Alive - by Dave Smith

his death under Pilate and his gathering many followers, were most
likely written by Josephus.
As helpful as these brief references are in establishing the historicity
of Jesus, our best source is of course the New Testament, especially
the accounts of what are known as the four Gospels – Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John. These relatively full accounts of Jesus’ life –
focused on his ministry years, sufferings and resurrection – were
written somewhere between AD 60–100, (with many scholars arguing
that the first three were all written by the mid-60s), remarkably close
to the date of Jesus’ death (AD 30 or 33) and far closer than was
normal in ancient history. 4
As to the genre of the Gospels, it’s now widely accepted by
scholars that they are ‘historical’ in the sense that each of the writers
was attempting to give an accurate account, based on different
sources, written and oral. Matthew and John were also most likely
eyewitnesses to many of the events. It’s also generally
acknowledged that the Gospels were written in the genre of ancient
biographies. As with any biography, each of the authors felt free to
select and arrange their accounts to fit their particular emphasis. 5
Hence, while agreed on the main and most important facts of the
empty tomb and the post-resurrection appearances, they differ in
some minor details. Rather than undermining the reliability of the
Gospel accounts, these supposed ‘discrepancies’ help support the
fact that they were based on different eyewitness accounts –
something that emphasises the authenticity of what we’ve been given.
In addition to the Gospels, we have the book of Acts (Luke’s
second volume), which provides an account of the growth and spread
of the Church after Jesus’ ascension, of which the preaching about
Jesus and his resurrection are central. We also have many letters