In this video, Richard Bauckham considers whether we can know who were the main witnesses behind the Gospel accounts of Jesus's life.

Were the Gospel accounts based on the testimony of eyewitnesses who were still alive when the Gospels were written?

The way the Gospel accounts use correct place names shows that they were based on reliable information from first hand testimony.

Were the Gospel accounts corrupted as they were passed on? Was there any way to prevent this happening?

Can we be confident that we have the original text of the Gospels? How does it compare to other ancient documents?

How many hand-written copies of the Gospel accounts are there? What does this reveal about possible mistakes?

Are the Gospels full of contradictions? What would have been seen as normal standards of trustworthy historical writing at that time?

Did the early Christian communities apply Jesus's teaching to the problems they faced or alter the facts to fit their agendas?

The way the Gospel accounts use the right names for people shows that they were about real people, based on reliable information.