Making the Gospels: Mystery or Conspiracy?

The Gospels are the most important texts of the Bible because they tell the story about Jesus--who he was and what he achieved. If we did not have the Gospels the prophecies about the Messiah in the Old Testament would be left hanging and the passing references in the apostles letters would leave us baffled about the identity of this mysterious figure Jesus. During the past several hundred years some scholars have implied that key figures from the first century had conspired to present a Jesus who was different from Jesus as he really was--Paul Mark and the editor of the so-called Q document. The real Jesus it is claimed was not a redeemer but a charismatic rabbi or prophet. Paul Barnett engages with key advocates of a deconstructed Jesus by attempting to work out historically just how the Gospels came to be written. As a result of this inquiry a cogent picture emerges that explains many of the who the when and the why questions about the writing of the Gospels. Inevitably however because of our distance from that era there are many details missing and many details that remain a mystery. But mystery does not imply conspiracy. Barnett shows that while there are many secondary issues on which scholars differ conspiracy theories can be safely put to rest. The historically earliest and most reliable sources tell us quite a bit about the historical Jesus and he looks a lot more like what the ancient witnesses claimed than like what modern speculations insist. Barnetts exploration of echoes of Jesus in other early sources is insightful. --Craig S. Keener Asbury Theological Seminary Paul Barnett caps a lifetime of scholarship and ecclesiastical service with this sketch of a plausible history of the formation of the New Testament Gospels. Barnett offers numerous converging lines of evidence to show that these foundational works about Jesus were in a position to provide reliable information about this greatest of all figures in human history. An accessible work that encourages faith. --Craig L. Blomberg Denver Seminary Paul Barnett writes with the acumen of a scholar the curiosity of a detective and the creativity of a novelist. Add to this his internationally recognized expertise as a historian. The result is a thorough searching and convincing study. --Robert W. Yarbrough Covenant Theological Seminary As we have come to expect from him Paul Barnett has produced another helpful gem of a book that is at once informed insightful and appealing. Here he shows how a full exploration of the available biblical and historical data illumines the origin of the Gospels and justifies positive conclusions about their reliability. --Donald Hagner Fuller Theological Seminary Paul W. Barnett has combined pastoral ministry with lecturing and writing. He has been pastor of several congregations and retired as Bishop of North Sydney. He has written extensively on New Testament history and lectured at universities in Australia and China as well as at Regent College Vancouver and Moore College Sydney. He is Honorary Visiting Fellow in Ancient History at Macquarie University. Paul is married to Anita.