Epic Guide|Mostly Harmless

The fact of the matter is that in the canonical gospels, there are many contradictions of stories. Some of the obvious ones are the time frames of the synoptics (Mark, Matthew, Luke) compared to John, the differences of the passion and birth narratives, even as technical as the genealogies of Jesus differ. Not only this, but theologically one must consider the differences between Hebrews, James, and Revelation compared with the rest of the New Testament. And then there’s the differences between the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. The differences are endless. But does that mean that Christianity is based on lies?

NO!

First of all, most of the differences are insignificant compared with the broader message of the texts that are generally in agreement (mostly because if the texts had said something completely contradictory they would not have made it into the Bible at all), nevertheless, there are important differences - but that does not make the entirety of Christian Scriptures untrustworthy.

Something can be true and not historical. For instance, in the move Platoon, there is a really great scene where charlie sheen and tom beringer get in a fight over how to treat the vietnamese. This obviously is a fictional story, but it’s profoundly true in the sense that it shows the struggles of the soldiers and american society. In the same way, the texts of the Bible are not true because of their historical accuracy, although in some instances that is necessary, the majority of the stories about Jesus are important because they point to larger theological truths.

For someone to read Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus as a guidebook for how to raise people from the dead would be foolish, that’s not what it is. The point of the story is not how to raise people from the dead, or even that Jesus did it, the point of it is to show Jesus’ compassion for those he loved. Truth is bigger than history.