Historians employ a number of common-sense principles in assessing the strength of a testimony. While I offer Biblical examples below, these are also common sense examples that still stand to this day.
Here are five of those principles:
[1] Testimony attested to by multiple independent witnesses is usually considered stronger than the testimony of one witness.
This first one is not only common sense but it's also a Biblical principle:
[Num 35:30 LSB] ‘If anyone strikes down a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the mouth of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
[Deu 17:6 LSB] “On the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the mouth of one witness.
[Deu 19:15 LSB] “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; at the mouth of two or three witnesses a matter shall be established.
[Mat 18:16 LSB] “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.
[Joh 8:17 LSB] “Even in your law it has been written that the witness of two men is true.
[2Co 13:1 LSB] This is the third time I am coming to you. BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY MATTER SHALL BE CONFIRMED.
[1Ti 5:19 LSB] Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.
[Heb 10:28 LSB] Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy by the mouth of two or three witnesses.
[2] Affirmation by a neutral or hostile source is usually considered stronger than affirmation from a friendly source, since bias in favor of the person or position is absent.
We'll get to some of these in more detail later.
The empty tomb and the guards [Matthew 28:11–15] The chief priests and elders (clearly hostile) learn from the Roman guards that the tomb is empty. Instead of denying the emptiness, they pay the guards to say the disciples stole the body while they slept. Their cover story presupposes that the tomb was in fact empty and that they could not simply dismiss the report.
Pilate’s repeated declarations of innocence [Luke 23:4, 14, 22; John 18:38; 19:4, 6]The Roman governor, under pressure from the Jewish leaders and with no reason to favor Yeshua, publicly states multiple times that he finds no guilt in Him. A hostile or at best neutral official affirms what the disciples claimed about Yeshua’s innocence.
After the healing of the lame man, the hostile council says: "What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it."
They acknowledge the miracle even while trying to suppress the message.
The Roman centurion at the cross [Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39]
A Gentile soldier overseeing the execution declares, "Truly this was the Son of God!" (or "a righteous man", Luke 23:47). As a representative of the occupying power with no prior loyalty to Yeshua, his confession is striking.
A Gentile soldier overseeing the execution declares, "Truly this was the Son of God!" (or "a righteous man", Luke 23:47). As a representative of the occupying power with no prior loyalty to Yeshua, his confession is striking.
Gamaliel’s counsel [Acts 5:34–39]
A highly respected Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin advises the council not to harm the apostles, noting that if the movement is merely human it will fail, but if it is of God they will not be able to stop it. His cautious, non-Christian stance still treats the claims and results as potentially genuine.
[3] People usually don't make up details regarding a story that would tend to weaken their position.
A classic biblical example is the Gospels’ report that women were the first witnesses of the empty tomb and the risen Yeshua.
Why this fits the principle?
In first-century Jewish culture, a woman’s testimony was generally regarded as less weighty in legal or public matters. If the early Christians had invented the resurrection accounts, the natural move would have been to place reliable male disciples (Peter, John, or others) as the first witnesses. That would have strengthened the story in the eyes of their audience.
Instead, all four Gospels record that women (Mary Magdalene and others) arrived first, found the tomb empty, and were the first to encounter the risen Messiah (Matthew 28:1–10; Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:1–11; John 20:1–18). Luke even notes that the apostles initially treated the women’s report as nonsense (Luke 24:11). These details were potentially weakening for the claim, yet the writers included them.
[4] Eyewitness testimony is usually considered stronger than testimony heard from a second- or thirdhand source.
[Luk 1:1-4 LSB] Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, [2] just as those, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, handed them down to us, [3] it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in orderly sequence, most excellent Theophilus, [4] so that you may know the certainty about the things you have been taught.
When choosing a replacement for Judas:
[Act 1:21-22 LSB] “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— [22] beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
Peter explicitly contrasts his testimony with secondhand or invented accounts:
[2Pe 1:16 LSB] For we did not make known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, following cleverly devised myths, but being eyewitnesses of His majesty.
The writer anchors the message in direct sensory experience, not in stories received from others:
[1Jn 1:1-4 LSB] What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— [2] and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— [3] what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Yeshua Christ. [4] And these things we are writing, so that our joy may be made complete.
[5] An early testimony from very close to the event in question is usually considered more reliable than one received years after the event.
Paul states that he received this material and then delivered it to the Corinthians (c. AD 55). The language of "received" and "delivered" indicates fixed tradition passed on to him. Most scholars place the origin of this formula in the early 30s AD—within a few years of the crucifixion and resurrection—based on Paul’s own timeline (his conversion and early visit to Jerusalem, Galatians 1:18–19).
This is testimony originating very close to the events, not a late development decades afterward. The same early timeframe is reflected in Paul’s conversion and immediate preaching of the risen Messiah (Acts 9; Galatians 1), which occurred only a short time after the events themselves.
Early, near-contemporary testimony of this kind is generally regarded as more reliable than accounts that first appear many years or generations later.
Paul states that he received this material and then delivered it to the Corinthians (c. AD 55). The language of "received" and "delivered" indicates fixed tradition passed on to him. Most scholars place the origin of this formula in the early 30s AD—within a few years of the crucifixion and resurrection—based on Paul’s own timeline (his conversion and early visit to Jerusalem, Galatians 1:18–19).
This is testimony originating very close to the events, not a late development decades afterward. The same early timeframe is reflected in Paul’s conversion and immediate preaching of the risen Messiah (Acts 9; Galatians 1), which occurred only a short time after the events themselves.
Early, near-contemporary testimony of this kind is generally regarded as more reliable than accounts that first appear many years or generations later.
[1Co 15:1-9 LSB] Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed as good news to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, [2] by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I proclaimed to you as good news, unless you believed for nothing. [3] For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, [4] and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, [5] and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. [6] After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. [7] After that, He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, [8] and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. [9] For I am the least of the apostles, and not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
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