The Corroboration Test

7. Are there other sources that corroborate with information found in the gospels?

Lee Strobel says that this argument will be further researched, but I fail to see how corroboration alone is sufficient for the majority of stories that are found in the New Testament. Take for example the story of Jesus meeting the two demonics. There are facts in this story that can be substantiated:

1. Tombs may have been found outside of a city
2. Swine were herded so that they could feed
3. Herds of swine may have been large, requiring multiple swine herders

Unfortunately there are many more claims that can not be substantiated:

1. Demons existed
2. Demons could possess people
3. Demons could communicate
4. Jesus could cast out demons

Even if you presume the current existence of these facts, there is little evidence to support that the parts of the story that attest to these facts at the time of Jesus are true, outside of the story itself. Corroboration in part does not necessitate the accuracy of the whole.

In past posts I have posited that it is the inaccurate nature of ancient documents that helps to make the corroboration of their entire contents difficult. However, for Christians ancient documents can only be judged by ancient standards, and all other standards are unfair. I did a little digging into this issue and think that there is some truth to this. It definitely deserves its own post, but you'll have to wait till the last test is responded to.