Chapter 11 seeks to answer the question of whether the gospel writers were present at the life of Jesus.
This may seem a strange question to ask, but one of the main challenges made of the gospels is that they were written long after the fact, perhaps in the second or third century, and thus contained assertions that could not be challenged by living eye witnesses.
To counter this claim, the author builds a compelling case for the gospels to have been written prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Indeed, he demonstrates a strong case for the gospels to have been written well before that time, most likely sometime between 50 and 62 AD. He uses the following proofs:
1) Luke fails to mention the siege or fall of Jerusalem. Neither does he mention the deaths of James, Paul or Peter in 62, 64 and 65 AD respectively.
2) The books of Luke predates Acts which ends with Paul's arrest and arrival in Rome.
3) Paul quotes from Luke in his letter to Timothy when writing "the laborer deserves his wages" (
1 Timothy 5:18,
Luke 10:7).
4) Luke repeatedly quoted Mark and Matthew.
We can conclude that Paul had access to Luke's gospel, or at least a draft of it, and by extension possibly Matthew's and Mark's as well. Since we know Paul and Luke met many of the apostles it's no stretch to imagine the apostles also had access to these manuscripts. Since we have ample evidence of Paul and the apostles warning against false gospels in the form of the Gnostic writings, we know they were actively working against such heresies. Their silence in regards of Luke, Matthew and Mark is a heavy endorsement of these writings. As such we can definitely know that the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke were read and endorsed by the apostles of Jesus as describing what they witnessed regarding the life of Jesus.