3/15/2023 0 Comments Mike lacona![]() ![]() There was like 80 to 100 written with in just a couple 100 years of Jesus and the most prolific is Plutarch and he wrote over 60, fifty of which have survived and so I read through all of those not only to understand not only how ancient biography worked but to actually read these.” So, what did he discover? Licona replied, “They all followed Greco-Roman biographies. I started reading ancient biographies written around the time of Jesus because the majority of New Testament scholars, thanks to Richard Burridge initially, and also people like Charles Talbert, David Aune, and even more recently Craig Keener shows that uh the majority of New Testament scholars regard the Gospels as ancient biographies, Greco-Roman biographies. Since it bothered so many other Christians to think that there may be contradictions in the Gospels, Licona said, ![]() ![]() How Greco-Roman Genre Allows for Contradictions in Gospels However, Licona realized that “it did bother a lot of Christians.” In fact, he said, “I asked the class how many of this thing about potential contradictions really bothers you, and the majority of the class raised their hands” (emphasis is mine in all these quotations). So, contradictions in the Gospels do not bother Licona because inerrancy “is not one of the fundamental doctrines.” Why? Because, says Licona, they don’t affect any important doctrine like the resurrection of Christ. So um it didn’t really bother me a whole lot even if some contradictions existed. So if Jesus rose from the dead, Christianity is still true even if it turned out that some things in the Bible weren’t. I mean, I believe in biblical inerrancy but I also realized that biblical inerrancy is not one fundamental doctrines of Christianity. In a professionally transcribed interview by Lenny Esposito of Mike Licona on YouTube on Novemat the 2012 Evangelical Theological Society meeting (see ), Licona affirmed the following: “So um this didn’t really bother me in terms of if there were contradictions in the Gospels. Despite his belief that such scholarly discussions as these should not take place on the internet, Licona recently did a YouTube interview in which he sets forth his “justification” for believing that there can be a contradiction in the Gospels and yet one can claim they are inerrant! Until recently, Licona has not offered a public response to the charge that his reference to John contradicting the synoptic Gospels on the day of Christ’s crucifixion is consistent with the doctrine of inerrancy which he claims to accept. ![]() Indeed, he claims “ Bios offered the ancient biographer great flexibility for rearranging material and inventing speeches…and they often included legends” (ibid., emphasis added). He claims this is a “flexible genre,” and “it is often difficult to determine where history ends and legend begins” ( The Resurrection of Jesus, 34). Holding Greco-Roman Genre Allows for Contradictionsīut how can one hold to inerrancy, as Licona claims to do, and yet affirm that there is a contradiction in the Gospels? According to Licona, the answer is found in embracing the Greco-Roman genre view of the Gospels. But that does not mean that Jesus wasn’t crucified.” In short, John contradicts the other Gospels on which day Jesus was crucified. But is it consistent for an evangelical New Testament scholar like Mike Licona? In a debate with Ehrman at Southern Evangelical Seminary(Spring 2009), Licona said, “I think that John probably altered the day in order for a theological-to make a theological point there. This is not an uncommon claim for a Bible critic and agnostic like Bart Ehrman. The Charge of Contradiction in the GospelsĬritic Bart Ehrman wrote: “Maybe when Mark says that Jesus was crucified the day after the Passover was eaten (Mark 14:12 15:25) and John says he died the day before it was eaten (John 19:14)-maybe that is a genuine difference,” that is, a real contradiction (Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus, 9). But how can one hold to inerrancy, as Mike Licona claims to do, and yet affirm that there is a contradiction in the Gospels? According to Licona, the answer is found in embracing the Greco-Roman genre view of the Gospels. ![]()
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