Gospels Contradict Each Other
By Ali Unal
One of the important points to indicate that the Gospels have little to do with the Original Bible revealed to Jesus is that they contradict one another in many ways. This point becomes more significant especially when we take into consideration that the verses of the Quran and even the remarks of the Companions about the Prophet of Islam(sl'am) are in complete conformity with one another.
Although there are plenty of contradictory statemenets in the Gospels, we deem it sufficient to mention only a few:
1. Matthew and Luke give contradictory information about the lineage of Jesus.
In Matthew, Hezron was the father of Ram whilst in Luke the father of Arni, and in Luke, where fifty-five names are given between Jesus and Abraham, Ram is never mentioned, and likewise in Matthew, that gives forty-two names of ancestry for the same period, we cannot see Arni.
The genealogy between King David and Shealtiel is completely different, which must be originating from the contradiction that according to Matthew Jesus was descended from Solomon, the son of David, whilst according to Luke from Nathan, another son of David.
Matthew and Luke give contradictory information about the grandfather of Jesus. According to the former, Joseph, who was the fiance of Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the son of Jacob, but in Luke we read that he was the son of Heli.
2. Matthew writes that “an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Herod will be looking for the child in order to kill him. So get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave.” Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left during the night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod died.”(2:13-15) This episode has not been recorded in any other books; what is more, Luke writes about the same period that “They took the child to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord: “Every first-born male is to be dedicated to the Lord..” When Joseph and Mary had finished doing all that was required by the law of the Lord, they returned to their home town of Nazareth in Galilee. The child grew and became strong; he was full of wisdom, and God's blessings were upon him.”(2:22-23, 39-40)
3. Matthew tells that Joseph returned from Egypt together with Jesus and Mary after the death of Herod, the then Governor of Palestine, and made his home in a town named Nazareth. He also points out that Herod was succeeded by Archelus, but he contradicts himself by writing that it was Herod who killed John the Baptist after all his narration of Jesus' communications with John during their missions in Galilee.
According to the other three Gospels, Herod was still alive when Jesus was arrested.
4. The Jews believed that someone named Elijah would come before the Messiah, and accordingly the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John the Baptist to ask him whether he was the expected Elijah. “John did not refuse to answer (their question), but spoke out openly and clearly, saying: “I am not the Messiah, nor Elijah. ” (John, 1:19-21) In contrary to this, Matthew writes that Jesus proclaimed: “John is Elijah, whose coming was predicted” (Matthew,11:14) and “Elijah is indeed coming first and he will get everything ready. But I tell you that Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him, but treated him just as they pleased. In the same way they will also mistreat the Son of Man.” And “the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.”(Matthew, 17:11-13)
About the contradictions of the Gospels does Horn, whose interpretation of the Gospels appeared in 1822, remark that there are so many contradictions in the Gospels that it is impossible to reconcile them.(p:276)
5. Matthew writes that Jesus healed two blind men while he was leaving Jericho together with his disciples,(20:29-34) but we read in Mark that he healed only one man(10:47-52). Luke mentions only one belind man, too but he tells that this happened while they were coming near Jericho, not leaving it.(18:35-43)
A careful reader of the Gospels will easily notice that such contradictions are common to all the episodes mentioned in the Gospels.
6. Matthew tells that “John fasted (all the time) and drank no wine”(11:18),but Mark contradicts him saying that “his food was locusts and wild honey”.(1:6)
7. John reports Jesus to have said: “If I testify on my own behalf, what I say is not to be accepted as real proof. But there is someone else who testifies on my behalf, and I know that what he says about me is true.”(5:31-33) This report is contradicted by John himself in his narration: “The Pharisees said to him: “Now you are testifying on your own behalf; what you say proves nothing.” “No”,Jesus answered; “even though I do testify on my behalf, what I say is true,because I know where I came from and where I am going.”(8:13-14)
8. Every reader can easily see the contradictions between Matthew and John in their narrations of how Jesus disclosed his disciple who would hand him over to his opponents and how he was arrested. (Matthew:26, John:13, 18)
9. The four Gospels contradict one another in eight points while narrating Petrus' denial of Jesus. (Matthew,26:69-75; Mark, 14:64-72; Luke, 22:54-62; John, 18:15-18, 25-27).
l0.The four Canonical Gospels contradict one another in telling about the so-called resurrection of Jesus. According to Matthew, “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. Suddenly there was a violent earthquake; an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled the stone away and sat on it. Then, he spoke to the women. “You must not be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has been raised. Go quickly, now, and tell his disciples. “He has been raised from death, and now he is going to Galilee ahead of you; there you will see him!”(28:1-3, 5-7)
Mark writes that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome(three women) went to the tomb..They looked up and saw that the stone had already been rolled back. So they entered the tomb, where they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe.”(16:1-5)
We read in Luke that “the women went to the tomb, found the stone rolled away.. so they went in.. They stood there.. When suddenly two men in bright shining clothes stood by them.. and said to the women: “Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive? Remember what he said to you while he was in Galilee: “The Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, be crucified, and three days later rise to life.” Then the women remembered his words, returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven disciples and all the rest.” Luke's narration goes on with Jesus' walk to Emmaus with two of his followers without making himself known. This addition is never mentioned in the other Gospels.
Jone's narration of the resurrection is much more different from the others. According to him, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the entrance. She went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb..” Then Peter and the other disciple went to the Tomb. Mary stood crying outside the tomb.. She bent over and looked in the tomb and saw two angels there dressed in white.. Then she turned around and saw Jesus standing, who told her: “I have not yet gone back up to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them that I am returning to Him Who is my Father and their Father , my God and their God..”
The contradictions seen in this episode only are so many and clear that Christian 'fathers' have not any justification to make us believe that the Gospels are identical with the Original Gospel revealed to Jesus, which must contain nothing contradictory. This clearly shows that Christians have had false, polytheistic beliefs for centuries in the name of following a great Prophet of Allah.
11. Matthew reports Jesus to have said: “Happy are those who work for peace; God will call them His children.”(5th Section) It is Matthew himself again who contradicts his own statements in the 10th Section by reporting Jesus to have said this time: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the world. No, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. I came to set sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law...”
They have been Christians who have shed blood for centuries all over the world, and it was the Christian world that caused millions of people to die and cities to demolish in two world wars. This they did and continue to do in the name of a religion which they claim to preach mercy and compassion!