Gospel Qn here?

Question

we have the gospel according to Mark, matthew, john, luke. if they were the diciples of jusus, why are their written gospels very different from each other? arent they paying attention when being spoken to by jesus?

im questioning this not to say anything bad abt the gospel but its contradictions made me question it.

Answer 1

They wrote the things that they observed and witnessed. If you have four people witness a traffic accident, there will be four reports of what happened. All four are witnesses for Christ.

And, just like the witnesses of the traffic accident, the individual reports may have slightly different perspectives.

Answer 2

I really don't see many differences between the gospels. Just as I would describe last night's soccer game differently than one of my neighbors who saw the same game. They too focused on parts that were more interesting.

For example, Matthew was a tax collector, he remembered to add the story about the temple tax collectors asking if Jesus paid his taxes. Or Luke, a Dr. giving much more detail to physical conditions from his point of view. Mark on the other hand, had a tendency of being much more to the point, and shorter in his description.

That said, the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) have very many similarities, including repeated stories. While John was written from a completely different point of view. His was more of a, "lets tell a story..." then, "oh yes, by the way, the reason I told you this story..."

Hope this helps. There are many more things that could be said but this is at least a start.

Answer 3

For the same reason witnesses' accounts of a crime scene often vary wildly - each individual experiences life differently, through the lens of thier own experience, condition, and position. Sometimes witnesses to a crime may even report seemingly contradictory events, which turn out only to be possible when the witnesses' perspective is taken into account.

Also, scientifically speaking, there exists a theory in physics which states that the act of observation effects the event being observed. I'm not sure of the details but essentially this theory posits that reality actually changes when observed, and that two different observers can see the same event completely differently and both may be seeing the exact same thing. It would seem to support the truth of the gospels despite thier inherent contradictions.

Answer 4

There are very few differences in the gospels. Matthew, Luke, and John are almost verbatim in some places. You also know full well that you can ask 4 different people who witnessed an auto wreck about what they saw and it's like that while the key points are the same, their perceptions will be different when they recount their story. That doesn't make their stories contradict.

Answer 5

I wouldn't think that there are so many contradictions. If you've ever had a 'Harmony of the Gospels, you would know that. Many of the Atheist sites are riddled with poor scholarship, and so they think that there are all these contraditions, just because it's apparently okay to ignore Biblical apologetics. Try reading a commentary written by a Biblical scholar, I think that should help you understand what is being said.

Answer 6

They were written to different groups, for different purposes.
Besides, haven't you ever noticed that when four people see ANY event first hand, you get four different descriptions of the same event? Some details made a bigger impact on some individuals than on others. I'd be more suspicious if they were all identical. Points of congruence are to be expcted. But plagarism would suggest collusion.

Answer 7

Mathew, Mark, Luke had basically the same Gospel. This is why they are called the synoptic Gospels. John's Gospel is the one that is so much richer deeper, and more poetic and beautiful. This is the Gospel more understood by the Catholics.

Answer 8

Only Matthew and John were disciples of Jesus. Mark was a disciple of Peter and Luke a disciple of Paul.

The Gospels present different view points; however, there are no contradictions in any of them.

For example, the beginning chapters of Matthew give Joseph's view; the early chapters of Luke give Mary's view.

Also, you must consider the fact that each Gospel had different target audiences: Matthew is written to the Jews and Luke to the Gentiles. Each audience would have been interested in different aspects of Jesus' life, miracles, prophesies and teachings.

Answer 9

That's not a crazy question. Many people see the same things, but they each have their own perspective or their own account of what they saw. Some chose to focus more on the miracles, while others focused on the teachings. If you look at them, some have more in dept details of certain things, but there is no difference in the event.

Answer 10

site some contradictions so that they may be addressed specifically.

They are relaying the fullness of the account from various perspectives, but the message is consistent throughout.

As stated above, four people may happen upon a traffic accident, but depending on where each person is standing they will all have an account to add to the details. It is still the same accident.

Answer 11

There are no contradictions in the Bible. Sometimes things seem like a contradiction to us. When that happens to us we need to do a deeper study of the issue. If we study deeply enough we find that there are no contradictions in the Bible as it is all God breathed. He wrote it all through the prophets.