Q049
Are any of the books of the New Testament historical?
The four Gospels are historically reliable accounts of the life of Jesus Christ, as St Luke himself declares of his method: “having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account… that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed” (Luk 1:1–4). In addition, the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles holds a unique place as the historical book of the New Testament: written by St Luke, the companion of St Paul (note the ‘we’ passages, e.g. Act 16:10), it is the continuation and second part of his Gospel (Act 1:1).