Did the gospel writers intend to tell the truth?

“Then everyone deserted [Jesus] and fled” (Mark 14:50).

Even if we have the actual words of the apostles, why should we think they were telling the truth? Especially in the gospels, so many fantastic things are described that it seems obvious that they had no problem making things up.

It’s a valid question. I think the best way to address it is to ask what you would include if you were going to make up a story to start a new religion. You’d make sure the founder seemed wise and witty. Check. You’d give him awesome powers. Check. You’d make sure the leaders of your new religion looked good. Um, wait a second.

It’s called the criterion of embarrassment. Do the writers include things they didn’t have to include, things that are embarrassing? The apostles don’t look that good in the gospels. The twelve consistently misunderstand Jesus (eg, Matt 16:5-7). They act like children (eg, Mark 10:35-37). They abandoned Jesus in the garden, and Peter denied even knowing him (Mark 14:66-72).

Even Jesus doesn’t always look as good as he might. He’s rejected by his own family (eg, Mark 3:21). There are things he doesn’t know (eg, Matt 24:36). He can’t seem to do many miracles in his hometown (Mark 6:5). Most of all, crucifixion was a shameful death. These aren’t things you’d make up. But by including them, the authors show they’re trying to be honest.

One of the authors also included a statement about his honest intentions:

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1-4)

Luke wanted this disciple, Theophilus, to know the truth of the matter. This statement is about as far from “once upon a time” as you can get. Luke is saying “I checked everything out, and here’s the real story.”

But, some will say, the gospel writers had an agenda, they were biased. John even plainly says, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (20:30-31). The apostles wanted people to believe, so they told them what they thought would make them believe.

Duh. Of course they were biased. Of course they wanted people to believe. That doesn’t mean they weren’t telling the truth.

Peter Williams, principal of Tyndale House, wrote in his Can We Trust the Gospels?:

... Bias does not mean we should distrust their record. An innocent man accused of a crime may have a deep interest in proving his innocence, but this bias is not a reason to dismiss evidence he produces. The question, then, is not whether the Gospel writers had an agenda, but whether they reported accurately.

Unless someone is determined to reject the gospels a priori or simply cannot have an open mind because of miraculous stories, there is no reason to doubt that the gospel writers were trying to honestly convey the stories about Jesus.

And there’s a lesson here for us. When the first generation of the church was writing down the oral traditions about Jesus, they chose to tell the stories about their founder and their leaders in all the unvarnished truth. They did not pretend Jesus was universally loved and admired. They did not pretend the apostles were paragons of virtue. They told the truth and trusted God for the results.

Today, though, many Christians are afraid to admit, much less confront, the faults of their leaders. Some are afraid that allowing scandal to come to light may turn people off of the church. Well, the truth has a tendency to come out anyway, and then we look dishonest. We have to be committed to the truth and to living like Christ and let God be responsible for what happens from there.


For more information, I recommend Can We Trust the Gospels?: Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John by Mark D. Roberts.