Chapter One
THE EYEWITNESS
EVIDENCE
Can the Biographies of Jesus Be Trusted?
When I first met shy and soft-spoken Leo Carter, he was a
seventeen-year-old veteran of Chicago's grittiest neighborhood. His
testimony had put three killers in prison. And he was still carrying a
.38-caliber slug in his skull-a grisly reminder of a horrific saga that
began when he witnessed Elijah Baptist gun down a local grocer.
Leo and a friend, Leslie Scott, were playing basketball when they
saw Elijah, then a sixteen-year-old delinquent with thirty arrests on
his rap sheet, slay Sam Blue outside his grocery store.
Leo had known the grocer since childhood. "When we didn't have
any food, he'd give us some," Leo explained to me in a quiet voice.
"So when I went to the hospital and they said he was dead, I knew I'd
have to testify about what I saw."
Eyewitness testimony is powerful. One of the most dramatic
moments in a trial is when a witness describes in detail the crime that
he or she saw and then points confidently toward the defendant as
being the perpetrator. Elijah Baptist knew that the only way to avoid
prison would be to somehow prevent Leo Carter and Leslie Scott from
doing just that.
So Elijah and two of his pals went hunting. Soon they tracked
down Leo and Leslie, who were walking down the street with Leo's
brother Henry, and they dragged all three at gunpoint to a darkened
loading dock nearby.
"I like you," Elijah's cousin said to Leo, "but I've got to do this."
With that he pressed a pistol to the bridge of Leo's nose and yanked
the trigger.
The gun roared; the bullet penetrated at a slight angle, blinding
Leo in his right eye and embedding in his head. When he crumbled
to the ground, another shot was fired, this bullet lodging two inches
from his spine.
As Leo watched from his sprawled position, pretending he was
dead, he saw his sobbing brother and friend ruthlessly executed at
close range. When Elijah and his gang fled, Leo crawled to safety.
Somehow, against all odds, Leo Carter lived. The bullet, too pre-carious
to be removed, remained in his skull. Despite searing
headaches that strong medication couldn't dull, he became the sole
eyewitness against Elijah Baptist at his trial for killing grocer Sam
Blue. The jurors believed Leo, and Elijah was sentenced to eighty
years in prison.
Again Leo was the only eyewitness to testify against Elijah and
his two companions in the slayings of his brother and his friend. And
once more his word was good enough to land the trio in prison for the
rest of their lives.
Leo Carter is one of my heroes. He made sure justice was served,
even though he paid a monumental price for it. When I think of eye-witness
testimony, even to this day-more than twenty years later-his
face still appears in my mind.
TESTIMONY FROM DISTANT TIME
Yes, eyewitness testimony can be compelling and convincing. When
a witness has had ample opportunity to observe a crime, when there's
no bias or ulterior motives, when the witness is truthful and fair, the
climactic act of pointing out a defendant in a courtroom can be
enough to doom that person to prison or worse.
And eyewitness testimony is just as crucial in investigating historical
matters-even the issue of whether Jesus Christ is the unique
Son of God.
But what eyewitness accounts do we possess? Do we have the testimony
of anyone who personally interacted with Jesus, who listened
to his teachings, who saw his miracles, who witnessed his death, and
who perhaps even encountered him after his alleged resurrection? Do
we have any records from first-century "journalists" who interviewed
eyewitnesses, asked tough questions, and faithfully recorded what
they scrupulously determined to be true? Equally important, how well
would these accounts withstand the scrutiny of skeptics?
I knew that just as Leo Carter's testimony clinched the convictions
of three brutal murderers, eyewitness accounts from the mists
of distant time could help resolve the most important spiritual issue
of all. To get solid answers, I arranged to interview the nationally
renowned scholar who literally wrote the book on the topic: Dr. Craig
Blomberg, author of The Historical Reliability of the Gospels.
I knew Blomberg was smart; in fact, even his appearance fit the
stereotype. Tall (six feet two) and lanky, with short, wavy brown hair
unceremoniously combed forward, a fuzzy beard, and thick, rimless
glasses, he looked like the type who would have been valedictorian
of his high school (he was), a National Merit Scholar (he was), and a
magna cum laude graduate from a prestigious seminary (he was, from
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School).
But I wanted someone who was more than just intelligent and
educated. I was searching for an expert who wouldn't gloss over
nuances or blithely dismiss challenges to the records of Christianity.
I wanted someone with integrity, someone who has grappled with the
most potent critiques of the faith and who speaks authoritatively but
without the kind of sweeping statements that conceal rather than deal
with critical issues.
I was told Blomberg was exactly what I was looking for, and I flew
to Denver wondering if he could measure up. Admittedly, I had a few
doubts, especially when my research yielded one profoundly disturbing
fact that he would probably have preferred had remained hidden:
Blomberg still holds out hope that his beloved childhood heroes,
the Chicago Cubs, will win the World Series in his lifetime.
