Why Are There Differences in the Gospels?

Anyone who reads the Gospels carefully will notice that there are differences in the manner in which they report the same events. These differences have led many conservative Christians to resort to harmonization efforts that are often quite strained, sometimes to the point of absurdity. Many people have concluded the Gospels are hopelessly contradictory and, therefore, historically unreliable accounts of Jesus. The majority of New Testament scholars now hold thatmost if not all of the Gospels belong to the genre of Greco-Roman biography and that this genre permitted some flexibility in the manner that historical events were narrated. However, few scholars provide a robust discussion on how this plays out in Gospel pericopes (self-contained passages). Why Are There Differences in the Gospels? provides a fresh approach to the matter by examining the works of Plutarch, a Greek essayist who lived in the first and second centuries CE. Michael R. Licona discovers three-dozen pericopes narrated two or more times in Plutarch's Lives, identifies differences between the accounts, and views these differences in light of compositional devices acknowledged by classical scholars to have been commonly employed by ancient authors. Thebook then uses the same approach with nineteen pericopes narrated in two or more Gospels to demonstrate that the major differences found in them likely result from the same compositional devices employed by Plutarch.By suggesting that both the strained harmonizations and the hasty dismissals of the Gospels as reliable accounts are misguided, Licona invites readers to view the Gospels in light of their biographical genre in order to gain a clearer understanding of why the differences are present.

Besides its important contribution to our understandings of Gospel composition, Licona's book will be a helpful addition to the classroom. Its relaxed, even occasionally conversational tone, detailed notes and appendices, and glossary of technical and non-English terms make it accessible for students and experienced scholars alike., The book is a valuable contribution to discussion of the genre of the gospels and of the historiographical propensities of their authors, incorporating detailed engagement with the primary sources and drawing judicious conclusions., [Licona's] work deserves respect not only for its solid scholarship, but for the fact that he is seeking to understand and defend bilblical inerrancy by carefully analysis of the bilble itself., Licona has written a well-researched and challenging work, and his knowledge of Roman rhetoric is impressive... In my view, the most helpful contribution of Licona's work is his analysis of the differences found in nineteen parallel Gospel accounts. This alone is worth the purchase of the book. His honesty in admitting that he knows no convincing harmonization with respect to some of these differences is refreshing and causes the reader to take his harmonizations more seriously than those of scholars who think that all such differences can easily be harmonized., Licona should be applauded for helping his audience rethink their presuppositions about the Gospels by situating them among ancient Mediterranean biographies, rather than the modern kind, correcting a 'historical nearsightedness.' Moreover, the presentation is very reader friendly, with a glossary and appendices added to assist those lacking certain competencies. Interested readers can add this affordable volume to their libraries with confidence.

Michael R. Licona is Associate Professor of Theology at Houston Baptist University.