Contradiction, or inconsistency of a text is discovered by a process of drawing inferences from that text. If I say that an event occurred on Christmas day, you may infer that the event occurred on December 25th. This is a reasonable inference. If there is any ambiguity in time keeping or calendars or in the observance of the holiday, other reasonable inferences may be possible. Until such ambiguity may be found, this may be thought a necessary inference.

It is improper to mistake a reasonable inference for a necessary inference.

It is also possible that multiple inferences may be drawn from a single text. For instance, if I say that "I went to Ada by the Thornapple River." We may either infer proximity of Ada to the Thornapple River, or we may infer that this river is navigable & that I used it in this fashion. In the case where a text admits multiple inferences, the reader selects between them as s/he finds reasonable.

The claim of contradiction or inconsistency of a text is a statement about the set of inferences that can be drawn from that text. Contradiction exists when no set of inferences may be drawn from a text that cohere in a non-contradictory fashion.

The person advancing the claim of contradiction will be inclined to find sets of inferences that cohere to be "unreasonable." That is certainly understandable, for that reason, we have the situation that is common in dialog between Theists and Atheists. One party will claim that contradictions are common, and another party will claim they are only apparent, but that they disappear upon closer inspection.

By way of example, there are four accounts of the crucifixion, resurrection & subsequent movements of Jesus Christ recorded in the Bible. Whether these accounts correspond to historical fact (as is my opinion) or whether they correspond to a nexus of fabrications made up out of whole cloth is completely irrelevant to my purpose. The only question of interest to me is whether these accounts cohere logically or are logically contradictory. The only criteria of interest are formal logic.

A1: The critic indicates that Mark says Mary’s intention was the opposite to the intention depicted in the other gospels.

MK 16:8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

Matt 28:9 Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.

LK 24:9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.

JN 20:18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

The means whereby Mary’s intention is depicted in any of these accounts is unclear. It does seem that in the Mark passage, that fear induced "the women" to say nothing to anyone. If we look at the prior verses, we may have a clue as to the reason why they felt this fear.

MK 16:4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. [5] As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

MK 16:6 "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. [7] But go, tell his disciples and Peter, `He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' "

The "young man" immediately tells them to not be alarmed. This instruction, along with their subsequent fear indicates that something about this "young man" was fearsome. (More about him supporting this fearsome nature may be gleaned from the parallel accounts.) His second command after telling them to calm down is to go tell the disciples. If this "young man" induced great fear as may be inferred by verse 8, we may also infer that they were intent upon obeying the command to tell the disciple to such an extent that they did not pause along the way to engage anyone in conversation on their way to go tell the disciples. Stopping to tell others what they’d seen would detract from immediate compliance.

A3: The critic cites Luke 24:4 as seen below that does not mention the disciples. Luke 24:9 indicates that when "they" got back from the tomb, "they" reported to the disciples. The other passages cited below indicate a meeting before Mary Magdalene left the immediate vicinity of the empty tomb. Luke’s silence between the time of the angelic dialog and the report to the disciples is not a denial of Mary’s meeting with Jesus in the vicinity of the tomb. This silence would be quite reasonable if the supposition is correct that Luke or his eyewitness was the unnamed companion of Cheopas on the Emmas road.

MK 16:9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.

LK 24:4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.

JN 20:14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

LK 24:33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together [34] and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." [35] Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

LK 24:36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

LK 24:37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. [38] He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? [39] Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."

MK 16:9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. [10] She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. [11] When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.

MK 16:12 Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. [13] These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

MK 16:14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

A4: Luke 24:33 indicates that the Eleven and those with them were together. Mark 16:9 indicates that "those who had been with him" were the recipient of these report. It is quite plausible to imagine that Mary Magdalene (who had certainly been with him) stayed around after giving her report. Moreover, John reports that he believed while in the tomb. As will be seen in A8, Simon Peter would have seen Jesus by this time.

Mindful of this, one can speculatively offer a reconstruction to show a reasonable scenario. It should be noted that when one is describing scene involving a group of people, not all of them will be of the same mind. We can imagine a room within which those who have seen Jesus are arguing with those who have not and do not believe. When the two on the Emmaus road got there late they told their tale and other eyewitnesses of Jesus chimed in as seen in Luke 24:34. Many of the Eleven who were present were not convinced as reported by Mark 16:13.

MT 28:8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. [9] Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.

LK 24:37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. [38] He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? [39] Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."

JN 20:17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, `I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "

A5: First, I don’t think that the "return" in v17 is talking about the Ascension, but something much sooner. If it is the Ascension, then clearly the bible is in contradiction. Though this may be a reasonable inference, it is not a necessary inference.

