Contradictions in the New Testament

As I touched on earlier in my post on Insertions, each Gospel was written by an author, which illustrates an account of Jesus through their words or collective resources they have gathered.

If you read the Gospels in tradition order(Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John) you will come to find that everything sort of blends in. Starting from the last verse of the Old Testament we read in Malachi 4:5 the prophecy of Elijah comes, then we have a birth narrative of Jesus.

If you continue on with Matthew Jesus is baptized he selects his disciples, he is tempted by Satan etc.. trials, crucifixion, and resurrection.

In Mark it tells the same story beginning with Jesus' baptism etc... Of course since Matthew copies from Mark(established here Authors), Mark ends up being almost identical to Matthew(except for the resurrection account).

Then we read Luke, which starts the birth narrative of John the Baptist. It then leads to a birth narrative of Jesus' that is differs from Matthew, then to Jesus' baptism and a oddly placed genealogy of Jesus' which this time continues all the way to Adam then to God. Much of the rest of Luke is told pretty much like Mark and Matthew except this time Jesus is portrayed a bit different and the only place he appears to suffer is in the Gethsemane.(an insertion established here Insertions) In the trials and on the way to Calvary he is very talkative. He knows where he is going and his purpose.

As Luke prepares a much more uplifted and spiritual Jesus for John, John goes deep in theology and portrays Jesus as more than a man. A divine spirit sent by God. in John's Gospel we still have some bits and pieces that weave in the other Gospels, but John wraps Jesus' works around his "signs" instead of his teachings. It is a Gospel of Jesus not one about Jesus.

If you take each account(for example Jesus' birth, or crucifixion) and instead of reading all four Gospels in a row, you read them side by side. You will find that each author tells a different story, and in some cases a story that contradicts the other.

* Starting out with the Genealogies, we already have a problems. Both are different. Not different to the point of one is longer than the other, but different to the point of the names don't match. This has been a problem for Christianity since the beginning of canonization.  Most arguments are that one is Josephs bloodline and the other Marys. This one is still being debated highly amongst scholars and I wouldn't consider this a for sure contradiction. You can find some of the info about it Here.

There are many Gospel differences, and most Christian Apologetics try to explain them all away by theology or inserting "what ifs" and back story that isn't there. I can go pages and pages of differences and contradiction in the Gospels alone, and fill up many pages if I go further into the NT and OT. I will just list a few here and Bold the differences.

* When was the Last Supper?
Matthew 26:17 - Passover Eve
Mark 14:12      - Passover Eve
Luke 22:7-8     - Passover Eve
John 13:1-2      - Night Before Passover Eve
Contradiction?

* What was the Ceremony? Last Supper?
Matthew 26:26-29  - Communion Meal
Mark 14:18-21       - Communion Meal
Luke 22:17-20        - Communion Meal
John 13:1-17           - Foot Washing
So it appears here John's event is different and at a different time. It can easily be explained away that John just didn't mention the last supper and the other authors didn't mention the foot washing.

*  Who carried the cross?
Matthew 27:32 - Simon
Mark 15:21      - Simon
Luke 23:26       - Simon
John 19:17        - Jesus alone.
John doesn't mention Simon at all and it would appear that in his gospel Jesus carried it himself. I seem to recall being told Jesus carried it until he was too weak, then Simon was forced to carry it the rest of the way. That story isn't even close to being mention, it is assumed from blending all four gospels together.

* What did the two rebels do?
Matthew 27:38-44 - Both hurled insults at Jesus
Mark 15:27-32      - Both hurled insults at Jesus
Luke 23:32-43       - One insults him and the other is saved.
John 19:18             - No mention of insults or saved.
Another story that is usually only told from Luke account. The rebels couldn't have both hurled insults and only one insulted him.

* When did the women arrive arrive at the tomb?
Matthew 28:1 - At Dawn
Mark 16:1-2  - After Sunrise, they were on their way
Luke 24:1      - Very Early in the Morning
John 20:1       - It was still Dark
Besides Luke's vague description of the time, each account is clearly a separate time. It is not dark at dawn nor after sunrise. Although i guess they do all agree that it was in the morning.

* Who discovered the empty tomb?
Matthew 28:1 - Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
Mark 16:1      - Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome
Luke 24:10     - Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others
John 20:1        - Mary Magdalene alone
Apparently Mary Magdalene was there, but the authors couldn't agree who else showed up.

* Was the stone Rolled Away?
Matthew 28:2 - Closed, then an angel rolled it back.
Mark 16:4      - Open
Luke 24:2       - Open
John 20:1        - Open
Here is a clear contradiction, 3 accounts of the women coming to the tomb with the stone already moved, but one account of it being closed and watching an astounding event of an earthquake and an angel.

* Who did the women see at the tomb?
Matthew 28:2 - One Angel
Mark 16:5      - One Man
Luke 24:4       - Two Men
John 20:12      - Two Angels
None of the accounts agree with each other on this one, was it 1 or 2 men? or was it 1 or 2 angels?

These are a small handful of some contradictions within the Gospels, there are many many more that you can read for yourself if you read them side by side. There are many others contradictions that the Gospels disagree with outside of the Gospels. I will list a few below.


* Is there unforgivable sin?
Mark 3:28-29 - All sins are forgiven except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is defined as an eternal sin. (Jesus' own words)
Acts 13:38-39  - All sins are forgiven if you believe.(According to Paul)
So Jesus himself says there is at least one unforgiven sin, yet Paul contradicts Jesus and says that all sins are forgiven.

* Is John the baptist Elijah?
Matthew 11:9-14 - According to Matthew Jesus proclaims John as Elijah.
John 1:19-21       - John explicitly Denies being Elijah.
Another clear contradiction here.

* Is Jesus the only one taken to heaven before his resurrection?
John 3:10-13 - Jesus says no one has gone to heaven except the Son of Man.
2 Kings 2:11  - Elijah gets swept up and take to... heaven.
Genesis 5:21-24 - Reading Gen 5:1-32 it is a account of the years lived from Adam to Noah, in each account of men it says "...and then he died." except on Enoch's account which it says God has taken him away.
Clear contradiction between the first 2 examples, and in Gen it is pretty interesting why Enoch's account differs here.

I will give one more contradiction that is hard to explain away. Apologists say that it is a misplaced comma. Which doesn't explain why all the hundreds of different versions of the Bible have the comma in the same place.

Luke 23:43 - “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 
On all translations the comma is as it appears here, not after the word today. This is Jesus telling the one rebel he is basically saved and that "today" Jesus will see him in paradise. There is a problem here, Jesus doesn't ascend to heaven on this day. Actually according to some accounts Jesus doesn't ascend to heaven for 40+ days after this day.

There are many more contradictions in the Bible and pointing every single one out here isn't the point of this discussion. The point is that contradictions exist. And if they exist are they authors mistakes? or did another author get mixed up? or maybe the resources he was using weren't accurate. If there is even one mistake in the Bible, it opens up many many more questions... like what other mistakes are there?

Summary of the Facts:
* Each author of the NT, told his account of Jesus and his ministry using the resources and information he had available.
* In reading each account side by side, you will see that sometimes the authors used the same or similar resources. 
* There are clear contradictions in the Bible that can't be logically explained away.