Most Bible sceptics tend to take scriptures out of context by not reading the whole chapter or section of a topic that seems contradictory to them. There is important contextual information about the gospels that can help resolve many difficulties around the differences in the accounts of the four gospels.
Point 1:
The gospels are four books written by four different people that tell us what Jesus did and said. They are:
1. Matthew, one of the 12 disciples, wrote about what he saw personally as well as information from other eyewitnesses to some accounts—for instance, the facts about Jesus as a child that he got from His mother. Also, Matthew was addressing the Jews. He presents Jesus as the fulfilment of the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament and as the true Messiah and King of the Jews. Therefore, Matthew cited prophecies from the Old Testament extensively.
2. Mark, who was also called John Mark, is traditionally identified as the youngest of all the authors and the first to write his book. Mark had also been an eyewitness to Jesus based on the church’s history; he also referred to himself in Mark 14:51, which was only mentioned in his gospel account. He spent time travelling with the apostle Paul and then joined up with the disciple Peter. Papias, who lived in the early 2nd century, wrote that Mark was “the interpreter of Peter” and that he compiled the sayings of Peter into a gospel.
Irenaeus, who lived in the late 2nd century, wrote that Mark was a follower of Peter and that he wrote down the gospel that Peter preached. Clement of Alexandria, who lived in the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries, wrote that Mark was the companion of Peter and that he wrote the Gospel of Mark at Peter’s request.
The traditional view of Mark’s authorship is based on these early Church Fathers. His account was written sometime between AD 55 and 59, between 20 and 30 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
3. Luke was a physician who wasn’t an eyewitness to Jesus but was a convert from Paul’s ministry. He wrote his gospel based on the accounts of key eyewitnesses. See how he started his account:
“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who, from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” (Luke 1:1–5 NIV)
The Church tradition also holds that Luke interviewed St. Mary, the mother of Jesus. There are a number of factors that support this view.
Luke’s Gospel contains a number of details about St. Mary’s life that are not found in the other Gospels. For example, only Luke records the Annunciation, the Visitation, and the Ode of the Theotokos. These details suggest that Luke had access to information that was not available to the other gospel writers.
This is a reminder of the importance of St. Mary in the early church. St. Mary was a key witness to the life and ministry of Jesus, and her testimony was undoubtedly valuable to the early Christians.
4. John, who was also one of the 12 disciples, wrote his gospel later than the other three. The first three books are also known as the synoptic gospels because they provide a summary of the whole life of Jesus Christ. John decided to supplement the material covered in the synoptic gospels; for instance, he did not duplicate the miracles they reported except for the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5000 men, as he wanted to record the important discussions that flowed out of it. Anything that he deemed important but was not covered in the other three books, he added to his account at the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
Point 2:
There is no evidence to suggest that the gospel writers intended their accounts to be seen as completely chronological. Luke and Mark’s accounts generally follow the same chronological order, but Matthew, who had a more structured mind, preferred to make topical groupings of events that happened at different times in the first two years of Jesus’s ministry. This is clearly seen in Matthew 8–9, where he brings together ten miracle stories and records them as one long series of miracles. However, from chapter 14, Matthew’s sequence of events agrees perfectly with Mark’s and Luke’s.
Point 3:
12 people can see the exact same occurrence and provide slightly varying accounts thereof. The message does not differ in the slightest, but different elements of the same event/speech may seem more important than others, according to each witness.
Point 4:
Concerning how the gospels were compiled and questions as to the accuracy of the accounts after several years, here’s a quote from a respected South African theologian who heads the South African Theology Seminary, Dr. Kevin Smith:
“Stories would have circulated as individual incidents, such as Jesus feeding the 5,000 or walking on water. A little later, people compiled written collections of these individual incidents from Jesus’s ministry. They probably gathered into collections of sayings, miracles, parables… Various written sources emerged over time, containing materials from Jesus’s life and ministry… When compiling the biblical gospels, the gospel writers drew on the various traditions and sources that were available.” 1
Here is a full article about why the story of Jesus didn’t change by the time the gospels were written, which you can view on our Facebook page or on our website: https://www.facebook.com/StPaulCopticApologetics/posts/pfbid0NjdrmwBDvGyvyunBbHwAJLdej5vS9ojGRKCW2wHKbEtVzo5ceq2egeh59Ej3qNLzl
For those who prefer videos, here’s the link to a video based on this article:
https://youtu.be/5Lz_Mvw5PEw?si=ogBCYF3H1ttzqaba
More points can be added to the list; however, these four covered the most questions that sceptics have presented as “proof that the gospel books within the Bible can’t be considered historically accurate due to the many differences in each account.” A ‘different’ account doesn’t indicate an ‘inaccurate’ account.
Reference:
1. Kevin G. Smith 2020: The Words and Works of Jesus. Johannesburg: South African Theological Seminary Press
