Various Gospels stories sound as if they are coming off the lips of a witness who is recounting them.1
• Gospels spew memorable/vivid details.
• Gospels spew gratuitous incidentals.
• Gospels spew contents Christians didn't care about.
Within any given Gospel, a careful detective can stumble across several felicitous interlockings between the assumptions and logical scenarios in either the same Gospel or across Gospels. They fit well together, and often make sense in light of each other.
• Gospel details stumble upon a coherent event chronology.
• Gospel characters behaviorally fit their character profile.
• Gospels indirectly interconnect in undesigned ways.
• Gospel Jesus-sayings cohere across sources.
Incidental details in the Gospels are fine-tuned to local knowledge and experience in AD 30 Palestine.
• Bethsaida was the pre-AD 30 name of an obscure city.
• Gospel’s Jesus-rhetoric super-fit AD 30-70 Palestine rabbis.
• Pharisee vs. Jesus debates fit AD 30-70 rabbi hot-topics.
• Gospel assumptions oft fit AD 30 Palestine.
• Gospels rightly capture Pharisaic law meticulousness.
• Parable with Pharisees and Tax collectors fit the time-place.
• Gospel depiction of Roman relations super-fit AD 30-70 Palestine.
• Gospels ruler-titles super-fit AD 30-70 Palestine.
• E.g. The passion content super-fits AD 30-70 Palestine
The Gospels burst with content which is demonstrably non-legendary (i.e. honest non-fiction).
• Gospel stories spew Un-churchy content.
• Gospel stories spew church-hated content.
• Gospels spew liar self-exposing content.
• Gospels spew overtly “doomed-to-fail” content.
• Gospels spew details fine-tuned to Palestine.
• Gospels spew witness-based content.
• In general, Gospel stories are not lies/legends.
Most of the Jesus-biographical content reported in the gospels faithfully falls within what the relevant witnesses were themselves saying and approving.
• Gospel authors got it all witness-approved or close.1
• Gospels spew witness-based stories.
• Gospel stories are not lies/legends.
• Gospel stories are a subset of 1st church’s.
• The Gospels are historically reliable.
• Pop Jesus-bio was a subset of what witnesses said.