Book Review – Hidden in Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences In The Gospels And Acts By Lydia McGrew

A Positive Case For The New Testament…Finally!

Hidden In Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts by Lydia McGrew

Synopsis:

Hidden in Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts revives an argument for the historical reliability of the New Testament that has been largely neglected for more than a hundred years. An undesigned coincidence is an apparently casual, yet puzzle-like -fit- between two or more texts, and its best explanation is that the authors knew the truth about the events they describe or allude to. Connections of this kind among passages in the Gospels, as well as between Acts and the Pauline epistles, give us reason to believe that these documents came from honest eyewitness sources, people -in the know- about the events they relate. Supported by careful research yet accessibly written, Hidden in Plain View provides solid evidence that all Christians can use to defend the Scriptures and the truth of Christianity. (Taken from GoodReads page)

Review

If I were to describe what this book, Hidden In Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts by Lydia McGrew, does I would say that it presents the opposite type of proof that answering alleged Bible contradictions does. This is a positive case approach to the reliability of the New Testament. Lydia McGrew defines an undesigned coincidence as “a notable connection between two or more accounts or texts that doesn’t seem to have been planned by the person or people giving the accounts. Despite their apparent independence, the items fit together like pieces of a puzzle.”

This book presents a collection of these from the Gospels as well as Acts & the Epistles. The Gospel of John gets some love from a scholar finally and will be the subject of McGrew’s next book. The benefits of identifying U.C.s is that it allows one to better layout a narrative or setting or subject background, especially from a western mind or literature perspective. Wherein we want clarification and details to something so important as the life and ministry of Jesus, 1st century Jewish and Greek authors don’t really have that same desire – nor could they with the resources and technological hindrances they had compared to us today.

McGrew writes in such a way as to hold an interest but allows for skimming if one wants a general idea of what an identified UC is. However, she also provides the details for those of us to revel in such layouts. This is not an exhaustive list of UCs nor does it claim to be. The good thing about that is that McGrew writes about them in such an interesting way that it is very likely to inspire others to find more and write their own lists and/or books.

A fantastic book for those looking to add to their collection for positive proof of New Testament reliability (internally and externally).

Final Grade

A-