Anyone fabricating an account of the last week of Jesus before his death on the cross would surely have left one version, not four. But, as any police officer knows, no two eye witnesses ever give identical accounts of the same incident, and if they never contradict themselves or each other, they are probably lying. Paradoxically, the existence of four versions of the Passion adds to their value as evidence of what actually happened.

There is another reason for believing them genuine.