Frankly, that was enough to make me a bit suspicious of his discernment.
THE FIRST INTERVIEW: CRAIG L. BLOMBERG, PH.D.
Craig Blomberg is widely considered to be one of the country's foremost
authorities on the biographies of Jesus, which are called the
four gospels. He received his doctorate in New Testament from
Aberdeen University in Scotland, later serving as a senior research
fellow at Tyndale House at Cambridge University in England, where
he was part of an elite group of international scholars that produced
a series of acclaimed works on Jesus. For the last dozen years he has
been a professor of New Testament at the highly respected Denver
Seminary.
Blomberg's books include Jesus and the Gospels; Interpreting the
Parables; How Wide the Divide?; and commentaries on the gospel of
Matthew and 1 Corinthians. He also helped edit volume six of Gospel
Perspectives, which deals at length with the miracles of Jesus, and he
coauthored Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. He contributed
chapters on the historicity of the gospels to the book Reasonable Faith
and the award-winning Jesus under Fire. His memberships include
the Society for the Study of the New Testament, Society of Biblical
Literature, and the Institute for Biblical Research.
As I expected, his office had more than its share of scholarly volumes
stacked on the shelves (he was even wearing a tie emblazoned
with drawings of books).
However, I quickly noted that his office walls were dominated not
by dusty tomes from ancient historians but by artwork from his young
daughters. Their whimsical and colorful depictions of llamas, houses,
and flowers weren't haphazardly pinned up as a casual afterthought;
they had obviously been treated as prizes-painstakingly matted,
carefully framed, and personally autographed by Elizabeth and
Rachel themselves. Clearly, I thought to myself, this man has a heart
as well as a brain.
Blomberg speaks with the precision of a mathematician (yes, he
taught mathematics too, earlier in his career), carefully measuring
each word out of an apparent reluctance to tread even one nuance
beyond where the evidence warrants. Exactly what I was looking for.
As he settled into a high-back chair, cup of coffee in hand, I too
sipped some coffee to ward off the Colorado chill. Since I sensed
Blomberg was a get-to-the-point kind of guy, I decided to start my
interview by cutting to the core of the issue.
EYEWITNESSES TO HISTORY
"Tell me this," I said with an edge of challenge in my voice, "is it
really possible to be an intelligent, critically thinking person and still
believe that the four gospels were written by the people whose names
have been attached to them?"
Blomberg set his cup of coffee on the edge of his desk and looked
intently at me. "The answer is yes," he said with conviction.
Continues.
Chapter One
THE EYEWITNESS
EVIDENCE
Can the Biographies of Jesus Be Trusted?
When I first met shy and soft-spoken Leo Carter, he was a
seventeen-year-old veteran of Chicago's grittiest neighborhood. His
testimony had put three killers in prison. And he was still carrying a
.38-caliber slug in his skull-a grisly reminder of a horrific saga that
began when he witnessed Elijah Baptist gun down a local grocer.
Leo and a friend, Leslie Scott, were playing basketball when they
saw Elijah, then a sixteen-year-old delinquent with thirty arrests on
his rap sheet, slay Sam Blue outside his grocery store.
Leo had known the grocer since childhood. "When we didn't have
any food, he'd give us some," Leo explained to me in a quiet voice.
"So when I went to the hospital and they said he was dead, I knew I'd
have to testify about what I saw."
Eyewitness testimony is powerful. One of the most dramatic
moments in a trial is when a witness describes in detail the crime that
he or she saw and then points confidently toward the defendant as
being the perpetrator. Elijah Baptist knew that the only way to avoid
prison would be to somehow prevent Leo Carter and Leslie Scott from
doing just that.
So Elijah and two of his pals went hunting. Soon they tracked
down Leo and Leslie, who were walking down the street with Leo's
brother Henry, and they dragged all three at gunpoint to a darkened
loading dock nearby.
"I like you," Elijah's cousin said to Leo, "but I've got to do this."
With that he pressed a pistol to the bridge of Leo's nose and yanked
the trigger.
The gun roared; the bullet penetrated at a slight angle, blinding
Leo in his right eye and embedding in his head. When he crumbled
to the ground, another shot was fired, this bullet lodging two inches
from his spine.
As Leo watched from his sprawled position, pretending he was
dead, he saw his sobbing brother and friend ruthlessly executed at
close range. When Elijah and his gang fled, Leo crawled to safety.
Somehow, against all odds, Leo Carter lived. The bullet, too pre-carious
to be removed, remained in his skull. Despite searing
headaches that strong medication couldn't dull, he became the sole
eyewitness against Elijah Baptist at his trial for killing grocer Sam
Blue. The jurors believed Leo, and Elijah was sentenced to eighty
years in prison.
Again Leo was the only eyewitness to testify against Elijah and
his two companions in the slayings of his brother and his friend. And
once more his word was good enough to land the trio in prison for the
rest of their lives.
