Bible study with Luke and Theo

By Brad

Christians often advertise and proclaim to the unsaved(non-believers) that the Bible is the word of God and that the scriptures, particularly the Gospels, displays such complete harmony that such writing could only have originated from God.
The New Testament in particular is advertised by Christians to be a factual record of "historical" events as written by men inspired by God himself.
In effect, Christians claim God is the author of the Bible so it's accuracy and truth are beyond doubt.

As with many things that Christians advertise about the Bible, these claims don't hold up very well to examination. For purposes of illustration, I'm going to use a dialog between two fellows, Luke and Theo.
In my story, the character Luke is the author of the Gospel of Luke which appears in the New Testament. The second character Theo, (short for Theophilus), is the man who Luke wrote his gospel for.
Christians frequently claim Luke was a very accurate historian so what better source for an accurate record of events than from an accurate historian.
Luke opens his gospel account with the following preamble:
Luke 1:1-4
Most honorable Theophilus:
Many people have written accounts about the events that took place among us. They used as their source material the reports circulating among us from the early disciples and other eyewitnesses of what God has done in fulfillment of his promises. Having carefully investigated all of these accounts from the beginning, I have decided to write a careful summary for you, to reassure you of the truth of all you were taught.

Notice the key points of what Luke says here.
*Luke himself is not an eyewitness.
*Luke CAREFULLY investigated ALL of the accounts and wrote a CAREFUL summary.
*Luke wrote this so that Theo(Theophilus) would be able to know the truth of all he was taught.

The last point is particularly important. Theo may have been taught many things, but Luke wants to provide him with the truth so that Theo will know if what he has been taught is really true.
After all, Theo may have some been taught or read some things which weren't true and Luke wants Theo to be able to distinguish true teachings from false ones. The Bible warns to be on guard against contrary teachings and false teachers.
Rom 16:17
And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people's faith by teaching things that are contrary to what you have been taught.
Stay away from them.

Keep this in mind as we go to the dialog of the Bible study session between these two fellows.

Luke:
By the way Theo, have you read my gospel yet?

Theo:
Yes, I sure did. That was quite a work. I do have a few questions about it though.

Luke:
Thank you brother, but I can't take all the credit, God guided me to the truth because I was filled with the Holy Spirit and I carefully wrote it down in my gospel so you could know the truth.
I know you want the truth and value it highly.
As you know, that's what God is Theo. God is truth and I am his servant to proclaim it through my writing.

Theo:
Well, are you sure you didn't leave anything out of your gospel that maybe you didn't know about?

Luke:
Huh? Why would I leave something out? I included all the important events surrounding our Lord Jesus and his life on earth.
I didn't write down small details like what he ate for breakfast each day but I gave you everything important that you should know.
I told you I did a careful investigation and wrote a careful summary so that you would know the truth about our Lord.
And God himself guided and inspired me to be both complete and accurate.

Theo:
That's the problem Luke, I was taught by another man about the major events pertaining to our Lord Jesus and some don't even appear in your gospel and other events don't match up with what you wrote.

Luke:
What other man? And what other things? Did I write in my gospel that you would need to seek others or the writings of others to give you information that I hadn't included?

Theo:
Well, no. You never wrote that or implied that.

Luke:
Then there should be no problem. What I gave you is complete and accurate.

Theo:
But this other man taught me things you never even mention in your gospel and about some things which happened differently than you wrote.
These things are pretty important and aren't simply minor details left out of your gospel.

Luke:
Who is this other guy???

Theo:
He's a Christian and showed me another gospel that he said was written by "Matthew", who was one of the original 12 apostles of Jesus.

Luke:
Does this other gospel identify Matthew as the author? Where does it say this? Where does the author identify himself as being Matthew?

Theo:
Well, it doesn't actually say Matthew wrote it but many people think Matthew did and he was one of the original 12 apostles. This other Christian said it was written by Matthew so I assumed it was.

