For anyone who wonders how much can we really know about the historical Jesus, the answer hinges on a crucial question: can we trust the Synoptic Gospels as historical sources?

Scholar Craig S. Keener explores this question using methods accessible to believers and non-believers alike. Setting aside theological questions about divine inspiration, he asks: How do historians evaluate ancient texts’ reliability? What did first-century readers expect from contemporary biographies? And what could Jesus’s followers still remember about him when Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written?

Drawing on cutting-edge research in genre and memory studies, Keener demonstrates that the Synoptic Gospels function as ancient biographies—accounts deeply concerned with preserving historical information about a real person. By understanding how ancient biography worked and how early communities transmitted memories, readers gain powerful tools for assessing the reliability of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Keener previously explored this subject matter in Christobiography, an in-depth, fully documented study for advanced scholars. Now in The Gospels Are Reliable History, he makes this vital research readable and engaging for seminary students, pastors, and general readers. Here, readers will discover why the Synoptic Gospels deserve serious consideration as historical sources—and what that means for learning about Jesus.