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Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
directions, click here.
DEFENDING
THE FAITH From Was
there one angel who appeared at the
tomb (Matt. 28, Mark 16), or two (Luke
24, John 20)? Did Mary Magdalene go to
the tomb alone (John 20), or with
others (Mark 16, Luke 24)? Critics
have raised questions about these and
other areas of divergence: How
do we account for these variations? Are
they a stumbling block to believing
that Jesus rose from the
dead? According
to an established rule of investigative
practice, if a reasonable explanation
fits the available evidence then
divergences in detail do not
necessarily constitute contradictions.
So
the real question is not, "Do the
gospel accounts diverge at points?"
but, rather, "Can those divergences be
put together into a logical whole?"
In
his book, Beyond a Reasonable
Doubt (College Press, 1992),
retired judge Herbert Casteel offers
one example of how the various accounts
could fit together: According
to Judge Casteel, the minor variations
found in the gospel accounts actually
argue for their reliability as
eyewitness testimony: Remember,
too, that many witnesses to the
resurrection went to their deaths,
rather than recant their
testimony. Indeed,
from the time of the resurrection
forward, they devoted themselves, no
matter the cost, to the proclamation
that Jesus had indeed been raised from
the dead. --
The Apostle Peter in 2 Peter
1:16
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
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SPRING
2006
Beyond
a reasonable doubt
Each of the four gospels -- Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John -- offers an
account of the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. These accounts contain several
divergences in detail.
A
logical wholeVery
early a group of women, including
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of
James, Salome, and Joanna set out
for the tomb.
Meanwhile two angels are sent; there
is an earthquake and one angel rolls
back the stone and sits upon it. The
soldiers faint and then revive and
flee into the city.
The women arrive and find the tomb
opened; without waiting, Mary
Magdalene, assuming someone has
taken the Lord's body, runs back to
the city to tell Peter and John. The
other women enter the tomb and see
the body is gone. The two angels
appear to them and tell them of the
resurrection. The women then leave
to take the news to the
disciples.
Peter and John run to the tomb with
Mary Magdalene following. Peter and
John enter the tomb, see the grave
clothes, and then return to the
city, but Mary Magdalene remains at
the tomb weeping, and Jesus makes
His first appearance to her.
Jesus next appears to the other
women who are on their way to find
the disciples. Jesus appears to
Peter; He appears to the two
disciples on the road to Emmaus; and
then appears to a group of disciples
including all of the Eleven except
Thomas.
False
testimony?People
who conspire to testify to a
falsehood rehearse carefully to
avoid contradictions. [This is
why f]alse testimony appears on
the surface to be in harmony, but
discrepancies appear when you dig
deeper. [On the other hand,
t]rue accounts may appear on the
surface to be contradictory, but are
found to be in harmony when you dig
deeper....
[In addition,] the Gospel
accounts of the
resurrection...[contain]
numerous details of the very type
that false accounts would be careful
to avoid.
For example, it is related of the
Lord's appearances to His followers,
that at first they did not recognize
Him. A false story would never have
been made up this way, because it is
obvious that this would support an
argument that the disciples were
mistaken and didn't see Jesus at
all.
Why did the Gospel writers tell it
this way? Because their purpose was
simply to tell what happened, and
that is the way it happened.We
did not follow cleverly invented
stories when we told you about the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of
his majesty.