An Unexplainable Biblical Discrepancy

As anyone familiar with the Bible knows, there are quite a few seeming discrepancies in it. For a pretty comprehensive list, see The Secular Web. Biblical apologists such as Josh McDowell, Sean McDowell, Lee Stobel, Alex McFarland, Ravi Zacharias, William Lane Craig, and many others, have been diligent about solving these discrepancies. In many cases, they have been successful, satisfying my skepticism. Many times the explanation is that the differences lie in differing viewpoints of the various eyewitnesses. They usually point out how in even a modern day trial, eyewitness accounts will sometimes seem contradictory because of seeing things from different perspectives, emphasizing different points, and simply bringing their own biases into their testimony. All this is absolutely true. Yet, if I were one that believed the Bible to be inerrant and that the words of the writers were totally inspired by God, almost as if the words were dictated to a scribe, the differing testimonies would be troublesome to me. If all the writings are coming from the same source, God, there should be no differing perspectives and biases. However, I know that many Christians do not believe that God dictated the Bible to its writers. Some do not even believe in the inerrancy of scripture. They simply believe that the Bible is a collection of writings written by inspired, but fallible, men. Even so, there is one important aspect of the resurrection appearances stories that is troublesome even if written by fallible men.

First, it is important to note that the earliest extant manuscripts of Mark do not even mention any resurrection appearances. Mark 16:9-20 only appears in later manuscripts and seems to be a synopsis of the other Gospel endings. Matthew states that an angel and Jesus himself instructed the women to tell the disciples to go to Galilee for a meeting, which they do (Matthew 28:5-10). It was in Galilee that the disciples first see the risen savior (Matthew 28:16-17). On the other hand, Luke says that Jesus appeared to the disciples on the day of the resurrection and instructed them to stay in the city of Jerusalem until they received the Father’s promise, which was the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:13, 33, 36, 47-49). They are reported to have received that gift on Pentecost and, according to Acts, began to preach in Jerusalem and stayed there (Acts 2:1-4). John says that Jesus appeared to the disciples twice in Jerusalem and at least once in Galilee (John 20:19-26, 21:1). However, the meeting in Galilee was at the Sea of Tiberias (aka Sea of Galilee), not a mountain as stated in Matthew. Apparently some of the disciples, according to John, had gone back to their fishing occupations in Galilee, and Jesus appeared to them there, even eating breakfast with them.

In summary, the Gospel thought to be the first one written, Mark, does not mention any resurrection appearances. Matthew reports that the women at the tomb were instructed to tell the disciples that he would meet them in Galilee, which they do. Luke reports that Jesus appeared to the disciples, on the day of his resurrection, in Jerusalem and told them not to leave the city until they received the Holy Spirit. After that event on Pentecost, they stayed and ministered in the city according to Acts. John agrees with Luke in that Jesus first appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem. However, instead of staying in the city, at least some of them go back to Galilee and resume their fishing business. Jesus then appears to them again at the sea.

I first encountered these problematic verses soon after becoming a Christian in 1980. As a young Christian eager to learn more of God’s Word, I enrolled in a “Harmony of the Gospels” class at a nearby Bible college. As we neared the end of the semester, we began to study the resurrection. While studying at home, I noticed the contradictions mentioned above. During the next class, I brought these problematic verses to the teacher’s attention and asked for an explanation. In sort of a huff he said something like, “Uh, we don’t have time to discuss every aspect of the Gospels.” So, my concerns were left unaddressed. Later, I was thrilled to discover a book entitled “Gospel Parallels” edited by Burton H. Throckmorton, Jr. However, my excitement was quickly quelled when I found that while most of the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were printed side by side, the resurrection stories were not. Rather, at that point the Gospel Parallels became the Gospel Linears. I realized this did not bode well for the veracity of the resurrection.

Whenever I encounter an apologist discussing the supposed discrepancies in the Bible, they usually only explain the easy stuff like which women went to the tomb and how many angels were there. Almost never do they discuss the issues I present here. When they do, they usually explain it away by simply saying that there were appearances in Jerusalem, then in Galilee, and then again in Jerusalem (see this example). But this explanation totally ignores the fact that Luke clearly tells us that there were appearances in Jerusalem, then they waited to received the power of the Holy Spirit, and then stayed to minister in the city. I see no way to harmonize these differing accounts. If you know of a way or have a reference to someone who does, please leave me a comment.

After the disappointment of not getting any satisfactory answers to my questions about the resurrection appearances, I began to notice other problematic verses in the Bible. When I asked church leaders about these, the ultimate answer was that I just needed to have faith. That was definitely not satisfactory. All these issues ultimately resulted in my de-converting from Christianity.

I discuss the resurrection appearances as well as many other topics related to the Bible in my latest book, “God Is: Exploring the Nature of the Biblical God”. It is available in paperback and Kindle formats on Amazon. Questions and comments can also be left on my book’s Facebook page.