The birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus are the central events of the New Testament. Many Christians hold that if Jesus wasn't born of a virgin, if he wasn't crucified, and, most importantly, if he didn't rise from the dead, then nothing else in the Bible really matters. The Gospel writers provide detailed accounts of what Jesus said and what he did. But can their accounts be trusted? After all, they were his friends and followers. What are the earliest manuscripts? This chapter looks at what some people had to say about the details of the New Testament.