Are there contradictions in the 4 gospels concerning the resurrection of Christ?
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dak
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Hmmm, interesting, since you currently stand at 536 messages it seems you may have set yourself a limit to stop at 666?
dak
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Howbeit you're pretty close either way about the nearly non-existent differences between Atheism and Satanism: in the end, both are religions and both lead to destruction.
bdavidc
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I think we need to get back to what the four Gospels actually say instead of making assumptions about what they supposedly contradict.
@Mancunian, you repeatedly claim that the resurrection accounts contradict one another, but a difference in what someone reports is not automatically a contradiction. A contradiction occurs when two statements cannot both be true in the same sense.
Matthew 28 mentions Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. Mark 16 mentions Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. Luke 24 mentions several women, including Joanna. John 20 concentrates on Mary Magdalene. Where does any of these passages say that ONLY the women named in that particular account were present? John's own account records Mary saying, "We know not where they have laid him" (John 20:2).
The same applies to the angels. Matthew and Mark describe one angelic messenger, while Luke describes two. Reporting one does not mean there was only one. We should not manufacture contradictions by adding the word "only" where Scripture never uses it.
Now, I also disagree with the suggestion that God deliberately placed contradictions in Scripture to keep people from understanding. Where does the Bible teach that God inspired false or contradictory accounts of Christ's resurrection? Second Timothy 3:16 declares, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." And Jesus said in John 17:17, "Thy word is truth."
We should not invent explanations that Scripture itself does not give. Some details of resurrection morning are not fully explained, and we should acknowledge that rather than pretend we know the exact sequence of every event.
But here is what none of the four Gospel accounts disagree about: Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, His tomb was found empty, and He rose from the dead!
And this is not something Paul treated as an optional religious belief. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14, "And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." In verse 17, he added, "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins."
Paul then declared in verse 20, "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept."
That is the heart of the gospel. First Corinthians 15:3-4 tells us that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
To those questioning the Gospel accounts, bring forward the specific passages you believe contradict each other, and let us examine them honestly, in context, one at a time. Simply repeating that the Bible contradicts itself is not proof.
And to those defending Scripture, we should be just as careful. Do not add events, invent timelines, or present possibilities as established facts. Let Scripture say what it says, and do not claim it says more.
Our responsibility is not to force the four Gospel accounts into a man-made story. It is to examine each account faithfully and allow God's Word to speak for itself.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not something Christians should be afraid to examine. It is the very foundation of the gospel we preach.
"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said." (Matthew 28:6)
@Mancunian, you repeatedly claim that the resurrection accounts contradict one another, but a difference in what someone reports is not automatically a contradiction. A contradiction occurs when two statements cannot both be true in the same sense.
Matthew 28 mentions Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. Mark 16 mentions Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. Luke 24 mentions several women, including Joanna. John 20 concentrates on Mary Magdalene. Where does any of these passages say that ONLY the women named in that particular account were present? John's own account records Mary saying, "We know not where they have laid him" (John 20:2).
The same applies to the angels. Matthew and Mark describe one angelic messenger, while Luke describes two. Reporting one does not mean there was only one. We should not manufacture contradictions by adding the word "only" where Scripture never uses it.
Now, I also disagree with the suggestion that God deliberately placed contradictions in Scripture to keep people from understanding. Where does the Bible teach that God inspired false or contradictory accounts of Christ's resurrection? Second Timothy 3:16 declares, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." And Jesus said in John 17:17, "Thy word is truth."
We should not invent explanations that Scripture itself does not give. Some details of resurrection morning are not fully explained, and we should acknowledge that rather than pretend we know the exact sequence of every event.
But here is what none of the four Gospel accounts disagree about: Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, His tomb was found empty, and He rose from the dead!
And this is not something Paul treated as an optional religious belief. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14, "And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." In verse 17, he added, "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins."
Paul then declared in verse 20, "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept."
That is the heart of the gospel. First Corinthians 15:3-4 tells us that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
To those questioning the Gospel accounts, bring forward the specific passages you believe contradict each other, and let us examine them honestly, in context, one at a time. Simply repeating that the Bible contradicts itself is not proof.
And to those defending Scripture, we should be just as careful. Do not add events, invent timelines, or present possibilities as established facts. Let Scripture say what it says, and do not claim it says more.
Our responsibility is not to force the four Gospel accounts into a man-made story. It is to examine each account faithfully and allow God's Word to speak for itself.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not something Christians should be afraid to examine. It is the very foundation of the gospel we preach.
"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said." (Matthew 28:6)
Ok let's leave the crucifixion timeline and the empty tomb for now.... We'll revisit that later.
Let's start with the genealogy of Jesus.
One is the genealogy of Joseph descended from Solomon. The other is the genealogy of Mary descended from Nathan. They both say "Joseph" because the lineage of the wife always carried the name of the husband.
*there is a very interesting fact about these genealogies that I will share if you are interested.
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