There are two possible solutions to this problem. First, though the NIV doesn’t say "touch" but "hold on to," Jesus’ prohibition may have been to keep her from hanging onto him preventing him from other duties he knew he had to attend. His words may mean that his next destination was to "return" to God the Father. The second possible solution is a favorite speculation of mine. John 20:17 describes the earliest appearance of Jesus Christ after his resurrection. His resurrection body may have had physical characteristics (i.e. radiation, electrical charge) as a result of being resurrected that had not yet dissipated at this point in time. This would make "touch" imprudent at this moment, but quite safe a little later. Perhaps this was what Jesus meant when he said he was returning to God the Father.

A6: The critic seems to think that these accounts are exhaustive of all of Jesus’ comings and goings after the resurrection. This is contradictory to the clear sense of John 21:25 "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."

If we extend this principle to the gospels in which the account is much shorter of Jesus’ post-resurrection activities, then it is an invalid inference to say that Matthew says Jesus appeared twice, Mark says thrice, etc. Jesus may well have appeared several thousands of time of which Matthew reports two, Mark reports three, etc.

JN 20:22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

AC 1:5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

A7: Christianity teaches that every Christian has an indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but this indwelling which occurs at the moment of conversion is not attended by speaking in tongues or the other manifestations described at Pentacost. So then the disciples received two measures of the Holy Spirit that differed in some quantitative sense since they did not speak in tongues or perform miracles in John but did many extraordinary things as recorded in Acts..

A8: This list is not exhaustive. As you will recall, John states that an exhaustive enumeration of Jesus’ acts would fill the world with books. So, it is reasonable to assume that the NT provides a mere sample of the appearances of Jesus after his resurrection.

1. Mary Magdalene (outside the tomb)

2. God the Father (unknown)

3. Other women

4. Peter (outside tomb)

5. Cleopas and unknown (Luke?) (emmaus road)

6. The eleven minus Thomas (?bethany?)

7. The eleven including Thomas (?bethany or elsewhere)

8. The seven (by the sea of Galilee)

9. To 500 on the mount (in Galilee)

10. James the Lord’s brother

11. To 11 in the mount in Galilee (unless they were present in #9)

12. Those present at the Ascension at mount of olives

13. Stephen prior to his martyrdom (in Jerusalem)

14. Saul (on Damascus Road)

15. Paul (in the desert of Arabia)

16. Paul (in the temple in Jerusalem)

17. Paul (in prison)

18. John (at Patmos)

A9: See A8.

A10: All four gospels state that Jesus was crucified on Preparation day of the Passover as may be inferred from the passages cited below.

MT 27:62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. [63] "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, `After three days I will rise again.' [64] So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."

MT 27:65 "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." [66] So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

MK 15:42 It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, [43] Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. [44] Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. [45] When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. [46] So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. [47] Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

LK 23:50 Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, [51] who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. [52] Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. [53] Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. [54] It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

JN 20:42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Jesus was presented to the crowd by Pilate at about 6:00AM at the Stone Pavement. He was rejected by the crowd, and Pilate handed him over to be crucified. At 9:00AM at Golgotha, Jesus was nailed to the cross. At noon it got dark. At 3:00PM, Jesus died. There was an earthquake and the veil of partition in the temple was torn in two.

The 6:00am time is based upon the Roman method of time keeping. Unlike the Jewish method of measuring days from sundown to sundown, Romans measured time like Americans, from midnight to midnight. John describing a Roman civil ceremony years after leaving Palestine and living in Asia Minor used the roman timekeeping system. The Jewish state would have been destroyed by the time that John wrote.

JN 19:13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). [14] It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour.

"Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews.

JN 19:15 But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!"

"Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked.

"We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.

JN 19:16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. [17] Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). [18] Here they crucified him, and with him two others--one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

The other gospels, having been written much earlier use the Jewish time keeping system. Sun rise in Palestine near the equinox would be at about 6:00am.

MT 27:45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. [46] About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

MK 15:25 It was the third hour when they crucified him.

MK 15:33 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. [34] And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

LK 23:44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, [45] for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. [46] Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

A11: Jesus did not drink wine mixed with gall, but tasted it & discerning what it was, refused it. Jesus did not drink wine mixed with myrrh. He may have tasted it.

MT 27:34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.

MK 15:23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.

JN 19:28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." [29] A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. [30] When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Apparently, though Jesus did not drink drug-laced wine to ease his pain, at the end as he neared death, he did accept some vinegar.

I find it reasonable to think that Jesus was offered one potation early in the crucifixion, refused it after tasting it, and later received a different one.

A12: The critic who posed this apparent contradiction once professed belief in Jesus Christ, but not at present. This indicates belief or unbelief is not a permanent condition. The crucifixion lasted all day. This would give one of the thieves time to observe the difference between Jesus’ mein and that of the other thief. Reflecting upon this and upon his forthcoming death may well have induced the thief to repent and believe in those hours he hang on the cross.

Thus, Matthew & Mark may state that neither thief believed at the beginning and Luke may state that one thief repented some time later.

A13: Matthew does not report.

MK 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body.

