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White Horse Inn: Conversational Theology

Richard Bauckham on the Reliability of John

Scholars frequently claim that John is the latest and most idealized of all the Gospels. Its picture of Jesus, they say, represents the beliefs of late first century Christians, rather than actual historical events. But is this view consistent with the evidence? What if it could be demonstrated that the author of this text was actually a careful and reliable eyewitness? On this program, we’ll discuss these issues and more with Richard Bauckham, author of Jesus and the Eyewitnesses and The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple.


SHOW QUOTE

Why do I think John’s based on an eyewitness  statement? I think it claims to be quite clearly, but you’ll turn to, because it’s easy to say that the whole thing is a fraud and he’s pretending to be an eyewitness. But you can’t take that very far. You see John’s theological claim is that the Word became flesh. The Son of God came into real human history as a real human person. So in a sense, his theological claim requires him to be writing history. Otherwise, the theology would be emptied of its meaning.

Richard Bauckham

TERM TO LEARN

“Goal of Apologetics”

[As human beings] we have many objections, barriers, biases, acculturations, conditions, misconceptions, presuppositions, distortion of facts, and any number of excuses. It is the goal of Christian apologetics to remove these hindrances that stand between a person and the cross of Christ. As a result, some Christians see apologetics as pre-evangelism; it is not the gospel, but it prepares the soil for the gospel…. Whatever its relation to the gospel, apologetics is an extremely important enterprise that can profoundly impact unbelievers and be used as the tool that clears the way to faith in Jesus Christ.

(Taken from Doug Powell’s, Holman Quicksource Guide to Christian Apologetics, pp. 5-6)

More from this Series: The Gospel of John Year-Long Series

  1. A Sneak Peek at our New Series on the Gospel of John Listen Now ›
  2. Eyewitness Testimony in the Gospel of John Listen Now ›
  3. Richard Bauckham on the Reliability of John Listen Now ›
  4. In the Beginning Was the Word Listen Now ›
  5. The Jewishness of John’s Gospel Listen Now ›
  6. The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us Listen Now ›
  7. The Lamb of God Listen Now ›
  8. Climbing Jacob’s Ladder? Listen Now ›
  9. Water into Wine Listen Now ›
  10. An Interview with D.A. Carson Listen Now ›
  11. Money-Changers in the Temple Listen Now ›
  12. God in Our Midst Listen Now ›
  13. Born from Above Listen Now ›
  14. God So Loved the World Listen Now ›
  15. He Must Increase, I Must Decrease Listen Now ›
  16. The Historical Reliability of John’s Gospel Listen Now ›
  17. Living Water Listen Now ›
  18. Worship in Spirit & Truth Listen Now ›
  19. Can This Be the Christ? Listen Now ›
  20. An Early Date for John’s Gospel? Listen Now ›
  21. Jesus on Trial Listen Now ›
  22. The Scriptures Bear Witness of Me Listen Now ›
  23. The Bread of Life Listen Now ›
  24. Drawn by God Listen Now ›
  25. If Anyone Thirsts Listen Now ›
  26. The Light of the World Listen Now ›
  27. The Truth Will Set You Free Listen Now ›
  28. I Am the Good Shepherd Listen Now ›
  29. My Sheep Hear My Voice Listen Now ›
  30. I Am the Resurrection & the Life Listen Now ›
  31. Jesus’ Death Foretold Listen Now ›
  32. The Triumphal Entry Listen Now ›
  33. Who Has Believed Our Report? Listen Now ›
  34. The Servant Leader Listen Now ›
  35. The Betrayal Listen Now ›
  36. I Am the Way Listen Now ›
  37. The Spirit of Truth Listen Now ›
  38. I Am the Vine Listen Now ›
  39. Father, Son, & Spirit Listen Now ›
  40. Christ’s High Priestly Prayer Listen Now ›
  41. The Arrest & Trial of Jesus Listen Now ›
  42. My Kingdom Is Not of This World Listen Now ›
  43. The Significance of Golgotha Listen Now ›
  44. Naked, Ashamed, Despised, & Rejected Listen Now ›
  45. Reconciling Accounts of the Resurrection Listen Now ›
  46. Peace Be With You Listen Now ›
  47. The Epilogue of John’s Gospel Listen Now ›
  48. Feed My Sheep Listen Now ›
  49. The Identity of the Beloved Disciple Listen Now ›
  50. The Incarnate Word Listen Now ›
  51. The ‘I Am’ Sayings of Jesus Listen Now ›
  52. The Messiah’s Mission Listen Now ›