Contrasting Accounts of Jesus

Contrasting Accounts of Jesus

To modern eyes, Jesus of Nazareth is presented as a prophet, teacher, healer, social revolutionary – even God. This Jesus the Christ seemingly has his act together. We view a composite, unified portrait – witness the many Renaissance paintings of a pale, gaunt, stoic and glassy-eyed Savior.

Jesus is the same – yesterday, today and forever. There is harmony of the gospels – an ability to weave disparate accounts together forming a single, coherent tapestry of Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and resurrection.

In addition to the Gospel of Thomas, other non-canonical gospels that have been reviewed include the Secret Book of James, Dialogue of the Saviour, Gospel of Mary, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Infancy Gospel of James, Gospel of the Hebrews, Gospel of the Ebionites, Gospel of the Nazarean, and several other fragmentary gospel manuscript sources.

Is it really this easy?

Is the Jesus of Matthew the same as the Jesus portrayed in Luke? What about the gospels of Mark and John? What happens if we step outside the bounds of accepted New Testament, to include other largely contemporaneous albeit non-canonical Christian gospels?

What happens when we confine our gaze to the writings of just a single author? Can the teachings and actions of Jesus be considered as internally consistent when viewed from the perspective of Matthew alone? Or Mark? Or Luke? Or John?

Approach to Contrasting Accounts
Rather than starting from the premise that there is a harmony inherent to the New Testament, we take the opposite tack. The hypothesis at the core of this research is that the story of Jesus is not necessarily one of consistency and harmony, but rather more an account of contradiction and conflict.

Presented is evidence of conflicting interpretations for Jesus – organized around a series of 24 different topics. The first 6 topics compare the narrative structure with which the Jesus story is told – from birth to death and resurrection. The next 18 topics address contrasting viewpoints covering 18 separate theological topics – ranging from role of charity in Jesus’ ministry to Jesus’ acceptance of women.

Structure

Birth of Jesus – by mention or more complete description
Healing Miracles – reported curing of physical or psychological illnesses by Jesus
Nature Miracles – involving apparent supernatural control over empirically observed physical laws of nature
Parables – examples of the unique stories and allegories spoken by Jesus
Death of Jesus – by mention or more complete description
Resurrection – similarly by mention or more complete description

Content & Viewpoints

Charity – emphasis on actions and sayings of Jesus out of love for others, particularly those viewed as disenfranchised within the society of the time
Disciples – whether the twelve chosen are portrayed in a positive way
Divinity of Jesus – notably whether Jesus is identified as God
Economy of Redistribution – indicating support for distributing financial or other material resources to the disenfranchised
Eschatology – denoting emphasis on prophesy including apocalyptic descriptions (of the end times)
Gentiles – whether Jesus explicitly indicated acceptance
Heaven – identification as an after-life with God
Hell – identification as an afterlife separated from God (or as other terms translated by various Bible versions for Hell)
Kingdom of God Now – with emphasis on the degree to which the kingdom is available on earth during human existence
Message Ambivalence – denoting apparent inconsistencies in the teachings or actions of Jesus
Messiah – representing Jesus as the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy as the anointed of God.
Prophecy Historicized – involving claims of Old Testament prophecy fulfillment by Jesus
Prophecy Projected – with claims made by Jesus of future conditions subsequent to his death and resurrection
Salvation – specifically linked to the concepts of faith and grace
Social Revolution – based on whether Jesus is portrayed as advocating changes in governmental or political structures (outside the spiritual sphere)
Torah Law – whether adherence was explicitly advocated by Jesus
Wisdom & Word – portrayal of Jesus in these spiritual/non-material terms
Women – based on whether Jesus explicitly advocated equal or compensatory treatment

Each of these topics is covered from the perspective, first, of the four canonical gospel writers, then from the New Testament epistles of Paul and James, then from Thomas and the other so-called non-canonical gospels.

Of the Pauline gospels, we rely primarily on epistles to the Romans, Corinthians, and Galatians as most widely ascribed to Paul’s authorship by scholars and theologians of all stripes. For John’s writings, focus is on the fourth gospel, since authorship of the Johannine epistles and the Apocalypse (Revelation) has been more widely disputed.

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At-A-Glance Overview
Pages of discussion can be summarized at a glance – by a one-page chart illustrating the contrasting accounts of Jesus.

Each account is assessed based on the degree to which the characteristic expressed appears to fit (or correspond) with the account of each account. Those identified as good fit are books which appear to strongly support or endorse the concept or characteristic considered.

A partial fit is noted for books where a case can be made, but the evidence is more scant or inferential (rather than explicit). And those indicated as little or no fit indicate writings that either directly contradict or simply do not have any reference to a particular characteristic.

In a few cases, question marks (?) are noted. In these situations, the text and its application are more uncertain – or may be ambivalent with opinions both pro and con expressed.

This at-a-glance chart reveals both strong similarities between some accounts of the Jesus story as well as definite differences. There is virtually no topic for which complete unanimity of opinion can be found across sources for which comparisons have been made.

On issues of structure, there is general consistency across the four gospels – except for topics addressing Jesus’ birth, healing miracles, and use of parables. There is much less consistency indicated for the other New Testament and non-canonical writers.

The gospels of Matthew and Luke parallel each other most in content and viewpoint, although there are major differences on views regarding such topics as charity, economics and timing of the kingdom of God, social action and role of women.

Mark and John are more distinctive, varying in outlook from the gospels of Matthew/Luke and from each other. Mark is ambivalent on more topics than the other gospel writers.

Perspectives of James are considerably different from those of Paul. The non-canonical Gospel of Thomas aligns closely with Luke on items such as extensive use of parables, emphasis on charity, and imminence of the kingdom of God. Thomas aligns with Mark in the ambivalence of Jesus’ message and with John with absence of any reference to hell.

As might be expected, the other gospels (outside the accepted New Testament) reflect quite varied approaches in their interpretation of Jesus life and ministry. Of note is the absence of Jesus’ parables, non-acceptance of Gentiles, and the lack of any reference to hell in these non-canonical works.

Nearly 20 centuries of Christian tradition have conditioned us to expect a harmony of the Jesus accounts. The reality is that harmony gives way to dissonance.

Is it any surprise that even modern Christendom presents no unified interpretation – but rather multiple denominations, sects and schisms? But the news is not all necessarily bad.

The Jesus who emerges from these disparate accounts is infinitely more interesting and engaging. Multiple images of this reputed god-man in action capture our attention longer than the single, glazed portrait. Who could ask for more?

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