The two principal forms of truthful report considered are mass transmission and the authenticated report of an established messenger. The first may secure provenance or occurrence; the second grounds the truth of content through proof of the messenger's commission.
The miracle is central to the inference of truthfulness, but both its occurrence and its confirming significance require evidence. A particular attributed statement may also need its own transmission proof. Necessary and inferential describe routes to knowledge, not necessarily weaker versus stronger certainty.
These distinctions place isolated reports, corroboration, consensus and related cases within a coherent epistemic framework, preparing for the separate discussion of reason.