Gospel accuracy

[mwjohnsen]

Thank the good Lord for you!
My question is about the gospels. I know they were written to address the various needs of particular faith communities and written decades after the Resurrection, so how is it that they include material of which the authors presumably had no direct knowledge. Examples of this would include the interchange between Jesus and Pilate in the Praetorium, or the dreams of Joseph mentioned in Matthew.
Thank you for any insights you might provide.

 

[buffalo]

The Gospels are Historical

 

[COPLAND_3]

The first and foremost answer would be that they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. What details the Gospel writers did not witness was revealed to them by the Holy Spirit.

Plus you need to remember that Jesus appeared to many people including the Apostles over the 40 days after the resurrection, which gave Him enough time to tell them details such as the one that you just asked about.

 

[teachccd]

The evangelists could never write anything that was not revealed truth concerning our salvation. The author’s were inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore could not err in the truth of the Gospels. However, in those moments where there were no eyewitnesses perhaps conversations with Jesus took place after the resurrection concerning those moments with the intent that they would be later preached and then written. Another possiblity might be that since the Apostles were so close to Jesus they might have anticipated what Jesus would say under certain circumstances and with guidance from the Holy Spirit write down these revealed truths. Needless to say that the Gospels are free from error and are, in their entirety, the truth needed for our salvation. While this remains a mystery and probably speculated by many scholars, we can rest assured that the Word of God is just that and its inspiration is undeniable…teachccd

 

[buffalo]

Don’t forget about Pentecost.

 

[patg]

Thank the good Lord for you!
My question is about the gospels. I know they were written to address the various needs of particular faith communities and written decades after the Resurrection, so how is it that they include material of which the authors presumably had no direct knowledge. Examples of this would include the interchange between Jesus and Pilate in the Praetorium, or the dreams of Joseph mentioned in Matthew.
Thank you for any insights you might provide.

If you are really concerned about what the Church says about gospel accuracy, you might want to read a *real *Church document on this subject (available online):

Instruction Concerning the Historical Truth of the Gospels

by the Pontifical Biblical Commission and Pope Paul VI.