Skeptics claim that there are contradictions between the texts of the four Christian gospels. But on closer inspection, what are frequently called contradictions are better understood – not as errors – but as differing perspectives on the same events.

The resurrection narratives are perhaps the most notable example: four separate accounts of the same event that differ in details – the sort of details that are easily understood as perspectival differences, but fundamentally agree in the main feature – that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead. Whether or not that event truly happened, it’s not the case that these accounts are contradictory. In fact, it would be suspicious if four separate people reported exactly the same thing. In other words, the gospels are best seen as these stories not as contradictory but complementary.

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Aaron Mueller
Chuck Rathert

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