What was God thinking?
So a good friend of mine asked me a great question the other day. He said, "I noticed that there are seeming inconsistencies with who was present at the tomb for the resurrection. I don't necessarily have a problem with the differences. What I don't understand is this: when God was transmitting His holy word to us (that is, inspiring the authors and guiding its being copied and its being canonized), why would he include such things knowing they would cause us struggles? Why would God do that?"
Here's the discrepancies he's referencing.
Matt 28:1, Mark 16:1, Luke 24, and John 20:1-4.
I think his question is a very, very good one. It goes past the basic questions straight to the heart of the issue: What was God thinking?
We must tread lightly here. Anytime we try to plumb the depths of the mind of God, we're doomed to an incorrect conclusion. 1 Cor 2:11 says, "[N]o one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." But that doesn't make the journey fruitless. It's a question worth asking.
Let me paint a scenario. Let's say some guy is sipping coffee at the watercooler at work, and his co-worker walks up to get himself a glass of water. The first man says hey, but his co-worker doesn't even look up at him. He merely nods absentmindedly, gets his water, and walks away. If you were to ask ten observers what they thought happened, you would get several variations. If you asked what the co-worker was thinking when he ignored the first man, you'd get as many unique answers as the number of observers you asked. Why? Because whether or not the co-worker was a jerk or absentminded or having a bad day is interpreted based on the personality and perspectives of the observers themselves. In a more basic scenario, if four folks witness a traffic accident on the four corners of an intersection, they will not give the same report to the police officer interviewing them.
What does that mean? The human hands that penned the four gospels had different motives for their story, different sources of information, and different methods of storytelling. Differences are no surprise. Let me quote a fellow minister and put it this way. If the stories were identical, they would be suspect! Being the same would suggest tampering and changes!
But on to the original question. God is smarter than all of us. Should it bother us that there is no miracle that makes the differences disappear? But wouldn't that deprive us of the miracle we may not be seeing? The Good Book took nearly 1,000 years to be written over multiple continents with multiple authors in multiple languages. And we don't even have one of the original manuscripts! Not one! The "originals" that we have were hand-copies, probably made from other hand-copies. And yet textual critics who deal with these old manuscripts find so very little variations. Even liberal (as in the-Bible-is-not-inspired-by-God kind of liberal) textual critics proclaim them reliable enough for a reasonable person. It astonishes me that even today more copies are made of the Holy Bible (in many, many different languages) than any other book on the planet. God has revealed and is revealing Himself to us all in His word.
"To us all." There are over 6 billion people on the planet by some estimations, and that's only today. Man has been around for thousands of years. The Old Testament has been God's Word since at least 100 B.C. or so. Mathematically speaking, there could have been billions upon billions of people who have found God revealed in the Word.
We are all as unique as snowflakes. I count it a miracle that one book is flexible enough to show the same God to all. He has been controlling what He said and what others were hearing and has shown Himself to lots and lots and lots of people! In my mind, there is enough information to find God, and yet only enough information about God to show the tip of the iceberg.
But let's be honest here. If this weren't a stumbling block, there would be another one. Jesus was called a stone that was rejected but became the cornerstone. It was also said that He was a stumbling block, and the Word is no different. Knowledge is not the path to God. Even with much knowledge, you arrive at a canyon that requires a leap of faith.
What am I saying in all of this? There are minor variances in the Bible, but none of them are major doctrines of the faith. And the story of the formation of the Bible we have today is a miraculous story. I'm not sure what God was thinking, but I at least know He's said what He wanted to say to billions of people throughout history. And most of them heard from Him from the Bible. Without a satisfactory answer to this question (which happens often when trying to understand the mind of God), I fall back on faith, not doubt. Ultimately, this unsolved mystery is only a small one.
"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:14-17 (ESV, emphasis mine)
Here's the discrepancies he's referencing.
Matt 28:1, Mark 16:1, Luke 24, and John 20:1-4.
I think his question is a very, very good one. It goes past the basic questions straight to the heart of the issue: What was God thinking?
We must tread lightly here. Anytime we try to plumb the depths of the mind of God, we're doomed to an incorrect conclusion. 1 Cor 2:11 says, "[N]o one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." But that doesn't make the journey fruitless. It's a question worth asking.
Let me paint a scenario. Let's say some guy is sipping coffee at the watercooler at work, and his co-worker walks up to get himself a glass of water. The first man says hey, but his co-worker doesn't even look up at him. He merely nods absentmindedly, gets his water, and walks away. If you were to ask ten observers what they thought happened, you would get several variations. If you asked what the co-worker was thinking when he ignored the first man, you'd get as many unique answers as the number of observers you asked. Why? Because whether or not the co-worker was a jerk or absentminded or having a bad day is interpreted based on the personality and perspectives of the observers themselves. In a more basic scenario, if four folks witness a traffic accident on the four corners of an intersection, they will not give the same report to the police officer interviewing them.
What does that mean? The human hands that penned the four gospels had different motives for their story, different sources of information, and different methods of storytelling. Differences are no surprise. Let me quote a fellow minister and put it this way. If the stories were identical, they would be suspect! Being the same would suggest tampering and changes!
But on to the original question. God is smarter than all of us. Should it bother us that there is no miracle that makes the differences disappear? But wouldn't that deprive us of the miracle we may not be seeing? The Good Book took nearly 1,000 years to be written over multiple continents with multiple authors in multiple languages. And we don't even have one of the original manuscripts! Not one! The "originals" that we have were hand-copies, probably made from other hand-copies. And yet textual critics who deal with these old manuscripts find so very little variations. Even liberal (as in the-Bible-is-not-inspired-by-God kind of liberal) textual critics proclaim them reliable enough for a reasonable person. It astonishes me that even today more copies are made of the Holy Bible (in many, many different languages) than any other book on the planet. God has revealed and is revealing Himself to us all in His word.
"To us all." There are over 6 billion people on the planet by some estimations, and that's only today. Man has been around for thousands of years. The Old Testament has been God's Word since at least 100 B.C. or so. Mathematically speaking, there could have been billions upon billions of people who have found God revealed in the Word.
We are all as unique as snowflakes. I count it a miracle that one book is flexible enough to show the same God to all. He has been controlling what He said and what others were hearing and has shown Himself to lots and lots and lots of people! In my mind, there is enough information to find God, and yet only enough information about God to show the tip of the iceberg.
But let's be honest here. If this weren't a stumbling block, there would be another one. Jesus was called a stone that was rejected but became the cornerstone. It was also said that He was a stumbling block, and the Word is no different. Knowledge is not the path to God. Even with much knowledge, you arrive at a canyon that requires a leap of faith.
What am I saying in all of this? There are minor variances in the Bible, but none of them are major doctrines of the faith. And the story of the formation of the Bible we have today is a miraculous story. I'm not sure what God was thinking, but I at least know He's said what He wanted to say to billions of people throughout history. And most of them heard from Him from the Bible. Without a satisfactory answer to this question (which happens often when trying to understand the mind of God), I fall back on faith, not doubt. Ultimately, this unsolved mystery is only a small one.
"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:14-17 (ESV, emphasis mine)
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