The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Peter J. Williams. Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.

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BA: Hello. This is Brian Auten of Apologetics 315. Today's interview is with Peter J. Williams, the warden of Tyndale House Cambridge. He was educated at Cambridge University, where he received his M.A., M.Phil, and PhD in the study of ancient languages related to the Bible. Peter is an excellent communicator and competent to speak to a variety of Biblical issues, including the text of the Old and New Testament, moral objections to the Old Testament, and the reliability of the Gospels.

The purpose of this interview is to discuss the reliability of the Gospels, look briefly at Old Testament morality, and get Peter's advice on the subject of apologetics.

Thanks for joining me for this interview, Peter.

PW: It's a pleasure.

In this series of posts at the Christian Apologetics Alliance website, Dr. Tim McGrew explores the topic of Undesigned Coincidences in the New Testament. Citing numerous examples, McGrew notes the cumulative case that can be made for the reliability of the scriptures by looking at textual evidence by various authors. Also check out the classic work of the same name by J.J. Blunt. And be sure to visit the Library of Historical Apologetics for more classical apologetic works. Here are links to the series articles:

• Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4 • Part 5 • Part 6

Enjoy.

Enjoy this video of Biblical Scholar Peter J. Williams on the topic: Why Trust the Gospels, brought to you by the Forum of Christian Leaders resource. More videos by Peter J. Williams here. Enjoy.

In this interview on Frank Turek's CrossExamined Radio program, New Testament scholar Michael Licona talks about new insights to apparent Bible contradictions. Licona examines a number of historical sources which shed light on the methods used by Biblical writers to record their accounts. An illuminating interview for those who have struggled to reconcile apparent contradictions in the Gospel accounts. More resources from Michael Licona at RisenJesus.com.

Full MP3 Audio here (45 min)
Enjoy.

Cold-case detective J. Warner Wallace, and author of Cold-Case Christianity, presented this lecture via Skype at Reasonable Faith Belfast on Monday, 3rd December 2012. He talks about the nature of evidence, possibility and reason, the chain of custody for the New Testament documents, and much more. The lecture is about an hour (with great visuals), followed by about 30 minutes of Q&A. Watch the video on YouTube, or download the MP3 audio here. Enjoy!

Can we trust the Gospels? Did reliable eyewitnesses pen them? In our search for the “historical Jesus”, should we consider them accurate sources?

At one point in time, these questions would never have been asked. The historicity of Jesus was taken for granted as was the reliability of the accounts of his life. Thanks largely to the rise of form criticism and theologians such as Rudolph Bultmann, the Gospels came to be doubted. Today, in our post-modern culture in which all historical information is considered suspect, we are faced with having to defend the Bible and the fact that Jesus did indeed walk this earth. This task is made easier by scholars such as Richard Bauckham who has delved into the issue of the dependability of the Gospels in his book Jesus and the Eyewitnesses.

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Craig Blomberg. Original audio here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.

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When scandals hit the media today they are covered on television, newspapers and social media. These scandals are covered by a twenty-four hour media that loves to feast on every detail of the story until there are no more details to digest from the story. In his book The Jesus Scandals Why He Shocked His Contemporaries (And Still Shocks Today) Dr. David Instone-Brewer argues that not all scandals are bad in fact “scandals are our best guarantee of historical truth in the Gospels” (11).

Jesus was accused of being a bastard, blaspheming, abusing alcohol, partying with prostitutes, and working for Satan—in other words, scandal followed him. And a huge part of his teaching and ministry tackled head-on the scandals that pervaded society and would therefore have been regarded as scandalous by his audience. Scandals are the inconvenient truths which the Gospels could not omit without being dismissed as fiction by their first readers. “If there had been no scandals, the Gospel writers wouldn’t have invented them—why create potential reasons for people to dismiss Jesus? And if there were scandals, the original readers would remember, so the Gospel writers had to mention them and make a reply” (11).

Today's interview is with Michael J. Kruger, Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC. He talks about his background in New Testament studies, his new book on the canon, Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books, the nature of the Bible, the meaning and formation of the canon, criteria of canonicity and attributes of canonicity, "other gospels," the apocrypha, how we can know what books belong in the Bible, advice for Christian apologists, and more. Dr. Kruger's blog is here.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here (42 min)

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Tim Rennie of the Christian Meets World podcast presents a series of interviews with believers and skeptics exploring the question, “How would the Gospel look different if …?” You can download the interviews below or subscribe to the podcast here.

In this lecture, entitled Alleged Contradictions in the Gospels (part 2), Dr. Timothy McGrew explores a litany of 9 alleged contradictions in the Gospels. This is about 60 minutes of content followed by a short Q&A. PowerPoint file is here. Handout PDF here. Visit the Library of Historical Apologetics. This is part 5b of the series—part 1 here; part 2 here; part 3 here, part 4a here, part 4b here, part 5a here, part 6 here.

