I've been reading the Gospel of Matthew for my just-before-bedtime devotions. For the most part, I find Bible verses comforting, challenging and encouraging. But every now and again, I run across little gems that set my mind on rabbit trails regarding how we approach Biblical inerrancy.
I have a lot of examples, but thought I'd share these two, since they were new for me:
Matthew 8:28 - 34
v. 28: When He (Jesus) came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass that way.
The account continues to say that Jesus casts out the demons by allowing them to enter a herd of swine which then run into the water and drown; the pig herders are understandably upset. The curious thing is that in the Gospel of Matthew, it's TWO demon possessed men. In the Gospels of Mark and Luke, it is only ONE demon possessed man:
Mark 5:2-3: When He (Jesus) got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain.
Luke 8:27: And when He (Jesus) came onto land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but the tombs.
My second example is just a few verses later about the story of a synagogue official coming to Jesus about his daughter. In Matthew, he cites her as already being dead:
Matthew 9:18: While He (Jesus) was saying these thing to them, a synagogue official came and bowed down before Him, and said, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live."
In Mark and Luke, the daughter is very ill ... but not quite dead:
Mark 5:22-23: One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him, fell at his feet and implored Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live."
Luke 8:41-42: And there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus' feet, and began to implore Him to come to his house; for he had an only daughter about twelve years old, and she was dying.
I'm posting this more out of curiosity than anything. After many years, I've come to a personal peace with such things. But, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on a couple of points:
1) Why do the texts appear inconsistent?
2) How important to your personal faith is it that there are no inconsistencies in the Bible?
Comments (8)
it just goes to show over time people make changes to how they want things so i personaly think all of it is a bunch of bull shit but for each his own i always say
I always came to the notion that writers have different perspectives. Not that there are inconsistencies, just they saw it from a different angle.
My family went through a hurricane in 1970. Fifteen years or more later, my dad asked everyone who was in the house that day to write their memories. It was weird. Somebody remembered my mom screaming in hysterics (didn't happen), somebody remembered when we fled what was left of the house the water was up over the hood of the car (it was about six inches deep) - everyone remembered the really big things the same, but the little details varied. Since the gospels were written years after the events, it makes sense that people remembered some of the details differently.
accdg, to Adam' Clarke's commentary-- In Matthew--Two possessed with devils Persons possessed by evil demons. Mark and Luke mention only one demoniac, probably the fiercer of the two.
synagogue official's daughter:
king james version: "While he was saying these things to them, there came a ruler and gave him worship, saying, My daughter is even now dead; but come and put your hand on her, and she will come back to life.
Adam Clarke's commentary states: My daughter is even now dead] Or, my daughter was just now dying; arti eteleuthsen, or, is by this time dead: i.e. as Mr. Wakefield properly observes, She was so ill when I left home that she must be dead by this time. This turn of the expression reconciles the account given here with that in Mark and Luke. Michaelis conjectures that, in the Hebrew original, the words must have stood thus, htm hte atah matah, which, without the points, may signify either, She is dead, or She is dying.
there is a special field of theology which studies the synoptic gospels meaning the harmony of the four gospels.It must be studied scholarly. Nevertheless, those inconsistencies will not warrant errancy of the scriptures. I suggest when coming across those few inconsistencies refer to bible commentaries or look at other translations. God bless you, and thanks for your honest thoughts...
What I find most amazing about the discrepancies is that if we were dealing with eye witness accounts of a crime and each of four witnesses gave a similar, but different account detectives would be more likely to accept the accounts. Four people who give the exact same account have rehearsed their story.
There is something else to be considered. Two of the gospels were written by two of the Apostles who were there for the whole of Jesus ministry; Matthew and John. Many scholars believe Mark's gospel is most likely Peter's dictation to Mark. Luke's gospel is is also written from the stories of eye witnesses, including Mary the mother of. John's gospel is the most unique of the gospel accounts. Mark is thought, by many, to have been too young to be a full time disciple of Jesus.
BP
Texts appear inconsistent because they are written by people who are fallible - who see things from different perspectives and who remember things differently - imperfectly.
It is not important to me that the Bible be absolutely perfect. There is only one thing in this world that can be absolutely perfect and that's His love for us. The Bible sets great guidelines for us, but should not be the Be All End All. It's a starting place of other people's experiences with God - for us to learn from and adapt and apply concepts to our lives while constantly looking for our own answers with Him, writing our own stories.
If the Bible was the absolute, literal, perfect word of Truth - I'd be horribly disappointed. God's majesty is far greater than a collection of books, chapters and verses.
You would think it'd be much easier to "change" it so it'll seem exactly alike, yet somehow they felt compelled to leave it as is. Eye-witness accounts, I guess, has to be written as is. I suppose perhaps some did not recognize the second man as possessed or as specifically within the reach of where they were. My guess is if "no one could pass that way," (Matt) it could be because there were more than one person. One person might, possibly, but not as easy as two people. Now, Mark talks about a guy who in the past could not be bound. The one Luke mentions it was a naked man. (Luke may have also mentioned about the chains). Interestingly, Matthew doesn't talk about (maybe not aware?) the man/men's history of breaking chains. It sounds more like a visual account (although I've heard mentioned that Matthew himself wasn't there to witness that moment). I suppose it's somewhat to its benefit that the eye-witness accounts are not so clear-cut, as those kinds tend to be fabricated. As for the daughter, commentary sounds good to me. heh
@LifeNeedsProtection - That's exactly my take. Each writer has a different perspective on events, and they have different things to emphasize.
These aren't material differences. For instance, the 'one man' accounts don't say 'only one man', but they are especially concerned with one of them in particular, who was ingovernable and living among the tombs. That one got their attention in particular. That one was the focus for them.
So, Brett, no, it is not important to me that these line up exactly. We're not babies. We can dig in an investigate things, and know that God is still God.