The Case For Christ

they couldn't find one. They questioned whether one witness, a
nine-year-old boy named Keith, was
old enough to understand what it meant to tell the truth under
oath, but it was obvious to everyone that he did.
With defense attorneys unable to shake the credibility of the
victim and the prosecution witnesses, the two defendants were
convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to fifty years in the
penitentiary. Eighteen days later Michael died.
Defense attorneys have a challenging job: to raise questions, to
generate doubts, to probe the soft and vulnerable spots of a
witness's story. They do this by subjecting the testimony to a
variety of tests. The idea is that honest and accurate testimony
will withstand scrutiny, while false, exaggerated, or misleading
testimony will be exposed. In Michael's case justice prevailed
because the jurors could tell that the witnesses and victim were
sincerely and precisely recounting what they had experienced.
Now let's return to our investigation of the historical evidence
concerning Jesus. The time had come to subject Dr. Blomberg's
testimony to tests that would either reveal its weaknesses or
underscore its strength. Many of these would be the same tests
that had been used by defense attorneys in Michael's case so many
years earlier. "There are eight different tests I'd like to ask
you about," I said to Blomberg as we sat down after our fifteenminute
break.
Blomberg picked up a fresh cup of steaming black coffee and
leaned back. I wasn't sure, but it seemed he was looking forward
to the challenge.
"Go ahead," he said.
I. THE INTENTION TEST
This test seeks to determine whether it was the stated or implied
intention of the writers to accurately preserve history. "Were
these first-century writers even interested in recording what
actually happened?" I asked.
Blomberg nodded. "Yes, they were," he said. "You can
see that at the beginning of the gospel of Luke, which reads very
much like prefaces to other generally trusted historical and
biographical works of antiquity."
Picking up his Bible, Blomberg read the opening of Luke's gospel.
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that