4 Portraits, One Peter - Evidence of Reliability (Part 4 of 8)

In this series on the reliability of the four gospels accounts in our New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John), we are looking at the ordinary evidence that many, if not most, Christians can see. While scholarly arguments are good, even necessary, apologetics should also show how the average Christian can see and know the gospels are reliable and true. In this series, we have surveyed four separate pieces of evidence (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), including things such as embarrassment, restraint, historical nature of the writings, and the coherence of the person of Jesus. In this article, I want to turn to the coherence of the person of Peter.

Just as the four gospels writers seem to accidentally paint the portrait of a real, unified Jesus, the same is true of other characters. The more I consider this particular line of reasoning, the more impressed I am with its ability to make the average reader see the truth of the gospel accounts. Let’s take Peter as an example. Four different writers, without ever taking time to describe the personality of Peter, produce a particular character that comes forth in the subordinate parts of the narrative. Peter is confident, optimistic, overly zealous, sudden, and impulsive. He loves Jesus deeply, but struggles with faith and fear. To read the gospels is to know Peter as a real person, unified in his character. But this knowledge does not come because the gospel authors describe him as I have above, rather these traits come forth in the incidental details of the gospels. It is worth quoting at length Harvard Law professor Simon Greenleaf on this point:

“When Jesus put any question to the apostles, it was Peter who was foremost to reply; and if they would inquire of Jesus, it was Peter who was readiest to speak. He had the impetuous courage to cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant who came to arrest his master; and the weakness to dissemble before the Jews in the matter of eating with Gentile converts. It was he who ran with John to the tomb…and with characteristic zeal rushed in. He had the desire and faith to attempt to walk on the water at the command of his Lord; but as soon as he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. He was forward to acknowledge Jesus to be the Messiah; yet having afterwards endangered his own life by wounding the servant of the High Priest, he suddenly consulted his own safety by denying the same master, for whom, but a few hours before, he had declared himself ready to die. We may safely affirm that the annals of fiction afford no example of a similar but not uncommon character, thus incidentally delineated.” (Testimony of the Four Evangelists pg. 65)

Are the gospels reliable? Once more, we have another piece of evidence that seems to say, "YES!"