For each of the Triumphs and Tragedies episodes I’ll be blogging here on the Church History section of the blog just for Donor Subscribers.

If you are a Donor Subscriber I hope you appreciate this extra input and that you will join in a conversation in the comments box with others to give the podcast more value for everyone. The podcast, by its very nature, will be an overview, and this section of the blog will allow a bit more input.

In the first episode I discussed the reason for studying history as a Catholic and outlined how we know the gospels are historical. There are some other blog posts you might want to jump over to in my Patheos archive. Are the Gospels Historical? talks about what kind of documents the gospels are and what the authors were attempting to do.

How Do We Know the Gospels are Historical? discusses the question of myth and truth in the gospels. In what way are the gospels historical and how much are they stories to teach the truth about Jesus.  Are the Gospels a Myth? discusses this question further and looks at what myth is and why it is important to consider when looking at the gospels.

The Archeological Evidence of Jesus of the Gospels gives links to some of the fantastic recent discoveries that back up the historical strength of the gospels. What Do Historians Think of the Gospels gives evidence from professional historians about the reliability of the gospels.

For the history series I’ll be relying on a couple of classic texts: A Concise History of the Catholic Church by Bokenkotter; The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity by McManners and Saints and Sinners by Eamon Duffy also James Hitchcock’s History of the Catholic Church

For this particular episode, here is some further reading: Brant Pitre’s The Case for Jesus, Robert Hutchinson Searching for Jesus; Craig Blomberg The Historical Reliability of the Gospels Richard Bauckham Jesus and the Eyewitnesses.

These are just a few of the up to date books that are out there. What is exciting is that we know more about Jesus and the times of the New Testament than every before. Due to advanced discoveries in archeology, forensics, dating techniques, linguistic and textual scholarship there is an ever increasing amount of new information which corroborates and connects and supports the historical veracity of the gospels.

I encourage you to read more and study this fascinating area and therefore deepen your faith and knowledge.

I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and will join in with discussion here in the comments box. Feel free to ask questions and although I am not the expert, I will do my best to either answer or point you in the right direction.