The Case For Christ

Blomberg, Craig. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels.
Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1987.
Bruce, F F The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960.
France, R. I The Evidence for Jesus. Downers Grove. Ill.:
InterVarsity Press, 1986.
2: TESTING THE EYEWITNESS EVIDENCE
Do the Biographies of Jesus Stand Up to Scrutiny?
Sixteen-year-old Michael McCullough's words were so faint that
jurors couldn't hear them above the soft puffing sound of the
mechanical respirator that was keeping him alive. A lip-reader
had to hunch over Michael's bed, discern what he was saying, and
repeat his testimony to the makeshift courtroom.
Paralyzed from the neck down by a bullet that severed his spinal
cord, Michael was too frail to be transported to the courthouse
for the trial of the two youths accused of attacking him. Instead
the judge, jury, defendants, lawyers, reporters, and spectators
crowded into Michael's hospital room, which was declared a
temporary branch of Cook County Circuit Court.
Under questioning by prosecutors, Michael recalled how he left
his apartment at a Chicago housing project with two dollars in
his pocket. He said he was accosted in a stairway by the two
defendants, who intentionally shot him in the face as they tried
to steal his money. His story was backed up by two other youths
who had watched in horror as the assault took place.
The defendants never denied the shooting; instead they claimed
that the gun accidentally discharged while they were waving it
around. Defense attorneys knew that the only way they could get
their clients off with a reduced sentence was if they could
succeed in undermining the testimony that the shooting was a
vicious and premeditated act of violence.
They did their best to cast doubt on the eyewitness accounts.
They questioned the witnesses' ability to view what happened, but
they failed to make any inroads. They tried to exploit
inconsistencies in the stories, but the accounts harmonized on
the central points. They demanded more corroboration, but clearly
no more was needed. They raised hints about character, but the
victim and witnesses were law-abiding youths with no criminal
record. They hoped to show a bias against the defendants, but