Ex-Church of Christ Support Board

I have come to the realization that CoC preachers primarily teach a composite version of the Bible, they take the parts from the various books and come up with the best story. This is not a totally unreasonable approach as we often do this if we are writing a report and have to summarize what likely happened.

However I wonder in the education of preachers in CoC colleges or preaching schools how are the discrepancies in the gospels for example dealt with. All four gospels give very different accounts of events in Jesus life. Mark has Mary Magdalene and the other woman running away from the tomb and not telling anyone the body is gone. How did the disciples know Jesus was risen. There are two completely different versions of the death of Judas, The story of what Jesus said on the cross is very different. And the gospel of John is a completely different version of Jesus, it almost seems like another religion.

What are people in training to be CoC preachers taught about this? I have read in the religious seminaries of other demoninations these discrepancies are taught extensively, however the ministers are taught to preach a simplified version as all these discrepancies would just be too much for the average person.So the ministers are not in denial about the discrepancies and are well versed in them but just ignore teaching them to the typical parishioner.

I had a book once that listed John Kennedy as president from 1961 to 1964. He was killed in 1963.

Imagine in a few thousand years that book saying he died in 1964 and one other saying he died in 1963 are found.

You have a discrepancy. A way to resolve it is saying that Kennedy and Johnson were co-presidents for a little while.

Of course it is logically possible but that would still be wrong. One book is correct and the other has a wrong date

B.H. wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2024 2:55 pm I had a book once that listed John Kennedy as president from 1961 to 1964. He was killed in 1963.

Imagine a few thousand years that book saying he died in 1964 and one other saying he died in 1963re found.

You have a discrepancy. A way to resolve it is saying that Kennedy and Johnson were co-presidents for a little while.

Of course it is logically possible but that would still be wrong. One book is correct and the other has a wrong date

Great analogy. Reading through the account of Jesus's life in Mark it is more than a recounting of oral stories, there is a narrative it develops, that the Jews including the disciples either rejected Jesus or didn't understand him, and on his crucifixion the first person to acknowledge Jesus was the Roman soldier. It seems to me the writer was developing a story to show Christianity extended to the Gentiles and was for them, not just the jews, and it is very interesting that it portrays the jews as the people who most rejected Jesus's teachings. And in Mark the story just ends with an open tomb with the women who saw it running away and telling no one.

I think the earliest version of Mark didn't even have that much.

Mark actually has four different endings.

You should read up on a subject called memesis criticism and the Bible. Two scholars come to mind--- Richard C. Miller and Dennis R. Macdonald.

Macdonald has several books you can read for free on archive org. The thesis is nemesis criticism is that the authors of the Bible took pagan stories and plays and reworked them into gospel and Bible stories. Sometimes it's so close it's almost the same like the story of the angel freeing Paul from prison and Euripidies play Bacchae.

B.H. wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 7:21 pm You should read up on a subject called memesis criticism and the Bible. Two scholars come to mind--- Richard C. Miller and Dennis R. Macdonald.

Macdonald has several books you can read for free on archive org. The thesis is nemesis criticism is that the authors of the Bible took pagan stories and plays and reworked them into gospel and Bible stories. Sometimes it's so close it's almost the same like the story of the angel freeing Paul from prison and Euripidies play Bacchae.

Thanks, I read about it and the consensus is it may explain a few things but not the overall story.

B.H. wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2024 7:21 pm You should read up on a subject called memesis criticism and the Bible. Two scholars come to mind--- Richard C. Miller and Dennis R. Macdonald.

Macdonald has several books you can read for free on archive org. The thesis is nemesis criticism is that the authors of the Bible took pagan stories and plays and reworked them into gospel and Bible stories. Sometimes it's so close it's almost the same like the story of the angel freeing Paul from prison and Euripidies play Bacchae.

Yes, the similarity of the Jesus story and the story of Mithras is stunning. They didn't do a lot of reworking on that one.

We were taught to harmonize them with J.W. McGarvey's "Harmony of the Gospels." I have a Gospel harmony on my bookcase but I seldom refer to it. I have come to realize the whole concept is misguided.