The usages of the Gospels also correspond closely to the variety of ways in which persons bearing the same very popular names could be distinguished in Palestinian Jewish usage. This correspondance is very unlikely to have resulted from addition of names to the traditions, even within Palestinian Jewish Christianity, and could not possibly have resulted from the addition of names to the traditions outside Jewish Palestine, since the pattern of Jewish name usage in the Diaspora was very different. The evidence in this chapter shows that the relative frequency of the various personal names in the Gospels corresponds well to the relative frequency in the full database of three thousand individual instances of names in the Palestinian Jewish sources of the period. Onomastics (the study of names) is a significant resource for assessing the origins of Gospel traditions.

Here’s the conclusion of chapter 4, “Palestinian Jewish Names” (84): It’s amusing to learn that, just as the popularity of names increases now if a royal has one, so that was true back in first-century Palestine (74). This is good evidence of historical authenticity, and in particular that the Gospel’s authors wrote at the time and place that they said they did. One of the book’s early and interesting points is that the names we find in the Gospels are representative of what historians can now document - that is, that the names that are common in the Gospels were historically common at that time, and the names that are less commonly found in the Gospels were less common then. I believe it could not have been written without the prayers of many who supported me during that period - to use Paul’s phrase (2 Cor 12:9) - God’s grace working as power in weakness.”

I also like this, from the preface to the first edition: “Much of this book was written during a gradual recuperation from prolonged illness. At the beginning of the second edition, I rather like the fact that the author says (xviii) that he’s made no changes, just additions, since he hasn’t changed his mind about anything (see also 542-47). When you read this book, it’s worthwhile to get the second edition, since it includes three additional chapters at the end: “Eyewitnesses in Mark (Revisited),” “Who Was the Beloved Disciple? (Continued),” and “The End of Form Criticism (Confirmed).” But note that apparently the entire first edition is available online here.

And I heartily recommend it, though it’s very long and has its dense spots. The key theme - as the title suggests - is that the Gospels are based on eyewitness testimony. Wright (“a remarkable piece of detective work”). This is a prize-winning book, including an award from Christianity Today, and I read it because of endorsements by Lee Strobel (in The Case for the Real Jesus) and N.T.

Jesus and the eyewitnesses