Filter results by source database — Scripture Commentary, Theology, Mike Winger, or Pulpit. Click a tab to narrow to one database.

...more
All (16) Mike Winger (16)
Mike Winger idea 2019-02-20

Bart Ehrman's telephone-game argument against Gospel reliability

Mike quotes and plays audio of Bart Ehrman presenting the community tradition / oral telephone-game view of Gospel transmission.

Bart Ehrman community tradition view oral transmission
Mike Winger idea 2019-02-20

Luke does not criticize prior Gospel narratives; he adds to them with more data

Distinguishing Luke's prologue from other ancient authors who criticize predecessors.

Luke 1:1-4 Luke Josephus Gospel reliability ancient historiography
Mike Winger idea 2019-02-20

Luke's use of "just as delivered" (kathōs paredosan) emphasizes transmission accuracy

Luke's specific language about accurate transmission of the tradition.

Luke 1:2 Gospel reliability Luke 1:2 paradidōmi
Mike Winger idea 2019-02-20

Q&A: The ending of Mark 16 — short vs. long ending; not a threat to Gospel reliability

Q&A from an atheist about the ending of Mark and supposed Gospel contradictions.

Mark 16:8 Mark 16:9-20 textual criticism biblical inerrancy Mark 16:8
Mike Winger idea 2019-02-20

Bart Ehrman's argument that harmonizing the Gospels means writing a new Gospel — Mike's refutation

Q&A addressing Ehrman's specific anti-harmonization argument.

Bart Ehrman Gospel reliability harmonization
Mike Winger idea 2019-02-20

Q&A: Bart Ehrman's claim that harmonizing Gospels means writing a new Gospel — video reference

Second pass at the harmonization question with a specific resource recommendation.

Bart Ehrman Gospel reliability harmonization
Mike Winger idea 2019-03-13

Argument from silence is a poor historical method: uniqueness to one Gospel does not discredit the account.

Responding to the implicit skeptical argument behind the Matthew 27 question.

Apologetics Gospel reliability Argument from silence
Mike Winger idea 2021-03-05

The empty tomb was verifiable: women as witnesses (embarrassing to early church = authentic), the women are named (eyewitness identification per Bauckham), Roman guards monitored it

Responding to how anyone could be sure the right tomb was checked if Jesus was beaten unrecognizably

Mark's Gospel Matthew 27:62-66 Richard Bauckham resurrection apologetics
Mike Winger idea 2021-03-12

The NT reliably narrates events where Jesus was alone — he could have told disciples, and Holy Spirit aided gospel authors

Q19 from Stephen Richeson: How do we know the NT is reliable for events where Jesus was alone, such as the temptation in the wilderness or Gethsemane?

John 14:26 eyewitness testimony Holy Spirit inspiration temptation of Jesus
Mike Winger idea 2020-05-21

Mike interviews Dr. Peter Williams (principal of Tyndale House Cambridge) about his book "Can We Trust the Gospels?" The approach: rather than proving individual claims, show that the hypothesis of reliable reporting is far simpler than the hypothesis of fabrication. Two competing explanations — reliable accounts vs complex conspiracy — and the data overwhelmingly favors reliability.

Introduction — cumulative case for gospel reliability

Peter Williams inference to best explanation gospel reliability
Mike Winger idea 2020-05-21

Geographic knowledge in the gospels: the four gospel writers demonstrate detailed knowledge of Palestinian geography — small villages (Bethany, Bethphage, Chorazin), sub-village locations (Garden of Gethsemane = "oil press" on the Mount of Olives), topography ("went DOWN from Jerusalem to Jericho" — correct elevation change), and traveling times. This knowledge couldn't come from other ancient sources (Strabo, Pliny, Josephus don't have this level of detail). Only two explanations: the writers visited or spoke with eyewitnesses.

Geographic evidence — local knowledge test

gospel reliability geographic evidence Palestinian geography
Mike Winger idea 2020-05-21

Names in the gospels match the known name distribution of 1st-century Palestine (research by Tal Ilan, Richard Bauckham). The most common names (Simon, Joseph, Mary) are disambiguated with extra identifiers (Simon Peter, Simon of Cyrene, Simon the Zealot) while less common names (Thomas, Thaddeus) stand alone — exactly as you'd expect from authentic records. Names are the first thing lost in retelling; getting them right indicates early, close-to-source transmission.

Onomastic (name) evidence — statistical match

Richard Bauckham Tal Ilan gospel reliability
Mike Winger idea 2020-05-21

Botanical evidence: plants mentioned in the gospels match the specific micro-climates where stories are set. Sycamore tree in Jericho (Luke 19, Zacchaeus) — sycamores grow in Jericho's low-altitude tropical climate but not in Turkey, Greece, or Italy where the gospels were later circulated. Palm branches on the Mount of Olives, mint/rue tithed by Pharisees — all botanically correct for the region.

Botanical evidence — plants match locations

Luke 19 (Zacchaeus) gospel reliability botanical evidence sycamore in Jericho
Mike Winger idea 2020-05-21

Why the gospels can't be explained as deliberate fabrication: (1) No scholar — even skeptics — proposes collusion between gospel writers as a serious hypothesis. (2) The gospels contain brilliant parables (Good Samaritan, Prodigal Son) recognized as among the greatest short stories ever told — you can't manufacture genius by wanting to. (3) The simplest explanation for one amazing storyteller across multiple accounts is that Jesus himself was the storyteller.

Against fabrication — parables and genius

parables of Jesus gospel reliability Good Samaritan
Mike Winger idea 2020-10-22

A controversy exists in NT scholarship over whether gospel authors used "literary devices" from Greco-Roman biography that allowed them to change facts. Dr. Lydia McGrew argues against this; Mike Licona argues for it.

Introduction to the literary devices controversy with Dr. Lydia McGrew

Mike Licona Mike Licona Lydia McGrew
Mike Winger idea 2020-10-22

Positive evidence FOR gospel reliability: consistent personality of Jesus across Gospels, unexplained allusions (John 7 — Jesus quotes a scripture nobody can identify), unnecessary realistic details, and the absence of realistic fiction as a genre in the first century.

McGrew's positive case for the reportage model

John 7 undesigned coincidences Lydia McGrew John 7