Understanding the Differences in the Gospels Like Their First Readers Did

We’re finishing our series on The Gospels today with a look at a common – and commonly misunderstood – question: Why are there differences in the Gospels?

This was SO much fun to research; you’re going to learn a lot today!

We’re going to look at:

• The timeline of the writing of the Gospels
• What the individual authors of the gospels intended for their writings to be.
• How our own modern-day cultural context might lead us to misunderstand key truths about the gospels and their messages.
• And, we’ll look at some of the places where the gospels record events differently.

Taking You Out of the Equation

Just as we talk about needing to understand the cultural context of the events and people written about in the Bible, we need to understand our own cultural context.

At the end, we’ll talk about how you can better neutralize your unconscious, culturally-skewed expectations about the gospels. As a result, you’ll be able to minimize their influence on the very question of differences in the gospels.

How to Apply What You Learn

As a result of learning to neutralize your cultural expectations, you will grow in your ability to read the Bible for what it intends to be – and understand what it has and hasn’t been for its readers in the thousands of years that have come before us.

How to Learn Even More as You Read

Explore the links below. There is a wealth of information about the nature of the gospels readily available for free online.

And if you enjoy looking at some of the nuances in the Bible, you’ll love my FREE Guide, “11 Steps to Meaningful Word Study.” Don't miss this chance to get your FREE copy!

Here are some great materials to further explore this subject:

This article gives an answer to todays question about differences in the Gospels.

Christianity Today reproduced an essay from the HCSB Study Bible written by Robert Stein. Its original title was “Differences in the Gospels, a Closer Look.”

Some years ago, Frontline produced a documentary about Jesus. It spawned great discussion, including a later academic symposium on the subjects raised. PBS has links to the original information, plus a lot more on their site.

---

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marinalmcclure/message