Full MP3 Audio here. (1hr 12min)
Video on YouTube here.
Enjoy.

In this lecture, entitled Alleged Contradictions in the Gospels, Dr. Timothy McGrew explores and answers 7 alleged contradictions between the Gospels. This is about 60 minutes of content followed by fifteen minutes of Q&A. PowerPoint file is here. Handout PDF here. Visit the Library of Historical Apologetics. This is part 5a of the series—part 1 here; part 2 here; part 3 here, part 4a here, part 4b here, part 6 here.

Full MP3 Audio here. (1hr 12min)
Video on YouTube here.
Enjoy.

Here is a talk by New Testament scholar Michael Licona in which he deals with the issue of apparent contradictions in the Gospels. (Video of this talk here at his Vimeo channel.) This is about one hour of honest assessment of the difficulties and possible approaches to the texts, followed by question and answer. More resources by Michael Licona here. His massive book on the resurrection here.


Full MP3 Audio here (90 min)
Enjoy.

In this lecture, entitled Alleged Historical Errors in the Gospels, Dr. Timothy McGrew critiques the strongest objections to the historical reliability of the Gospels of Luke and John. This is about 55 minutes of content followed by thirty minutes of Q&A. PowerPoint file is here. Handout PDF here. Visit the Library of Historical Apologetics. This is part 4b of the series—part 1 here; part 2 here; part 3 here, part 4a here, part 6 here.

Full MP3 Audio here. (1hr 12min)
Video on YouTube here.
Enjoy.

In this lecture, entitled Alleged Historical Errors in the Gospels, Dr. Timothy McGrew critiques seven of the strongest objections to the historical reliability of the Gospels of Mark and Matthew. This is about 55 minutes of content followed by roughly fifteen minutes of Q&A. PowerPoint file is here. Handout PDF here. Visit the Library of Historical Apologetics. This is the fourth part of a series—part 1 here; part 2 here; part 3 here, part 6 here.
(Audio gets better after 6 minutes.)

Full MP3 Audio here. (1hr 12min)
Video on YouTube here.
Enjoy.

In this lecture, entitled Internal Evidences for the Truth of the Gospels, Dr. Timothy McGrew presents internal evidence bearing on the authenticity of the Gospels, with a special emphasis on undesigned coincidences in the Gospel accounts. This is about 45 minutes of content followed by fifteen minutes of Q&A. PowerPoint file is here. Handout PDF here. Visit the Library of Historical Apologetics. This is the third of a series—part 1 here; part 2 here.

Full MP3 Audio here. (1hr 30min)
Video on YouTube here.
Enjoy.

Today's interview is with David Instone-Brewer, Senior Research Fellow in Rabbinics and the New Testament at Tyndale House, Cambridge. He talks about the goal and content within The Jesus Scandals, the criteria of embarrassment, the punishment of crucifixion and the shame of the cross, the uniqueness of the resurrection, the betrayal by Judas, Jesus' "scandalous" teachings, the teaching about hell, the virgin birth, the cumulative power of the Gospel accounts, advice for apologists, and more. Pick up David's book The Jesus Scandals here. Book website and excerpts here at BibleScandals.com

Full interview MP3 Audio here. (30 min)

Enjoy.
Subscribe to the Apologetics 315 Interviews podcast here or in iTunes.

In this lecture, entitled External Evidences for the Truth of the Gospels, Dr. Timothy McGrew maps out the external and internal evidence bearing on the authenticity of the Gospels and explores some of the positive external evidence for their truthfulness. These include non-Christian sources and incidental historical confirmations. This is one hour of content followed by thirty minutes of Q&A. PowerPoint file is here. Talk notes PDF here. Visit the Library of Historical Apologetics.

Full MP3 Audio here. (1hr 30min)
Video on YouTube here.
Enjoy.

What sort of history are the Gospels? In this audio, biblical scholar Richard Bauckham presents this lecture on the topic of: The Gospels as Historical Biography. This talk was presented at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and video can be found here. You may also be interested in Bauckham's excellent book Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony.

Full MP3 Audio here. (70 min)

Enjoy.

Who wrote the Gospels? Are there good reasons to attribute their authorship to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? In this talk, Dr. Timothy McGrew lays out the case for the traditional authorship of the Gospels, while countering Bart Ehrman's claims that the Gospels are forgeries. This is one hour of content followed by twenty minutes of Q&A. PowerPoint file is here. Notes here! Visit the Library of Historical Apologetics.

Full MP3 Audio here. (1hr 45min)
Video on YouTube here.
Enjoy.