Contradictions in the Gospel Accounts
If you have been keeping up with us to this point, I thank you! I am a major bible and theology nerd so if you have taken the time to read something I find deeply important, I can’t thank you enough. I hope you have been encouraged and challenged with what we’ve been working through.
This is our final part of tackling supposed contradictions in the pages of Scripture. As you know, we have primarily been dealing with contradictions pointed out in the YouTube video titled, “Quiz Show (Bible Contradictions).” Which I will link here for your convenience if you have not seen it yet. Also, you may want to start at part one of this series, if you haven’t read it yet.
All posts in this series:
This fourth and final part of our venture deals with contradictions in the narratives of the Gospel accounts. However, I’m going to deal with this one a bit different than the others. Simply because the author of the video already knows what I am going to say in response. First, I’ll list out the contradictions that they pose in the video.
When is a thief two thieves? (Did both of the men on the cross revile Jesus or did only one of them?)
a.) Answers: One of them and both of them
b.) Luke 23:39-42
c.) Mark 15:32
d.) Matt 27:44
How many blind men did Jesus heal near Jericho?
a.) Answers: One man and two men
b.) Mark 10:46, Matt 20:30, Luke 18:35
The account of the women seeing the empty tomb.
a.) Matt 28:2
b.) Mark 16:5
c.) Luke 24:4
d.) John 20:12
Did the curtain in the temple rip before or after Jesus died?
a.) Answers: Both
b.) Mark 15:37-38, Luke 23:45-46, Matt 27:50-21
Who put the purple robe on Jesus? Herod’s soldiers or Pilate’s soldiers?
a.) Answers: Both
b.) Luke 23:11, Matt 27:27-28, John 19:1-2
Did Jesus curse the fig tree before or after driving the merchants form the temple?
a.) Answers: Both
b.) Matt 21:12, 17-19, Mark 11:12-17
The birth of Jesus (during the reign of Herod or the Governorship of Quirinias)?
a.) Answers: Both
b.) Luke 2:1, Matt 2:1, they also interestingly cite “Wikipedia”
When the women arrived at Jesus’ tomb, was it open or closed?
a.) Answers: Both
b.) Matt 28:2, Luke 24:2
Did Judas die by hanging himself, or by falling in a field?
a.) Answers: Both
b.) Acts 1:18
c.) Matt 27:5
I won’t list out every verse that they reference, but you are certainly welcome to read through them yourselves. Even without reading the references, the point the video is making is quite clear.
There are very different accounts depending on which Gospel account you are reading. And the simple answer is, yes, there are different accounts depending on which gospel you are reading.
That is correct.
I said I was going to respond to this video differently because the author himself notes what a Bible believing Christian’s response would be. Let me show you what he says:
I know, and actually find to have some weight, the New Testament apologists' conundrum - namely that if all of the gospel accounts really did match exactly, then critics of the bible would instantly accuse the authors of having conspired together. So, if there are inconsistencies it counts against the bible, and if there were no inconsistencies, it would still count against the bible.
Well - tough. The creator of the universe could have done a lot better. The only reasonable conclusion to come to is that the creative force that arranged the constants of the universe, gave birth to galaxy clusters, quantum physics and DNA, invented love, knowledge and truth, and is capable of any miracle he could ever come up with- had f*** all to do with this raggedy old contradictory book of bulls***.
In short, my response to these “contradictions” are that they are not contradictions. They are further proof of their reliability.
And the author admits that there is some weight to the explanation that if each of the gospel narratives told the exact same thing, they would be even less credible as historical documents. The author admits this, yet continues on basically saying that if God can create the entire universe, why couldn’t he have had the gospels written better? His short response is, “I get that it makes sense, but I don’t like it.”
However, his question is honestly perplexing.
Why did God choose to have the Bible written as it is? Isn’t that the question of humanity? “Why did God do it this way?”
The authors of this video are theologizing way more than I think they realize.
They are admitting the complexity of the known universe, a complexity that only makes sense with an intelligent designer, by the way. But I’ll save that for another time.
Let me just point you to a verse in this “raggedy old contradictory book” for one moment.
Look up and see! Who created these? He brings out the stars by number; he calls all of them by name. Because of his great power and strength, not one of them is missing. Jacob, why do you say, and Israel, why do you assert, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my claim is ignored by my God’? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to his understanding.
Isaiah 40:26-28
If you believe that the Bible is, indeed, a book full of contradictions, then I’ll admit that you won’t like this.
But the truth is, we don’t know why God chooses to reveal himself through written accounts composed by different people. I agree with the author of this video that if I were God, I would have certainly done things differently.
Why couldn’t He have just made a book that can’t be questioned even by the brightest of skeptics? I’m not sure we’ll ever know the answers on this side of eternity.
That being said, everyone has their own source of authority. For atheists, their source of authority is in a subjective sense of morality and meaning. But for the Christian, we have our source of authority in the Scriptures.
To help us with this topic, I’m going to use a phone-a-friend. We’re going to call my boys J.C. Ryle and Carl F.H. Henry. In his work “God, Revelation, and Authority,” Carl Henry writes,
Apart from divine revelation neither human reason nor human experience as a whole is a source of divine truth. Neither mankind nor the world is a source of the knowledge of divine realities. Human reason is an instrument for knowing the truth of God, but it is not the originating source of divine truth. The Bible acknowledges only God and God alone as the giver and source of divine revelation.
Carl Henry boldly states that there has to be a source of authority. For the creators of this video, there is no authority. If you do not believe in a higher power, there is no authority for truth, for morality, and for good and evil. In God, all of these things find their authority. If God has all authority, then who are we to question how God reveals himself to us?
J.C. Ryle expands on this thought in his essay, “Is All Scripture Inspired?” He writes on the topic of Scriptural inerrancy,
It involves the discussion of things which are miraculous, and supernatural, and above reason, and cannot be fully explained. But difficulties must not turn us away from any subject in religion. There is not a science in the world about which questions may not be asked which no one can answer. It is poor philosophy to say we will believe nothing unless we can understand everything!
Please don’t get me wrong. I believe the science helps us learn truth. However, it only helps us learn truth by helping us understand how God has created this universe.
If you are reading this right now, and you believe that the Bible is indeed just an old book full of contradictions and has no authority in your life, I hope and pray that this has helped you realize that just because people say that it is full of contradictions, does not mean it is.
If you are reading this and you have full confidence in Scripture, I hope that you have been encouraged and reminded of the authority that Scripture has in the world.
In his second letter to his protégé, Timothy, Paul writes,
All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
We may never know why God chooses to communicate with us through His Word. But because He has, spend time with Scripture! Get to know it. Fall in love with it.
In doing so, you will find full confidence in God and in the salvation found in Christ Jesus.