Resurrection Question.

~ Originally published April 21, 2016

Question: Why are the Gospels so inconsistent with the Resurrection story?

Mark.

Probably the first written & most accurate says that Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James & someone named Salome went to the tomb. On arrival, they saw that the stone had already been rolled away. Looking inside, they saw one man dressed in white. They were afraid and ran from the tomb. (I won't even count the following verses which were added later & not reliable).

Matthew.

Says Mary Magdalene & "the other Mary" were the only ones who went to the tomb. This account claims that a great earthquake caused the stone to roll away*. The angel told them to go tell the apostles, and they were filled with joy and ran to tell them. On the way they both saw Jesus whom they recognize instantly & grabbed his feet & worshipped him.

* In the previous chapter Matthew says an earthquake happened at the crucifixion too, and that the bodies of holy men were resurrected which many people witnessed in Jerusalem. It's strange that the other Gospels do not share this story. Since Matthew's primary audience was Jewish, & the goal of the gospel was to show that Jesus was the Messiah of OT Prophecy, then there must have been a special signifigence to this detail that's lost on modern Christians.

Luke

 Luke, who was a gentile doctor reporting to a governor, probably spent the most time researching his gospel. He most likely used Mark & maybe even Matthew as source material. But he still does not mention the women by name. He says there are two men dressed in white in the tomb. They do not command the women to tell the apostles anything, they only say that Christ is risen & remind them that he said he would do this in accordance with the prophets. The women go directly to the Apostles & Peter runs to the tomb by himself. Then, later on in the same story, the women's names are listed but they are now: Mary Magdelene, Mary mother of James, someone named Joanna & "the others that were with them".

John.

Apparently was written last & often seems contentious towards the other three Gospel writers. In this version Mary Magdelene went alone, discovered the empty tomb, saw no angel, went to Peter & the other disciple (debatable but, let's assume John) & says, "Someone took Jesus's body & we don't know where they put it.". Peter & John run to the tomb. They believe right away & leave. Mary is left alone, crying. Jesus appears to her & she repeats to him that someone took her Lord's body & she doesn't know where they put it. When she finally recognizes Jesus, he forbids her from touching him. He does tell her to give a message to the apostles but it is not the same message which Mark & Matthew write (that he will meet them in Galilee), instead he wants Mary to tell them he is ascending to the father in heaven.

...

One could easily argue that the resurrection is the most important story in the Bible so it is bizarre that all four Gospels disagree on even the most basic details. Why so much inconsistency?

I'll be honest, I cannot answer this question.

Some thoughts:

It would be easy to be cynical & say, "These don't match so it can't be true.". However, we know that the Bible was significantly edited over the centuries & millennia, & what we consider complete books were often added to & edited later on. Or written separately than compiled. Some examples are Jeremiah & the Psalms. This would have continued at least til the Council of Nicea in the 4th century & maybe even til the Vulgate Bible was written in the 7th century. So, in my amateur opinion, all these loose ends could have simply been tied up through editing. To me, the Resurrection story is actually more believable because of the inconsistencies, although that sounds counterintuitive. If the story had been a conspiracy as some believe it to be, they could have crafted a much more solid story.