LK 23:55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. [56] Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

JN 19:38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. [39] He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. [40] Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. [41] At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. [42] Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

There is no indication of coordination of efforts between Joseph and the women. Joseph seems to have had a mixture of mirrh and aloes on hand that he used to quickly inter Jesus in the three hours between his death and sundown that marked the beginning of the Passover holy day.

The women wanted to participate in embalming Jesus’ body, I don’t think they helped in Joseph’s efforts between 3:00pm and 6:00pm on the day of the crucifixion, but they may have and some may have been at the tomb when he was intered. The women went home and waited between sundown of the day Jesus was crucified until the sunrise after the sabbath was over. If those spices that they had on hand were not sufficient, they would supplement their supply with purchases made after the sundown which marked the end of Sabbath. With these spices they’d collected and purchased, they went to the tomb to annoint Jesus’ body.

Moreover, the spices of Jesus’ embalming might need to be replaced or augmented a few days after entombment. So the critic’s objection to "when" they were prepared may spring from the account’s reference to multiple spice annointings.

A14: If I were to go to Jesus’ tomb right now, the sun would rise and set many times before I got there. (It is a journey of several thousand miles.) Thus, the women left perhaps from their respective homes and began walking to the tomb. If they lived in different houses, they would travel in two or more groups either meeting en route or at the tomb. The moment at which they left was well dark just before the dawn. Their journey took long enough that the sun had time to rise while they were in transit.

It should be noted in these accounts that time may be telescoped at different rates.

JN 20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.

MT 28:1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

MK 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. [2] Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb [3] and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"

LK 24:1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

A15: It should first be noted that none of these passages give statistics as to the number of days or nights Jesus was in the tomb. The critic has asserted inferences drawn from the passages in question.

Jesus was either in the tomb (a) between Thursday sundown and Sunday sunrise or (b) between Friday sundown and Sunday sunrise. In case (a) he was in the tomb according to our way of telling time, Thursday night, Friday day, Friday night, Saturday day, and Saturday night and Sunday day. 3 full nights, and 3 days of which Sunday was a partial day. Though this scenario is favored by some scholars, I do not hold it.

Case (b) is favored by traditional scholars. It depends upon the Jewish idiom "N-days and N-nights" might better be interpreted in the its Jewish cultural context instead of in the word-for-word English translation of the Hebrew words. According to Jewish rabbinial sources this idiom means that any portion of any day counts as a day thus Jesus was in the tomb three 24-hour days: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday despite the fact that he spent most of Friday and Sunday outside. I have reluctantly come to favor this interpretation.

A16: See A15 above.

A17: Multiple groups set out to the tomb that morning, perhaps meeting one another en route or at the tomb. Therefore, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, Joanna, and possibly other women were in the first wave of visitors. It should be noted that the focus of all the accounts was not on calling an attendance roll of those on site, but on the tomb and on Christ. Thus, none of these accounts say that "only" so and so went to the tomb.

A18: The use of the pluterperfect tense of the Greek in Matt 28:2 (as explained in Murray Harris’ _Three Questions about Jesus_) allows that the stone rolling had occured before the arrival of the Marys. (The pluterperfect tense means that the Greek could be translated that the angel "had rolled", etc.)

Since their walk had taken long enough for the sun to come up, it may be that the stone rolling and the guards fleeing occurred while the Marys were en route. There is no mention of the guards being at the tomb when anyone arrives. Had they been present, it is doubtful that the women would have worried about getting someone to move the stone, but worried about getting the guards’ cooperation in moving it.

MT 28:1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

MT 28:2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. [3] His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. [4] The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

For the reason of the pluterperfect verb tense, I infer that Matthew says yes.

A19: The critic confuses separate moments and different angels.

One particularly glorious angel arrives early, moves the stone and sits on it. (I speculate that he was laughing.) He hangs around for a bit and leaves. Two more angels go into the tomb and either sit where Jesus had been or stand next to the bench. Mark reports one that was inside the tomb and sat down on the right. The Marys note the emptiness of the tomb, receive orders from the angel and leave, not noticing the second one sitting on the left because her attention was focused upon the speaker. Or, it may be that the geometry of the tomb and bench obscured the Marys’ view of the second angel from where they were standing. The second party of women arrived a bit later at the tomb. This group sees both angels who are now standing. They loiter a bit and Mary comes back after the second party of women and also Peter and John have left. These angels give her the good word, too.

MK 16:4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. [5] As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

MK 16:6 "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. [7] But go, tell his disciples and Peter, `He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' "

LK 24:1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. [2] They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, [3] but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. [4] While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. [5] In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? [6] He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: [7] `The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " [8] Then they remembered his words.

JN 20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. [2] So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"

JN 20:3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. [4] Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. [5] He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. [6] Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, [7] as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. [8] Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. [9] (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

JN 20:10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, [11] but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb [12] and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

JN 20:13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." [14] At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

A20: The instructions from the angels are to tell his disciples he is going before you to Galilee. The instructions in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:4 are from Jesus, not angels. The lack of instructions in John are because it depicts a separate encounter.