Why You Can Trust the Biblical Gospels

What Can We Conclude?

The four canonical Gospels-Matthew, Mark, Luke and John-were  universally accepted among Christians at least as early as the mid-second century.  Tatians' widely  used Diatessaron (a Greek term meaning 160 and 175 C.E., was based on only the four canonical Gospels and none of the Gnostic "gospels."   Also noteworthy   is an observation by Irenaeus of the late second century C.E.  He asserted that there must be four Gospels, as there are four quarters of the globe and four cardinal winds.  Though his comparisons may be questioned, his point supports the idea that there were only four canonical Gospels at the time.

What do all these facts show?  That the Christian Greek Scriptures-including the four Gospels-as we have them today have remained largely unchanged from the second century onward.  There is no strong reason to believe that there was a conspiracy in the fourth century to change or suppress any part of the divinely inspired Scriptures.  On the contrary, Bible scholar Bruce Metzger wrote:  "By the close of the second century, . . . a high degree of unanimity concerning the greater part of the New Testament was attained among the very diverse and scattered congregations of believers not only throughout the Mediterranean world but also over an area extending from Britain to Mesopotamia."

The apostles Paul and Peter were champions of the truth of God's Word.  Both of them strongly warned fellow Christians against accepting or believing anything other than what they had been taught.  For example, to Timothy, Paul wrote:  "O Timothy, guard what is laid up in trust with you, turning away from the empty speeches that violate what is holy and from  the contradictions of the falsely called 'knowledge.'  For making a show of such knowledge some have deviated from the faith."  Peter testified:  "No, it was not by following artfully contrived false stories that we acquainted you with the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but it was by having become eyewitnesses of his magnificence." -1 Timothy 6:20, 21; 2 Peter 1:16.

Centuries ago, the prophet Isaiah was inspired to say:  "The green grass has dried up, the blossom has withered; but as for the word of our God, it will last to time indefinite."  (Isaiah 40:8) We can have the same confidence that the One who inspired the Holy Scriptures also preserved them through the ages so that "all sorts of men should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth." -1 Timothy 2:4.

Next time:Should You Be Honest at All Times?

Watchtower, 2010