Defending John's Reliability Anonymous 11th Grade

The Gospel of John, of all four of the gospels, stands alone in some regards. “Of the four New Testament Gospels, the one that least resembles the other three is the Gospel of John. While some of those most skeptical Gospel scholars dismiss all four as fairly untrustworthy, many are willing to give significant credence to the Synoptics (Matthew, Mark and Luke) but still doubt that more than a small handful of details of the fourth Gospel can be deemed historical” (Blomberg 1). Because of the differences in nature, writing and audience, John’s account is naturally attacked and deemed the least credible. However, bearing this in mind, the gospel of John is not any less credible than the others for three main reasons. John’s account is true because of its alignment with historical events and artifacts, its confirmation of accuracy by early scholars and its affirmation of Christ’s sovereignty.

The first main reason for John’s affirmation of accuracy is its historical consistency. “The Bodmer Papyri contains most of John, and dates to A.D. 200. Another is the Rylands Papyri that was found in Egypt that contains a fragment of John, and dates to A.D. 130. From this fragment we can conclude that John was completed well before A.D. 130...