Trustworthy

A Book Review

The following is a book review that I wrote recently for the Presbyterion: Covenant Seminary Review, Vol. 25, Spring 2025 edition. I’m posting this here for a few reasons: 1) While this is not my first time to be published, this is my first time being published in the field of theology and apologetics. 2) I’m new to Substack and I’ve been antsy about wanting to post something, at all, but especially something original. I’m not sure if a book review can be considered completely original, but it was good enough to be published in a journal so it should be good enough here. 3) I really did enjoy Trustworthy as a book, and I hope my review encourages you to read it as well.

Trustworthy: Thirteen Arguments for the Reliability of the New Testament, by Benjamin C. F. Shaw. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2024. Pp. 140. ISBN 978-1514007587.

Many use apologetic books as resource materials for discussions or for academic papers. The beautiful thing about apologetics books is that they are great for reference material, and these books should lead people into conversations about their contents. Benjamin Shaw’s Trustworthy: Thirteen Arguments for the Reliability of the New Testament is such a book that will inspire Christians to speak more and speak confidently about the reliability and trustworthiness of the New Testament. Trustworthy is readable for both the laity and for scholars. It will be beneficial for any Christian wanting to get his or her feet wet in the waters of New Testament apologetics. And it can also be a good book for non-Christians who are curious about the case for the New Testament and Christianity.

Shaw’s purpose is to introduce the reader to the main arguments in favor of the reliability of the New Testament (NT). Shaw makes thirteen such arguments, using the illustration of Google maps to acclimate his readers to the varying perspectives that each argument gives for the NT’s reliability. The arguments can be categorized based on the type of perspective that they provide for such reliability. Some arguments look at reliability from a “zoomed out” perspective while others take a more “zoomed in” perspective. These different angles help us to assess both the general reliability of the NT (zoomed out) and the reliability of specific events and figures that occur within the NT (zoomed in). Shaw also offers an argument from the “map-holder’s” perspective. He builds the basis of each argument by providing insights from both Christian sources as well as skeptic, agnostic, and atheistic sources. He also responds to arguments that have been used to oppose the reliability of the NT.

Shaw’s first argument focuses on the text of the NT, showing that Christians can have confidence that the words in the NT are the ones the original authors wrote. The second argument focuses on the genres and the audience expectations of the NT writings. The genres of the NT should inform Christians not only about how the original audience would have understood these texts, but also about how believers today should understand them. Next, Shaw focuses on the dating of the NT, demonstrating that the generally accepted date range for the books of the NT canon falls well within the plausible timeframe for reliable ancient texts. Both Christian and non-Christian scholars agree that the New Testament writings are the most reliable Christian writings of the first century.

Fourth, Shaw argues the authorship of the various NT writings. One of the most interesting aspects of Shaw’s clarification about the authorship of the Gospels, noting that the names currently associated with each Gospel account have been the same names that have always been associated with them since they began circulating.

The fifth argument Shaw provides regards creedal traditions. This does not refer to the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed but instead refers to the creeds recorded within the NT. Creeds were important for first century Christian because the illiteracy rate was so high, necessitating some form of easily memorable and easily repeatable creedal summaries. Combined with the widely accepted dating of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (in the 50s AD) it can be reasoned that these creeds originated before the letter was written. This gives modern Christians and skeptics alike a glimpse into what the first Christians truly believed – thus also showing that the content of Christianity and the NT have not been changed over the centuries.

The sixth argument goes over how the NT meets the criteria that are used to determine the historical reliability of any ancient text. Seventh in Shaw’s lineup is an argument known as “undesigned coincidences,” that is, when two texts or accounts corroborate each other unintentionally. The next argument has to do with archaeological evidence. Shaw provides various examples of archaeological discoveries that confirm NT accounts of events, persons, and customs. The ninth argument focuses on evidence from non-Christian sources, which include Josephus, Tacitus, and Pliny the Younger. All three of these non-Christian sources confirm basic New Testament teachings about what Jesus did, the origins of the Christian movement, and descriptions of early Christian worship.

The tenth argument focuses on Christian sources that are not found in the canon of the NT, such as the letters to Corinth from Clement of Rome, the letters of Ignatius of Antioch, and letters from Polycarp of Smyrna. The next argument looks at the criteria the early church used to discern which books were inspired by the Holy Spirit and which were not, and thus which books should or should not be admitted into the canon of Scripture. Shaw gives some insight into the texts that were rejected as noncanonical during this argument as well.

The twelfth argument for the reliability of the NT focuses on the spiritual and life-transforming power of its message. Shaw does not argue that just because a book has an impact on an individual’s life or on society the book then must be trustworthy or true. Rather, his argument is about the consistency of effect that the NT has had on Christians directly and on nonbelievers indirectly.

The final argument, known as the “minimal facts approach,” which was developed by Shaw’s mentor and the author of the foreword to this book, Dr. Gary Habermas. The minimal facts approach uses the historicity of key events surrounding the message of the gospel, which has major implications for the reliability of the NT.

While many skeptics may believe Christians are uninformed and ignorant about historical matters, Trustworthy shows that those skeptics are likely ignorant themselves of the strong case for the reliability of the NT. The number of skeptics quoted as supporting the NT’s case is encouraging, but they seem to lack the God-given faith to believe the beautiful message of the Gospel. While ours is a blind faith, it is an informed blind faith. That is, our faith is blind in that we cannot comprehend God in His fullness, nor can we grasp how He is working out His plan, but we can always trust that He is good. It is important and right for us to attempt to understand as much as we can this side of heaven, but we also must remain humble about the degree to which we lack knowledge. Our faith is informed in that we believe so that we can better understand. Trustworthy is a book that will inform the faith of its reader, and by God’s grace, help those who wrestle with unbelief.

Elvis DeFreese

PhD Apologetics Student, Doctoral Fellow, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

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