Bible Question:
Before you jump to conclusions, please do not think that I am someone in here trying to make trouble. I have serious questions regarding some of the text in the New Testament. I want and do believe in the bodily resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! But (I believe) there may be problems with the text that will cause problems when trying to evangelize the lost, unless we (we/I) am able to resolve some issues with the resurrection accounts. First: mommapbs and others wrote me the following. 2 Tim 3:16 - All Scripture is inspired by God - note the word ALL, not some. I do not see at all where this would apply to the New Testament, even though I want (and do myself) believe the new Testament is inspired by God, this verse must be applied to the "Old Testament". The New Testament was not even something the author would consider as Scripture, yet. Please re-read the Resurrection account of these four crucial witness accounts, or second hand witnesses or third and fourth hand witnesses as in case of say Luke or Mark. Matthew 28 Mark 16 Luke 24 John 20 Read the accounts and answer these questions Was Mary alone when she went to the tomb on the first trip? Were there soldiers there when she went on the first trip? Who were the people that were with her on the first trip? Are these four men all in agreement on this? How many angels did she see on this first trip? Did she see any angels at all on this first trip? Are these four men all in agreement on this? Did Mary Magdalene see the risen Christ on her first trip to and from the tomb? Are these four men all in agreement on this? In what area of Palestine did Jesus first appear to the eleven? Are these four men all in agreement on this? What about this curious statement in Luke 24:34? You have the two men from the Emmaus experience who are fuzzy witnesses at best of what they think they saw or didn't see or wasn't allowed to see by supernatural means, and now they are telling the eleven that Jesus has appeared to Simon! Can't you see Simon's look of astonishment as he says "He did? That's news to me? Or, the other 10 looking at Simon and saying "why did you keep that VERY important information from us? Why did we have to hear from these two guys with the bad eyes that you have already seen the risen Christ? And Peter is just standing there with a sheepish grin "I was going to tell you, but I wanted it to be a surprise" It's an odd statement. It doesn't belong in the story. It doesn't belong in any of the stories. There are people who will say that Luke probably never wrote that. They will say it was probably added, very clumsily of course, and more than likely to prove that Peter, the first Pope, was also the first person to see the risen Christ. Isn't that strange? Luke never mentions that the risen Christ was witnessed by Mary Magdalene. Somebody has to come in and marry all of these texts together and by doing so they are going to have to make some major jumps to declare that they are all Divinely inspired and the Word of God. I have an appointment with my minister tomorrow to discuss some of these same issues. I'm more concerned with knowing what I am talking about when evangelizing the lost at this point, than with resolving these issues for myself, but I would like to resolve them as much as possible, in any event. In Christ Schimc |
Bible Answer: Greetings Schimc! On second thought, allow me to go ahead and address your questions about the resurrection accounts. 1) Was Mary alone? I already answered this one. Not one of the Gospel accounts says that she was 'alone'. John doesn't mention anyone else, but this is not contradictory since he doesn't rule anyone else out either. 2) Were there soilder's there? Matthew mentions the soilders 'becoming like dead men', but other than that, he records no interaction between the guards and those who came to the tomb. The other three accounts do not mention them at all. So, I can't say if they were still there when Mary came or not, but nothing in any of the accounts contradicts any of the others concerning this point. This is a point that people get confused about quite frequently. There is a difference between a contradiction and differences in detail. A contradiction is A and not A at the same time, in the same manner. A contradiction is not A, and then someone else mentions A and B. While, someone else might mention A and C. 3) Who were with Mary on the first trip? Matthew mentions Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. Mark mentions Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Salome. Luke only mentions 'they' initially, but later lists Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, and 'other' women. John only mentions Mary Magdalene. The Luke verse in particular makes it quite plain that we do not have a complete list of everyone who was there, even when we put all four accounts together. But, to call this a discrepency would be absurd. It would only be a 'problem' if one said Mary was there, and another said Mary wasn't there. Or, if one said a whole group went, while another said that Mary went 'alone'. However, the word 'alone' is not in the text. 4) Are the four in agreement in the number? Not in the sense that each one felt compelled to list every single individual, but they are in agreement in the sense that not one account contradicts another one. 5) How many angels did she see on the first trip? Luke mentions two angels. The rest only mention one. Here again is where Scripture is held up to a ridiculous standard. Suppose you, and I, and my wife were all in the same room. Later, you wrote, 'Tim and I met on Jan. 14, 2004 and discussed the resurrection accounts'. Would this be a factual and truthful statement? Of course, it would be! Now, later, I write that 'Schimc, myself, and my wife met on Jan. 14, 2004'. Would your account then be a lie? No! Now, it would be if you wrote, 'Tim and I met and there was no one else in the room at the time.'. So, how many angels were there? Two! 6) Did she see any angels at all on the first trip? According to Luke 24:4-7 she did. 7) Did Mary see Jesus on the first trip? John seems to have the most complete chronology in all. His account makes it very clear that she did not see Him on the first trip. Matthew leaves out the whole Peter and John account entirely. 8) Last one, what about Peter? 1 Cor. 15:5 backs up Luke 24:34 in saying that Christ appeared to Peter first, then the 12. In short my friend, these are all old examples of straining at gnats! :-) None of the accounts list every single possible detail to the infinite degree of detail. But, what they do include is factual, accurate, and in harmony with the rest of the Gospels. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |