Are the Gospels Contradictory and Contain Fiction?

[looncraz]

"God gave us all four..."

That's some funny shit right there!!

I think when he says god, he means the Council at Nicea... and they chose not to include MANY other gospels.  Including that of James...

They tried to portray Jesus in a certain divine manner, and only chose writings that fit that purpose. They likely even made modifications to suit their own desires, though I doubt that can be shown...

These ARE contradictions...he was solemn at death vs he was upset and angry at god...yeah...

[LingaShaved]

he is a LIAR.

[AtheistToothFairy]

If god allowed the gospel writers to 'do as they pleased' with documenting the life of jesus, then god wasn't a god at all, but just a STUPID being who didn't understand human nature at all.

[Machin3God]

You can't really buy into these arguments unless you are already indoctrinated.

It seems to me that god did a really bad job at trying to convey his message of salvation. There are almost 39000 different christian denominations all arguing about how to worship god. Plus 3 different religions spawned by the old testament that have been at each others throats' forever.

If god really cared about us he would make sure that his message would be unaltered and would be clear to everyone. Not this.

[MsGingergingercat]

Weak Apologetic Nonsense, in toto. KThxBye!

[MsGingergingercat]

10.20 - The gospels as "Greco-Roman Biography?" You are claiming peasant fisherman as being familiar, not only with Latin, but with Roman classical bios? I'd say most of them could barely scratch an "X" as a signature on parchment. Dude, pass that doobie this way, can ya please ?!?

[MsGingergingercat]

Oh, come on! 08.35 - "There was a scholar...." who is then quoted, but *never* named! Shoddy and poor workmanship on display here, friends.

[MsGingergingercat]

Largest problem with Jesus meeting Pilot? Who the *hell* was there to record the portrayed events? The criminal Jesus brought along a scribe to write everything down, then? Or is this more so-called *inspired* scripture, eh? Same with Jesus alone in the desert, in the garden, etc., etc. The whole thing just unravels when one simply pulls on a single thread....

[MsGingergingercat]

04.32 - "Practically speaking, there is no difference between these two, and there are the normal sort of variations that we would expect between any historical accounts. When we speak of 'Inerrancy', we don't necessarily mean that they had to have verbatim exactly the same words..." Or ideas. Or facts. Ah, then, so like Humpty Dumpty from 'Alice in Wonderland', words don't mean what they mean, they mean what *we* say they mean, eh?

[MsGingergingercat]

2. Geneology. Always confused, the Bible claims Jesus descended from Ghod, yet twice they attempt to link his lineage to David (i.e., Man). I love how they put it in the vid @ 2.55 - "There *could* be *several* reasons (for these contradictions)..." It is so *very& amusing observing Xtians (modern AND historical) play a game of Theological 'Twister' (re: Milton Bradley) in addressing these conundrums!!! Red Foot Blue!!!

[MsGingergingercat]

1. Differing perspectives does not resolve the many absolute contradictions, such as the manner of Judas' death, etc. John was *not* a theologian, he was a loon, whose word and work was added on to by forgery and deception. If Luke was a historian, name another historical work of his. There are none, in toto. Only 4 gospels from Ghod? But what about the *many other* gospels that you *purposefully* ignore?

[jimnn2009]

John is a theologian; Luke is a historian… rubbish. If they existed, they were illiterate fishermen – other people wrote the scripture. Wake up people! The clergy lie to you so they can put hand on you money. Please, keep your believes (fate) and abandon religion. How? Just stop paying to the scheme artists – clergy. Read the bible by yourselves; read other books too.

[jimnn2009]

If one claims that the bible is WORD OF GOD or word inspired by god, how one explains that god contradicts him self inspiring different ways to different people. People "received" the word of god in order to be guided; how come god does not come and explain himself in English; why the scholars have to study ancient languages; dos god speak English? Is god omnipotent?

[jdgrab1]

Can you say "conflict of interests?" This is a biased Christian Fundamentalist perspective. It's like asking a Nazi to give their view the Holocaust. They will interpret it through their skewed, brain-washed perspective. True theologians would never expound on the glory and majesty of Christ. This is garbage!

[ethanhaunted]

in bible so many erros

[lautz73]

I call bull on most of this video. They are apologists and you the same arguements that all apologists use. That people "read it wrong" or "they take it out of context". What they cannot do is hide the actual truth. There are contradictions in the bible. I mean the ressurection stroy cannot even get the number of angels and their placement right. That should have been a constant in all 4 gospels and yet they differ.

[SpincterManBubba]

Jesus was not a descendant of David. He was a bastard child born to a Jewish female. " A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD. " (Deut 23:2) His mother was raped by two men claiming to be angels. If Jesus is the Saviour he sure dropped the ball. Jesus said that no one can get into heaven in human form. The body of Jesus is dead and buried. It was the Christ spirit that was resurrected.

[TheTomtompiper]

Why do Christians think it is acceptable to lie in order to defend a 2,000 year old book?Anybody with a Bible can see for themselves that they contradict each other on substantial points like when did the last supper take place and who went to the tomb, to say different is just a bare faced lie.

[HuckMeHard]

We don't even know who wrote these gospels. They were written decades after Jesus died, and they all differ in many ways, sometimes with irreconcilable contradictions.

For the most part they are not trustworthy in the historical sense.

But what little actual history can be gleaned from these gospels gives a picture of Jesus that is hardly divine. Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher, part of the religious fad of that era. He was baptized by an apocalyptic preacher, John, and became one himself.

[tadpoleposition]

I love the whole "each Gospel account varies because each author wrote from his point of view" argument. Can anyone else see the absolute lunacy in that argument? So, the crux of all of Christianity, the crucifixion, was recorded according to the different points views of the authors of the Gospels and not according to the straight forward, unadulterated facts? By the way, anyone know who authored Mark? His, whoever he was, point of view, Mark 16:9-20, was added in the mid-2nd Century.

[lautz73]

They have 4 different versions of the same thing and here's the biggest part of it. NONE OF THEM WERE EVEN THERE TO WITNESS IT. The only person that all 4 books agree that was there was Mary Magdalene(?) and her "gospel" was not allowed into the Bible because it came from a woman and was considered to "new" (written about 100 years after Jesus death while Mark was "written" about 40 years after the death). NICE TRY BUT IT FAILS EXAMINATION.

[BjornPalmen]

The sources are clearly unreliable. These gentlemen explain too much.

[th30r3m]

Of course there are contradictions. Just research WHAT YEAR Jesus was born. Matthew clearly puts it before the death of Herod, Luke during the census of Quirinius. A 10 year discrepancy.

[lautz73]

4 Different gospels and 4 different accounts of the resurection of Jesus by people that weren't even present when the body of Jesus was found to bo missing. How can any of this be true since they weren't even there to witness it? Ic an court of law that would be called hearsay(?) and inadmissable.

[MrPuma94]

halleluyah brother matthew the jew john the theologian luke the historian mark has the dynamic perspective

[StuntWorkz]

Jesus never said in bible " im god" or pray to..but through out all bible he is saying pray to 1 god, have no idols, and do good deeds....Vatican hijacked Jesus and made god out him.. i wanna pray to same GOD Jesus prayed to

"O you who believe! Bow down and prostrate yourselves and serve your Lord, and do good that you may prosper QURAN 22:77

"And he (Jesus) went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed..MATTHEW 26:39

"And they (Moses and Aaron) fell upon their faces.NUMBERS 20:6

[ndjarnag]

So, you compile Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and John into a new combined narrative. So you now have a new gospel, that none of the writers intended. I think it is best to read each author on their own.

[sekulaadam]

In John Pilate sent a cohort to capture Jesus then he completely forgot about it.Is it a contradiction? Oh yeah.

[XBAGREMX]

if you want easy and fast Phd go and do new testament,,,,

[Summadat]

Another is John 1:1. If this theology was so binding, why is it not mentioned by any except this author? And there are many other such verses in John that holds major binding implications on theology. Yet most of them are unique to his book alone. Being that Peter was supposed to be the 'rock of the church' where is this theology in his writings? If the rock is lacking, then the whole building is weak.

[MRKetter81]

@Summadat ...Rock of the church... ''only" peter? That's your exogesis

[Summadat]

@MRKetter81- True, that is my own exegesis. But since there is no accompanying exegesis- and considering the translation, I think it's on point to interpret as such. In the same way, if you're to tell your fiancee that he/she is the light of your life, the light that brightens your day- who would interpret that as you're speaking of two different lights? A metaphor was made- Simon was called the Rock, and the immediate clause after was 'upon this rock I shall build my church...'

[MRKetter81]

@Summadat "But since there is no accompanying exegesis"?

Prove that statement.

I mean we may as well throw out all of theology if there's only one way to ever look at a text... You're pulling presuppositions out of your head one by one, then expressing your oppinion of them as infalible.

[Summadat]

@MRKetter- I'm pulling pre-suppositions out of my head one by one... Why is that? Because I said that there was no accompanying exegesis? Oh, well I apologize. I'm sorry. The bible versions that I've read have no exegesis in them. At least none from the authors, nor the disciples, or Jesus. Pardon me for jumping to the conclusion that there was no exegesis. Perhaps you have a version that I can refer to that can educate me in this matter? Please tell me.

[artshop1321]

the bible written in the dead language unlike the koran written in live language which many people can speak .. infact jesus name is not jesus it is iso. so why did they change the name of jesus you have no right to translate name of people..

salaam

[Mazabuka74]

@artshop1321 .... how bizarre! I have researched the 'real' name of He who became known as Jesus and absolutely NOWHERE are there bona fide records of Him being called Iso!

It is agreed by many senior Theologists that Jesus' REAL name was Yeshua. NOT Iso nor Jesus....

I would suggest that you remove the log from thine eye before passing criticism on the splinter within thy brother's eye! :p

[lautz73]

@Mazabuka74 Do you now what Yeshua translates to? It translates as Joshua. So the real name of Jesus is Joshua.

[Mazabuka74]

@lautz73 ... whatever dude... why translate the name? THAT was my point... if HIS name is Yeshua... leave it be... NOT Joshua, Jesus or iSO... ETC ETC... :p

[lautz73]

@Mazabuka74 I only supplied the translation, I never translated it.

[christophorM]

The whole Bible is written through men by the Holy spirit of God, if you don't understand what's going on in the Gospels(the big picture) that's your problem! The whole word is to be read with one piece or book overlaping the other to get the truth of what's going on.That's why there are cults and so many denominations, is people take a handful of verses and make a doctrine and don't seek truth and are decieved.ALL the verses have to fit and those who seek God will find them in truth!

[tiger355]

read Bart Ehrman's "jesus interrupted".

then come to your own conclusions. it provides a scholorlay examination of the the bibles contradictions. it made me much of an atheist, but it may have a different effect on you

[LaneCh]

James White debated Bart Ehrman in January of this year. You may want to find that debate online, too.

[k0smon]

@tiger355 Please explain why you found it necessary to become an atheist when you found the bible to not be the 'word of God'. I had the same experience, being convinced that Constantine was responsible for creating Christianity. I now believe in the Creator only. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think there was no God,

[tiger355]

What logical reason for a Creator? Nothingness existed always. Try to think a bit about this. In a vacuum created in a test tube you still have gluons, electrons & other subatomic particles. You cannot recreate "pure" nothingness. Therefore it is logical to believe subatomic particles make up the fabric of this invisible universe, and always have been here before our universe...continued

[k0smon]

@tiger355 Found it hiding under a spam label. You seem to be confused about nothingness and something, What you say just does not seem to follow.

[tiger355]

@k0smon ....What I am saying about the fabric of our universe and the

vacuum in a test tube is proven already by science. Nothingness...

that is without any gluons, or subatomic particles doesn't exist, it's pure

fantasy. Who would of created the Creator if some form of "pure

nothingness" existed at one time?

[k0smon]

@tiger355 Can't find your 'continued'. It is a little hard to understand your point. Something cannot come from nothing.

[andysanchezish]

this is all bull shit!! how can something that is thought to be true have so many errors?? god wouldnt do that to us. man wrote the book not through god. man put together the bible and said its from god.. BullShit 3x over..

[submitu911]

@tiger355 Agreed. The first guy talking in this vid isn't really openly biased or anything hahaha. MAJESTY BRILLIANCE AMAZING ABOVE US WE CANT UNDERSTAND blah blah blah....

Sooo silly.

[submitu911]

@tiger355 Ehrman could debunk all of this stuff in a paragraph or two. It's interesting how they don't include an opposing view point in it.

[djs259]

@tiger355 Ehrman is an unmitigated fraud. His so-called "research into the discrepancies and contradictions" of the Christian scriptures is nothing more than a warmed-over retread of the higher criticism of the German schools of the 18th and 19th century. This leads me to believe that those who now hail Ehrman's banal rehashing of an outdated philology as fascinating and seminal are either disingenuous haters or intellectually bankrupt poseurs suffering from a bad case of scholarly amnesia.

[tiger355]

@djs259 Criticizing Ehrman for a different view on Christianity would be like using Heavens Gate, or Jim Jones as a reason to not believe in Christ. Ehrman, a PHD, graduate of Princeton Seminary, reads both Greek, and Hebrew does not attempt to add any sprinkling of outside beliefs or ideologies to form critical analysis.Christ was an apocalyptic prophet who preached the end would come during his

reign. When it didn't the bible took on a more broad interpretation of his original

message.

[ethanhaunted]

did u read the hole bible if read it again

[Shakespeare70]

@djs259 There is no fraud in Ehrman. He is a scholar. I don't think you are. If you are, then offer an argument and avoid the ad hominuems.

[djs259]

@Shakespeare70 You just chided me for criticizing Ehrman for regurgitating the claims of 19th century higher criticism on the grounds that I am "not a scholar", and you say that I should avoid the "ad hominuems" [sic] ?

If Ehrman was a serious scholar it stands to reason that he'd be putting out something more than popular books touting hackneyed claims. The fact that he does indicates to me that his agenda is to discredit Christianity, pure and simple. He has nothing significant to add.

[MsGingergingercat]

@djs259; Sorry Dude, but you faceplanted fail here - Erhman is not only a popular author (which is to say he has published for the masses), he is also an accomplished scholar with the paperwork and academic publishing to back it up. If you were *any* kind of scholar, you might have looked this up before wagging your lying tongue (which is a sin, if I remember my Xtianity correctly, no?)

[djs259]

@MsGingergingercat I wasn't even talking about his published papers, which, incidentally, never made him the poster child for dumbo atheists and Muslim fundamentalist fanatics. Read my comments again.

Moreover, it is an indisputable fact that there are tons of other scholars that disagree with his conclusions, with more impressive academic credentials to boot.

But I guess you would argue they are all biased in favor of the Gospels, unlike Ehrman, who has no agenda whatsoever. Baloney my friend!

[MsGingergingercat]

@djs259; "If Ehrman was a serious scholar it stands to reason that he'd be putting out something more than popular books..." Wha... did I *miss* something in "...putting out something more than popular books..."? What are you looking for, Books-On-Tape? Videos? And when you say "tons", I trust you don't really mean metric tons, eh? There's tons of foolishness out there in the world (educated and otherwise). And I can see no Erhman Agenda: he seeks Truth honestly and straightforwardly.

[jpanson]

Are you kidding? Don't try to explain that the contradictions are just different parts of the same story. Some of the depictions DIRECTLY contradict one another and can't be part of the same story.

[LaneCh]

Such as?

[Noxshus]

@LaneCh The day Jesus died.

[thekingmaker10]

I think it is important to consider magnitude of any real or perceived scriptural contradictions. For instance, I would be much more concerned if one account said "Jesus died on the cross" and another said "Jesus did not die on the cross". On the other hand, if one account says Jesus fed 5,000 and another says 4,000 or 6,000, I wouldn't put much into it, because it doesn't change the point of the narrative.

[reginadelgraal]

In order to see Jesus under a different vision able to satisfy both: atheists and believers, I found this interesting site...click on my nick and then look at "Comments-channel" (only if you can read italian)

[URBANNOMAD2009]

One of the more important questions to ask a first century writer is the difference between politics and religion. There was no difference. Everything read in the NT has political overtones. First, there was a War between the Jewish zealots and the Romans and the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 a.d. Coincidentally the same time the first gospel was written. Second, Caesar was called Son of God so its also political.Third, a very tiny established minority could read and fewer could write.

[CarpeOmne]

If you guys would actually READ your Bible instead of blindly accepting what these people say you would see that the contradictory genealogies BOTH claim to be describing JOSEPH'S genealogy.

MY THEORY for why there are two contradicting genealogies is because neither matthew or luke had a real one, so they both independently fabricated their own to make Jesus appear to be fulfilling some prophecy. There is quite a bit of evidence that such fabrication occurred elsewhere.

[CRJarvis]

and if they where the same you would say they just copyed of each other.

so there is something else that is being done here.

[MIRCAVA4EVER]

The fool cannot prove his theories. He calls hallucinations like evolution to be science, but he has never observed evolution, duplicated it in a laboratory, or adequately defined it. He is a fool! And his so-called science is merely a fable (I Tim 6:20-21). The believer knows the Bible is absolutely true internally and externally: but he cannot and will not prove it to the fool, because the fool is missing the essential factor - faith (II Thes 3:1-2).

[Prophetes]

JP Holding is the best.

[Secretknowledge75]

All the Gospels in the Bible say the same thing. Some might elaborate at some points and others might elaborate at other points. You get out of every single one of them,Jesus is the Son of God. He died on the cross for sins He rose again.He was the perfect sinless sacrifice and left commandments and wisdom. And with Jesus you wont have an easy life but you will recieve forgiveness and live with God eternally. Without Jesus you are completely doomed.

[smb12321]

This guy starts from belief instead of scholarship. If the gospels are "true" why does only John have the story of Lazarus. This was the most outstanding miracle in the history of the world - the otherss failed to mention. This is just so pitiful, all the efforts to "prove" their faith makes one wonder how strong it is.

[terminat1]

One problem with the man's reasoning is that he doesn't understand that GOD wrote the Bible. In #1, he states that since John was a theologian, he obviously wrote from a theological perspective. That's not true. God could have inspired a jellyfish to pen the Scriptures. God is infinite. What John or Mark or Isaiah finally wrote was exactly what God wanted, nothing more, and nothing less.

[k0smon]

terminat: Bart Ehrman states that God may have inspired the original words of the bible, but we do not have any of those words. All we have are copies of copies. I didn't know jellyfish

could use a pen. That would be a miracle. If GOD wrote the bible, I would expect a much higher quality of writing.

[rwm313]

thanks for this as I've been in Bible collage and it is frustrating to witness the silly yet a little valid points of conflict.

this video saves a lot of time and energy!

[rocka700]

Cool video! Lots of people will say that the gospels contradict each other. It might seem that way but I don't believe that they do! God inspired the writers to write what they wrote. The bible is God-Breathed....Perfect in it's context.

[ridethelapras]

Did anyone else pick up on 'Machine Messiah'?

[LaneCh]

Huh?

[ridethelapras]

In the opening, when it says "Myth #5 The Gospels Contradict One Another and Contain Fiction", it plays the intro and the first chord of the Yes song "Machine Messiah" from the Drama album (1980).

[randy95023]

I have been studying the Bible for 23 years. I've yet to encounter any "contradictions". The 4 Gospels sometimes seem to contradict because the writers are recounting different events of the same preaching/teachings. Because Jesus didn't have tapes, dvd's, etc. He almost certainly repeated sermons like the Beatitudes on several occasions to different audiences. Writers recount same sermon from different times and places may seem like "contradictions". Thanks for posting the great vids!

[4dsouzaluiz]

@randy95023

John 15. Wonderful memory that of John...

[jfeltes2]

@randy95023

Read the annotated Skeptics bible and you will immediately see the contradictions.

[OneAtheist1]

@randy95023 Really? Then how about Leviticus where it says homosexuals, adulterers and teenagers disrespectful to ther parents should be put to death then one of the commandments says we must not kill. You could fill a book with bible contradictions.

[imperator332]

@randy95023

Then you haven't looked very hard.

Luke 2 and Matt 2 contradict each other concerning the birth of Jesus. To keep it simple, Luke says Jesus was born in 6/7 CE, Matthew says 4 BCE. One of them has to be wrong. It's a simple factual error, but an error and contradiction nonetheless.

Moreover, some of Luke's details, such as about how the census of Quirinius was conducted, run directly counter to what we know about Roman censuses.

[Shakespeare70]

@randy95023 What is being argued is that there are significant differences about the resurrection of Christ and that the story is different in each of the Gospels. The same goes for the last supper, etc. There are different versions as to what happened.

[daytonohiofellowship]

@randy95023 Well what have you been doing for 23 years lol, Look in Mark 2 and see where Jesus misquotes Abiathar as king, than try the SUFFERING issue, than trace out Slaves, and see how it hates Woman as well. Also see where it tells us to KILL PEOPLE, and than see where it approves of rape in the OT. See U need to STUDY it man it is FULL OF ISSUES

[sirjames45]

If the four accounts agreed perfectly, critics would cry, "obvious fabrication, they just copied each other", and since they don't they cry, " false and untrustworthy!". I am happy with them because descrepancy on some details is EXACTLY what you would expect of four different people describing their time with Jesus.

[iheartmichelangelo]

No wonder why Luke is my favorite Gospel writer. I love history :)!

[Unbathed]

Why do you disbelieve Islam?

[LaneCh]

Because its false. It claims that Jesus is not the Son of God and that He never was crucified.

[yastunt]

good video - the youtube site and webpage "101 contradictions cleared up" dismantle the socalled "contradictions" in the bible/gospels. . .another thing - if the gospels say so-and-so was in a certain place - it DOESNT MEAN that that person stood in that place like a dodo for hours and hours. .witnesses MOVE AROUND L.O.L

[anonazero]

because the parallels between allah and satan are unquestionably similar.

[AnonymousBChurch]

I loved the ad for "Christian Ringtones" but I didn't purchase any. (I don't know how to get them on my phone.)

[LaneCh]

Yeah, I have nothing to do with the ads so I couldn't help you with that. Most of them I don't agree with.

[AnonymousBChurch]

LaneCh I guess Google has to make money somehow. They seem to be getting more obtrusive recently. I commiserate with you.

[GPLeague]

What is truly ironic is this; if the gospel accounts were exactly identical in each and every minute detail then that would defeat the whole purpose of having multiple accounts! Also, they'd be written off by critics as having been made in collusion with ea. other.

[vasiliosrigos]

Its mainly these false teaches that contradict the accounts in the Bible. The Bible is the truth.

[mumpty]

Easy way out... its more like anatomy diagrams, circulatory, nervous, skeletal & muscular... four views of the SAME thing.

[OccamKant]

If you had four witnesses to an event, and one said "A plane crashed on the highway" and another said "A motorcycle hit a car" and another said "a bomb went off" and the fourth said "A bus hit another bus"...

You end up with four contradictory statements. It's not that each person is reporting "what's important to them". They're reporting DIFFERENT THINGS.

Which is what we get in the bible.

[stereodust3]

NICE!