Why Are There Differences in the Gospels?: What We Can Learn from Ancient Biography

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 as accounts of Jesus. The majority of New Testament scholars now hold that most if not all of the Gospels belong to the genre of Greco-Roman biography and that this genre permitted some flexibility in the way in which historical events were narrated. However, few scholars have undertaken a robust discussion of how this plays out in Gospel pericopes (self-contained passages). Why Are There Differences in the Gospels? provides a fresh approach to the question 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 analyzes these differences in light of compositional devices identified by classical scholars as commonly employed by ancient authors. The book then applies the same approach to nineteen pericopes that are narrated in two or more Gospels, demonstrating that the major differences found there likely result from the same compositional devices employed by Plutarch.Showing both the strained harmonizations and the hasty dismissals of the Gospels as reliable accounts to be misguided, Licona invites readers to approach them in light of their biographical genre and in that way to gain a clearer understanding of why they differ.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction 1. Compositional Textbooks 2. Who was Plutarch? 3. Parallel Pericopes in Plutarch's Lives 4. Parallel Pericopes in the Canonical Gospels 5. Synthetic Chronological Placement in the Gospels Conclusion Appendix 1: Thirty-Six Pericopes Appearing Two or More Times in the Nine Lives of Plutarch Examined Appendix 2: Nineteen Pericopes Appearing Two or More Times in the Canonical Gospels Examined Appendix 3: Which Women Were Present at the Cross, Burial, and Empty Tomb? Appendix 4: Biosketches of Main Characters in Plutarch's Lives Notes Glossary Bibliography General Index Ancient Sources Index Scripture Index

About the Author :
Michael R. Licona is Associate Professor of Theology at Houston Baptist University.

Review :
"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." -- Margaret Froelich, Religious Studies Review "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."--Robert H. Stein, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society "Licona seems to have broken new ground in this unique text, ground that will invite other scholars to join him in tilling, planting, and perhaps harvesting growing insights into the Gospel narratives and their faithful witness in the church."--Association of Mormon Letters "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."--Reading Religion "Licona s book is the most important book I ve ever read on the literary techniques of the Evangelists. There is no book that has this finesse based on the Gospel genre as a 'biography' and hence this study can be used with confidence in classes engaged in the Synoptic Gospels. His conclusions about how the Evangelists did what they did are reliable and give us yet one more clear glimpse in how to understand the nature of the Gospels."--Scot McKnight, Jesus Creed "Professor Licona's new book is a monograph exploring some compositional techniques which the synoptic evangelists appear to have used. Clarificatory and thorough, it is an accomplished piece of work which it is a pleasure to commend."--J.I. Packer "Criticism often progresses through comparison, as it does in this significant volume. Licona's experiment of exploring differences between the synoptics in the light of differences within Plutarch is suggestive in multiple respects, and students of the gospels will come away with much to ponder."--Dale C. Allison, Jr., Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary "Anyone who has looked at a synopsis of the Gospels will have wondered why the accounts of the same events in different Gospels vary. Michael Licona breaks new ground by arguing that the writers used the same compositional devices as the biographer Plutarch employed when he reworked the same material in more than one of his biographies. This is an illuminating fresh approach to understanding how the Gospel writers used their sources."--Richard Bauckham, Professor Emeritus of New Testament Studies, University of St. Andrews "How worried should we be by the differences between the Gospels? Do they discredit the whole story? In an exemplary crossover of classical and New Testament studies, Michael Licona shows that the answer is 'not very worried at all': when we compare the techniques used in Greco-Roman literature, the striking feature is the Gospels' consistency rather than their differences. Troubled believers will find this book as important as classicists and New Testament scholars." --Christopher Pelling, Regius Professor of Greek, Christ Church, Oxford