Luke:
Then you have no real way of knowing who wrote that other gospel!!!
If you want facts you can rely on my gospel which I very carefully researched to be historically accurate and a comprehensive record of what actually happened.
You need to be more careful about what you believe Theo. Don't just accept what someone else tells you about our Lord Jesus. That's why I wrote my gospel, so you could know the truth of things you were taught or heard from others.

Theo:
I'm confused Luke. There are lots of important events in this other gospel that don't even appear in your story about our Lord Jesus. Are you sure you didn't leave some big events out of your story?

Luke:
Like what? Give me some examples of some important things I left out of my story!!!

Theo:
Well, the author of Matthew says that when Jesus was born that Herod issued a death decree for all infants born in the Bethlehem area to be killed and that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus fled all the way to Egypt to escape from Herod's infant death decree. Joseph and his family then came back when Herod died.
Matt 2:13-16,19-23
When they(the Magi) had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."
So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

Luke, you never said anything about these events or mentioned the prophecy that was fulfilled when Jesus left Egypt.
Why did you leave these important things out of your story?
Didn't you think they were important???

Luke:
The events you described from that other gospel never happened Theo.
I've never even heard of them until you told me just now.
As I told you Theo, I carefully researched and investigated everything and recorded all the important events in my gospel.
There was no infant death decree given by Herod. Joseph and his family never fled to Egypt.
Joseph lived in Nazareth all along!!! He only went to Bethlehem to register for a census.
Luke 2:4-5
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

Joseph and Mary stayed in Bethlehem about 33 days(Lev 12:4) as required by the Law of Moses and then they went to Jerusalem.
Luke 2:22
When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord

Joseph, Mary and Jesus then left Jerusalem and went back to their home town of Nazareth.
Luke 2:39
When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.

Every year they went to Jerusalem for Passover. There was no trip to Egypt to escape a death decree.
Luke 2:41
Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.

The events this other writer put in his story about an infant death decree, a flight to Egypt, and returning to live in new home town of Nazareth are nothing more than fabrications.
That other writer is making things up to serve his purposes in some way. That writer may be attempting to embellish his story in order to gain influence over others. I told you that you can't just believe everything you hear or read.

Theo:
What about this then? The author of Matthew says that Jesus required two donkeys to fulfill the prophecy of Zech 9:9.
Matt 21:1-6
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
"Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' "
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.

Jesus needed two animals to fulfill the prophecy and you never mentioned that in your story Luke.
You never wrote anything about the second donkey. But the second donkey was needed and Jesus commanded that two animals be brought to him and cloaks were put on both animals.
Why did you leave out the second donkey in your story when our Lord Jesus needed it to properly fulfill the prophecy?

Luke:
That story is absurd!!! There weren't two donkeys required to fulfill Zech 9:9!!!
I gave you the historical facts Theo.
Luke 19:29-35
As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.' "
Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them.
As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"
They replied, "The Lord needs it."
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.

Those are the actual facts of what happened Theo.
There wasn't ever any second donkey nor were two animals required to fulfill Zech 9:9.
The author of that other gospel is making things up again. He is a deceiver.

Theo:
This isn't very comforting to hear Luke. The other Christian teacher who taught me these things says that the Gospel of Matthew is the word of God and now you tell me it isn't.

Luke:
Are you done with those lies written by that deceiver now? I will pray to our Lord Jesus that your eyes be opened to the truth and that you not fall into a pit of deception devised by evil writers claiming to be inspired by our Lord.

Theo:
Well, how about this one! The author of Matthew says that Judas threw the money he received for betraying our Lord Jesus into the temple and went out and hung himself. Then the priests used the money Judas had thrown away to buy a potter's field to serve as a cemetery for foreigners.
Matt 27:5-8
So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

In your second book, you said Judas spent the money to buy a field for himself. Why didn't you tell me that Judas really threw the money away instead?

