Post by Caroline on Mar 25, 2017 15:18:50 GMT -5
The Bible is a unique collection of ancient documents with many reasons to commend it as reliable. See my blog post here for more on that. Yet as a result of the copious copying, inconsistencies were introduced along the way, due to scribal errors mostly. But there are other problems in the form of apparent contradictions between the various documents that go to make up the whole that is the Old and New Testaments. This is sometimes cited by skeptics as reason to reject Christianity.
Whether or not they are actually contradictory is and will continue to be debated. But here are some important facts to keep in mind. Because we recognize the Gospels’ claim to be historical records of the life and ministry of Jesus and his disciples we expect them to read like a strictly factual, chronological textbook of history in first-century Palestine. But New Testament scholars say they are more in the genre of biography than history and comparing them to other ancient biographies is key to properly understanding their puzzling anomalies.
Ancient Greco-Roman biographies used compositional devices that we might see as disingenuous today in a work of non-fiction but were totally legitimate then. Like:
When these and other literary devices are recognized and understood, apparent contradictions become clear corroborations. See my blog post here for more.
And click here if you’re interested in a reconciliation of the apparently contradictory accounts of the resurrection story.
Whether or not they are actually contradictory is and will continue to be debated. But here are some important facts to keep in mind. Because we recognize the Gospels’ claim to be historical records of the life and ministry of Jesus and his disciples we expect them to read like a strictly factual, chronological textbook of history in first-century Palestine. But New Testament scholars say they are more in the genre of biography than history and comparing them to other ancient biographies is key to properly understanding their puzzling anomalies.
Ancient Greco-Roman biographies used compositional devices that we might see as disingenuous today in a work of non-fiction but were totally legitimate then. Like:
- disregarding chronology to achieve a desired effect
- compression – compacting a narrative to include only its necessary elements, thereby omitting details like time, day, and setting
- transferral – attributing words or deeds to another, like recording that the centurion came to Jesus himself though he actually employed his servants to convey his request
- displacement – transferring an event into a different context for literary effect
When these and other literary devices are recognized and understood, apparent contradictions become clear corroborations. See my blog post here for more.
And click here if you’re interested in a reconciliation of the apparently contradictory accounts of the resurrection story.