Christians claim that the gospels are
inerrant or without error, yet the
gospels don't agree with each other. Is
this a problem?
Let's take a look.
Anyone who has read
through the gospels knows that there are
variations, or discrepancies, in the four
accounts. The gospel writers don't all
record the exact same thing. There are
differences. For example, how many women
went to the empty tomb? It seems to
depend on which gospel you read. John
names Mary Magdalene, Matthew tells us it
was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary,
Mark says it was Mary Magdalene, Mary the
mother of James, and Salome,
whereas Luke says it was Mary Magdalene,
Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the
other women with them. So no one disputes
that there are differences in the four
gospel accounts. The question is, do these
kinds of differences call into question
the doctrine of inerrancy? Well, I
actually don't think so. There's nothing
about the differences, as far as I can
tell, that point to a genuine error or
contradiction in the text. In fact, most
of these discrepancies, or alleged
contradictions, can be easily reconciled.
There are some tough ones, sure, but none
of them are a slam-dunk contradiction.
Now, I want to say something that might
surprise you. The differences in the
gospel accounts actually strengthen my
confidence in their authenticity and
reliability. What we find in the four
Gospels is exactly what you would expect
if they are eyewitness testimony or
reporting eyewitness testimony. Eye witnesses never give the exact same account. In
fact, no two eyewitnesses will report the
same event in the same way. Well, why not?
Well, they bring their own interests, and
experiences, and perspective to the
account. This speaks to their
authenticity. If all four gospels lined
up perfectly in every detail, then we
would know that these aren't four
independent eyewitness testimonies. The
similarity would point to collaboration.
It's the differences in the gospel that
point away from collaboration and
towards corroboration. These different accounts
support each other. The differences
actually fill in missing details. So in
our example, John says that Mary
Magdalene went to the tomb, but he
alludes to other women in John 20 verse
2. Apart from John's gospel, we wouldn't
know who these women are,
but Matthew, Mark, and Luke actually fill
in the detail. This speaks to their
reliability. So it's the differences in
the four gospels that actually point to
their authenticity and reliability.