Luke:
I gave you the facts about Judas and the money in my book of Acts which I also wrote for you.
Acts 1:18-19
(With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

Judas NEVER threw the money into the temple. He used it to buy a field.
I check out my facts and investigate things carefully before writing them down to serve as accurate history for others Theo.
You're beginning to irritate me with all these bogus stories about what really happened.
Are we done with this nonsense yet or is there more history that you think I left out or didn't record accurately???

Theo:
I'm sorry Luke but I'm just trying to figure out what I can really believe about our Lord Jesus.
I want to know what happened and it surely doesn't help to have two authors who can't even agree on vital elements of a story.
The author of Matthew says that when our Lord Jesus died on the cross that the earth shook and many dead people were raised to life from their graves and then later went into Jerusalem and appeared to many people.
Matt 27:50-53
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.
They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

Why did you leave this part out of your gospel Luke?
Dead people being raised to life and appearing to many others is a HUGE event!

Luke:
I didn't leave ANYTHING out!!! That event NEVER happened.
Do you really think I would leave something like that out of my story if it really happened???
God inspired me to write accurate history, not to make up tall tales that had no basis in fact.
You can trust what I wrote to be the COMPLETE facts. Don't listen to that other teacher who is promoting this other gospel.

Theo:
I guess that other writer lied when he said Jesus, after he rose from the dead, told the women to tell his apostles that they would see and meet him in Galilee.
Matt 28:7-10,16
Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him.
Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.

Luke, you wrote that after Jesus rose from the dead he first met his apostles in Jerusalem.
I guess this other author made another mistake huh?

Luke:
Yes, it's just another lie Theo.
Here are the facts again from my gospel.
Luke 24:33-39
They(two followers who had seen Jesus) got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon."
Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself!
Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."

As I wrote, our resurrected Lord Jesus first appeared to his apostles in JERUSALEM and not on a mountain in Galilee.
I've heard enough to convince me that this other author is not writing the truth. My gospel was inspired by God and is what really happened.
I DID NOT leave things out of my account nor did I simply write down things that I hadn't completely researched and carefully investigated.
Obviously this author of "Matthew" isn't writing accurate history and you would do well to avoid such false teachers. Stay away from them!

Theo:
Wow! I had no idea that there were so many problems with things that were written to serve as infallible truth from our Lord God. I guess I really need to be careful about what I believe in the first place.

Epilogue:
There are many more problems that can be cited between the Matthew and Luke gospels and in the rest of the New Testament but the point has been clearly made.
There is no reason to assume that any writing in the Bible is the "Word of God".
If the author of Luke was inspired by God to be an accurate historian and wrote all the vital facts, then the author of Matthew makes Luke's history incompetent. Nowhere in Luke's gospel story does Luke say that Theophilus should read other accounts by other authors or that Theophilus should read the Gospel of Matthew to get more complete information about things Luke failed to mention.
The fact that Matthew and Luke also contradict each other indicates that these writings were not inspired by a perfect infallible God. Nor can it even be established that the gospels of Matthew and Luke were even written by actual people called "Matthew" and "Luke".
The authors never identify themselves in their writings as "I, Luke" or "I, Matthew".
While it's possible that the Gospel of Luke may have been written by someone called Luke, there is nothing which shows or even implies that the Gospel of Matthew was written by "Matthew".

In the final analysis, these stories do not confirm anything about a character called Jesus, who may or may not have existed in the first place. Legends grow over time and while it's certainly possible that a cult leader called Jesus may have existed, there is no reason, other than wishful thinking, to assume that any of the information presented in the Gospels is accurate.
When men with an agenda write to convince others to believe and think certain things they will often write what they feel will sell the product to their targeted audience.
You can be certain that any "God" worth his salt would never inspire two stories with the types of huge inconsistencies as those exhibited by Luke and Matthew.
More importantly, if this "God" will condemn people to hell for failing to believe inconsistent stories like these, then that God isn't worth praising and worshipping in the first place.

A quote from Charles Mackay sums things up nicely:
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one."

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