None of the Gospels were written by eye-witnesses. They’re all written several decades later. Even the earliest is probably about four decades later. So you’ve got to reckon with at least forty years – if not fifty, sixty years – of changing traditions, speculation on the traditions, traditions being changed so that they speak more to particular communities. So when you actually look at them, there’s really quite a lot of inconsistencies between them. Dr Helen Bond, Edinburgh University
Luke and Matthew probably wrote some time in the eighties or nineties of the first century. We’ve actually no idea who Luke is. Most people nowadays don’t think he was an eye-witness of events. Professor Helen Bond
Matthew for example wants Jesus to be a second Moses. And so his birth story is very much modelled on the birth of Moses. Professor Helen Bond
There can be no doubt that Jesus was executed by Rome. Professor Helen Bond
I think Pilate and Jesus would have had very little to say to each other. Professor Helen Bond
There’s absolutely no evidence of any kind of Passover amnesty in the first century. Beside that it seems completely crazy that a Roman governor would give the people the choice of a prisoner at this most volatile of times. Professor Helen Bond
If you just put the Gospels in a kind of chronological order it’s actually layered. You can just peel off the layers like a sort of forensic investigation. At the bottom you’ve got that core story of Mark – Mark was our earliest Gospel ... Matthew who writes next has ratcheted it up considerably – Pilate washes his hands; his wife has a dream; Jesus is a righteous man; don’t bother him. And the Jews take on the guilt. And then you go to Luke – it’s the Mark story but it’s amped up, and it’s getting louder and louder. And the basic idea is Pilate was just an innocent bystander, an unnecessary part of the story. And then John – he has them almost having a philosophical discussion. We are removing completely I think out of the realm of just straight history. Professor James Tabor
Philo was born before the beginning of the Christian era, and lived until long after the reputed death of Christ. He wrote an account of the Jews covering the entire time that Christ is said to have existed on earth. He was living in or near Jerusalem when Christ's miraculous birth and the Herodian massacre occurred. He was there when Christ made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He was there when the crucifixion with its attendant earthquake, supernatural darkness and resurrection of the dead took place – when Christ himself rose from the dead and in the presence of many witnesses ascended into heaven. These marvellous events which must have filled the world with amazement, had they really occurred, were unknown to him. It was Philo who developed the doctrine of the Logos, or Word, and although this Word incarnate dwelt in that very land and in the presence of multitudes revealed himself and demonstrated his divine powers, Philo saw it not. John Remsburg, The Christ 1909
I just thought the idea of an all-powerful all-loving creator of the universe was just an absurd idea. Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ, 2007; viz also book
The Gnostic Gospels are a collection of religious writings from the second and third centuries. ibid.
The New Testament Gospels record at least forty separate miracles performed by Jesus. ibid.
New Testament scholarship has shown how fragmentary and ambiguous are the data available to us as we try to look back across nineteen and a half centuries, and at the same time how large and variable is the contribution of the imagination to our ‘pictures’ of Jesus. John Hick editor, The Myth of God Incarnate, letter from seven British theologians
The metaphysical uniqueness of Jesus, as traditionally taught, has always been taken to have carried with it a unique moral perfection. ibid.
It is impossible to justify any such claim on purely historical grounds, however wide the net for evidence is cast. So far as the Gospels are concerned, the material in them is too scanty, and too largely selected and organized with reference to other considerations, to provide the necessary evidence. ibid.
Another key part of the Christmas narrative – the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem – is found in only one gospel. Mystery Files: Jesus, History 2011
Matthew does not cite any journey but agrees that Jesus is born in Bethlehem. It’s in Luke that the familiar story of arriving in Bethlehem where there is no room in the inn is found. ibid.
One festival of light is simply transformed into another ... But if the month of Jesus’ birth is debatable so is the year. ibid.
According to Luke, John the Baptist surfaces in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius. The year 29 C.E. So if Jesus is 30 in 29 C.E. this suggests the year 1 B.C.E. as a possible birth date. Jesus would need to be at least three years older to live in the time of Herod the Great, or seven years younger to be subjected to the Roman census. Therefore, at least a decade’s discrepancy is evident within Luke’s conflicting version of events. ibid.
Neither Gospel mentions anyone other than Mary present at the birth of Jesus. ibid.
We have Roman census regulations for Egypt for example and they all say what you’d expect – everybody stay home. No moving around. Look at the economic disruption – it’s totally impossible. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, Dominican priest & scholar
I do not think the Nativity story in either Matthew or Luke is historical ... Parable rather than history. John Dominic Crossan, Biblical historian
Neither of these stories is historically accurate and neither of them intends to be historically accurate. Neither of them knows exactly what happened. John Dominic Crossan
Shepherds even in Bethlehem did not keep their sheep in the fields at night in winter but in various shelters. Professor Geza Vernes, author The Nativity History and Legend
Several of these lost Gospels have actually been found. And they paint an unexpected portrait of Christ. The writers of these ancient manuscripts were unknown scribes working in the three centuries after Jesus’ death. Possibly looking to promote their own versions of Christianity. Their Gospels were deemed heretical but someone thought they were worth saving. Jesus: The Secret Life
In the second and third centuries there were many different interpretations of the story of Jesus of Nazareth. These alternative stories whether fact or fiction may have been ways to come to terms with Jesus Christ. The man, the prophet, the son of God. Opinions ranged from the traditional to the extreme. ibid.
Another of the lost texts is the Gospel according to Judas, the betrayer of Christ. In this stunning document Judas is portrayed as a hero for handing Christ over to the authorities. This Gospel says Jesus told Judas to do it, and that Judas would be favoured for doing the deed. ibid.
One apocryphal text doesn’t stop at Jesus’ childhood; it actually attempts to fill in the blanks of his life between the ages of twelve and thirty. This unusual modern account tells a truly incredible tale: a tale of Jesus’ journey out of Galilee and into the Himalayas. ibid.
At Christ’s side during much of his final years is Mary Magdalene. And her story has recently sparked heated controversy. The Bible mentions Mary Magdalene eighteen times, and she’s clearly one of the Holy Book’s most important and provocative characters. And two of the alternative Gospels – The Gospel of Mary found in the late nineteenth century in a monk’s tomb, and the Gospel of Philip, which is part of the Nag Hammadi library – may hint at a surprising intimate relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. ibid.
The Gospels are not historical fact. Extraordinarily, there is no hard contemporary evidence that any of the events in the Gospel stories actually happened. There isn’t even proof that Jesus existed. Who Killed Jesus?
‘Let his blood be upon us and on our children’: the words have resounded through the ages and shaped Jewish/Christian relations for the last two-thousand years. ibid.
As I searched through Paul’s letters I discovered he makes no mention of Jesus’ parents, his place of Birth, where he lived or even when he lived ... No mention of his trial before Pilate, nor of Jerusalem as his place of execution, not a word either of John the Baptist or Judas Iscariot or Peter’s denial of his master. Professor George A Wells, London University
There is one name synonymous with his death: Judas. The motive: thirty pieces of silver. But did Judas really betray his master for money? And did he even exist? When the Gospels are scrutinised other suspects with credible motives emerge from the shadows. Who Framed Jesus? Discovery 2010
Was Jesus himself controlling events? Was the triumphant entry a deliberate act of provocation to the religious authorities and the Roman soldiers? If it happened, the temple incident could have been a deliberate attempt to antagonise as it were his public confrontations with the Pharisees. Could Jesus have been deliberately avoiding the authorities, preserving himself for one last spectacular act of insurrection at the end of Passover week? ibid.