Conclusion
Conclusion
In this book, we have worked to establish especially that the basic portrayal of Jesus in the first-century Gospels, dependent on eyewitnesses, is more plausible than the alternative hypotheses of its modern detractors. (The detractors tend to explain away genuine evidence selectively to fit theories rather than to construct theories coherent with the bulk of the evidence.)
We began arguing this case by showing the weakness of some of today’s strongest alternatives. We then examined the biographic and historical character of the Gospels, and something of what that would mean for a first-century (as opposed to simply modern) audience. We then focused on the nature of the Gospels’ sources, both written and oral, including the character of oral tradition from eyewitnesses in Mediterranean antiquity.
After laying this broader foundation for why we should treat the Gospels as useful sources for reconstructing our historical portrait of Jesus, we surveyed some elements of his mission in those sources, particularly those that could be shown most consistent with Jesus’ first-century Jewish environment. The elements surveyed included many of his teachings (e.g., about the coming kingdom and faith in God), his exalted self-identity, his conflict with the Jerusalem authorities, and his apparently voluntary martyrdom in Jerusalem, probably believing that he was inaugurating salvation for his people.
Although scholars may differ with this or that aspect of the portrayal, I believe that on the whole there is much that we can know about Jesus historically, and that the first-century Gospels preserved by the church remain by far the best source for this information.