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| Q: | How can one explain differences among books of the Bible (specifically the gospels) if they are all inerrant? One example might be the event of Jesus overturning the money changers in the Temple. In Matthew, Mark and Luke the event occurs in the last week of Jesus' life (passover week). John's gospel puts the event as a very early incident in Jesus's public career (two years earlier during passover). Also, what can you tell me about the Gospel of Thomas or the gospel Q? Were earlier New Testament texts accepted as inerrant simply because they were included and used by the established Church at the time? Then, were books discovered much later (Thomas gospel) rejected simply because they were not found long ago? What sorts of "tests" were used to determine legitimate books vs. rejected ones? If these are human tests how can we be assured of inerrancy, since God did not compile and present it as one entity (such as the commandment tablets)? | ||||||
| A: | Many events in the gospels that seem similar took place at different times during Jesus' public ministry. The cleansing of the temple took place twice, so there is no conflict between the two accounts. In Luke 9-19 there are many accounts that are similar to accounts in Matthew and Mark, but these take place during Jesus Perean Ministry (just before he goes to Jerusalem to die), while many of the similar events in Matthew and Mark took place during his ministry in Galilee (which precedes the Perean Ministry by about six months). In Matthew and Mark Jesus is usually addressing the crowds that came to hear him, while in Luke 9-19 Jesus is often speaking to his disciples as he instructs them. The point is that in the course of three years, Jesus said and did many things that were similar more than once. Those who want to cast doubt on the inspiration of Scripture like to say that the gospel writers are giving conflicting accounts of the same event. But the gospel writers make it clear that what they are recording are two different events that happened at different times, in different places, with differing circumstances. The Gospel of Thomas was a document written apparently by Gnostic writers (a branch of Christians who interpreted Scripture according to their own heretical ideas), while there never was a document found such as Q. Q is a patchwork of sayings from the gospels that some "scholars" guess must have a source such as Q from which they came rather than being written by Matthew or Mark or Luke. | ||||||
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