Leo Carter is one of my heroes. He made sure justice was served,
even though he paid a monumental price for it. When I think of eye-witness
testimony, even to this day-more than twenty years later-his
face still appears in my mind.
TESTIMONY FROM DISTANT TIME
Yes, eyewitness testimony can be compelling and convincing. When
a witness has had ample opportunity to observe a crime, when there's
no bias or ulterior motives, when the witness is truthful and fair, the
climactic act of pointing out a defendant in a courtroom can be
enough to doom that person to prison or worse.
And eyewitness testimony is just as crucial in investigating historical
matters-even the issue of whether Jesus Christ is the unique
Son of God.
But what eyewitness accounts do we possess? Do we have the testimony
of anyone who personally interacted with Jesus, who listened
to his teachings, who saw his miracles, who witnessed his death, and
who perhaps even encountered him after his alleged resurrection? Do
we have any records from first-century "journalists" who interviewed
eyewitnesses, asked tough questions, and faithfully recorded what
they scrupulously determined to be true? Equally important, how well
would these accounts withstand the scrutiny of skeptics?
I knew that just as Leo Carter's testimony clinched the convictions
of three brutal murderers, eyewitness accounts from the mists
of distant time could help resolve the most important spiritual issue
of all. To get solid answers, I arranged to interview the nationally
renowned scholar who literally wrote the book on the topic: Dr. Craig
Blomberg, author of The Historical Reliability of the Gospels.
I knew Blomberg was smart; in fact, even his appearance fit the
stereotype. Tall (six feet two) and lanky, with short, wavy brown hair
unceremoniously combed forward, a fuzzy beard, and thick, rimless
glasses, he looked like the type who would have been valedictorian
of his high school (he was), a National Merit Scholar (he was), and a
magna cum laude graduate from a prestigious seminary (he was, from
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School).
But I wanted someone who was more than just intelligent and
educated. I was searching for an expert who wouldn't gloss over
nuances or blithely dismiss challenges to the records of Christianity.
I wanted someone with integrity, someone who has grappled with the
most potent critiques of the faith and who speaks authoritatively but
without the kind of sweeping statements that conceal rather than deal
with critical issues.
I was told Blomberg was exactly what I was looking for, and I flew
to Denver wondering if he could measure up. Admittedly, I had a few
doubts, especially when my research yielded one profoundly disturbing
fact that he would probably have preferred had remained hidden:
Blomberg still holds out hope that his beloved childhood heroes,
the Chicago Cubs, will win the World Series in his lifetime.
Frankly, that was enough to make me a bit suspicious of his discernment.
THE FIRST INTERVIEW: CRAIG L. BLOMBERG, PH.D.
Craig Blomberg is widely considered to be one of the country's foremost
authorities on the biographies of Jesus, which are called the
four gospels. He received his doctorate in New Testament from
Aberdeen University in Scotland, later serving as a senior research
fellow at Tyndale House at Cambridge University in England, where
he was part of an elite group of international scholars that produced
a series of acclaimed works on Jesus. For the last dozen years he has
been a professor of New Testament at the highly respected Denver
Seminary.
Blomberg's books include Jesus and the Gospels; Interpreting the
Parables; How Wide the Divide?; and commentaries on the gospel of
Matthew and 1 Corinthians. He also helped edit volume six of Gospel
Perspectives, which deals at length with the miracles of Jesus, and he
coauthored Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. He contributed
chapters on the historicity of the gospels to the book Reasonable Faith
and the award-winning Jesus under Fire. His memberships include
the Society for the Study of the New Testament, Society of Biblical
Literature, and the Institute for Biblical Research.
As I expected, his office had more than its share of scholarly volumes
stacked on the shelves (he was even wearing a tie emblazoned
with drawings of books).
However, I quickly noted that his office walls were dominated not
by dusty tomes from ancient historians but by artwork from his young
daughters. Their whimsical and colorful depictions of llamas, houses,
and flowers weren't haphazardly pinned up as a casual afterthought;
they had obviously been treated as prizes-painstakingly matted,
carefully framed, and personally autographed by Elizabeth and
Rachel themselves. Clearly, I thought to myself, this man has a heart
as well as a brain.
Blomberg speaks with the precision of a mathematician (yes, he
taught mathematics too, earlier in his career), carefully measuring
each word out of an apparent reluctance to tread even one nuance
beyond where the evidence warrants. Exactly what I was looking for.
As he settled into a high-back chair, cup of coffee in hand, I too
sipped some coffee to ward off the Colorado chill. Since I sensed
Blomberg was a get-to-the-point kind of guy, I decided to start my
interview by cutting to the core of the issue.
EYEWITNESSES TO HISTORY
"Tell me this," I said with an edge of challenge in my voice, "is it
really possible to be an intelligent, critically thinking person and still
believe that the four gospels were written by the people whose names
have been attached to them?"
Blomberg set his cup of coffee on the edge of his desk and looked
intently at me. "The answer is yes," he said with conviction.
(Continues.)
