul wrote that more than 500 people (many still alive) were eyewitnesses of the ‘physical’ Jesus ‘after’ He was raised from the dead, Paul being one of them (1 Corinthians 15).
The disciples of Jesus Christ didn’t say they ‘heard about’ Him; they said they ‘saw’ Him and ‘heard’ Him. Peter testified that he was a ‘witness of the sufferings of Christ’ (1 Peter 5:1). John testified that he had ‘seen’ Jesus with his own eyes (1 John 1:1). The Gospel of Jesus Christ is based on ‘eyewitness’ testimony, which is admissible in courts of law around the world, not on ‘hearsay’ testimony, which is not admissible in courts of law. Simon Greenleaf, one of the principle founders of the Harvard Law School and a renowned expert on legal evidence, became a Christian in large part based on the reliability of eyewitness testimony in the Gospels. As Paul said in context of the many ‘eyewitnesses’ to the resurrected Christ – ‘Christ died .. was buried .. rose again .. was seen’ (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
Scripture for YouVersion: 1 Corinthians 15:3-8
Short audio/video:
Evidence For The Resurrection of Jesus Christ: Part 6
Three questions (one fill-in-the-blank, one multiple choice, one discussion question):
1. Eyewitness testimony is an important aspect of ________________ .
2. Jesus and His apostles warned against this type of eyewitness testimony:
- True testimony
- False testimony
- All of the above
3. Why do you think the disciples were able to keep the core details of their stories straight despite persecution and (in most cases) martyrdom?
References for further reading:
The Testimony of the Evangelists: The Gospels Examined by the Rules of Evidence, Simon Greenleaf
An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists, by the Rules of Evidence administered in Courts of Justice, Simon Greenleaf (Kindle version)
How Ancient Eyewitness Testimony Became the New Testament Gospel Record, J. Warner Wallace
Collaboration notes:
Collaborators: Mark McGee, Christopher Riggs, Z. E. Kendall
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Type “YES” and contact Maryann when at least three collaborators agree this is ready to be shared with YouVersion:
Two of the biggest assumptions that many Christians make regarding the truth
claims of Christianity is that, one, eyewitnesses wrote the four gospels. The
problem is, however, that the majority of scholars today do not believe this is
true. The second big assumption many Christians make is that it would have been
impossible for whoever wrote these four books to have invented details in their
books, especially in regards to the Empty Tomb and the Resurrection appearances,
due to the fact that eyewitnesses to these events would have still been alive
when the gospels were written and distributed.
But consider this, dear Reader: Most scholars date the writing of the first gospel, Mark, as circa 70 AD. Who of the eyewitnesses to the death of Jesus and the alleged events after his death were still alive in 70 AD? That is four decades after Jesus’ death. During that time period, tens of thousands of people living in Palestine were killed in the Jewish-Roman wars of the mid and late 60’s, culminating in the
destruction of Jerusalem.
How do we know that any eyewitness to the death
of Jesus in circa 30 AD was still alive when the first gospel was written and
distributed in circa 70 AD? How do we know that any eyewitness to the death of
Jesus ever had the opportunity to read the Gospel of Mark and proof read it for
accuracy?
I challenge Christians to list the name of even ONE eyewitness
to the death of Jesus who was still alive in 70 AD along with the evidence to
support your claim.
If you can’t list any names, dear Christian, how can
you be sure that details such as the Empty Tomb, the detailed resurrection
appearances, and the Ascension ever really occurred? How can you be sure that
these details were not simply theological hyperbole…or…the exaggerations and
embellishments of superstitious, first century, mostly uneducated people, who
had retold these stories thousands of times, between thousands of people, from
one language to another, from one country to another, over a period of many
decades?