Mary does doubles - two tales of one resurrection

By Raul Casso

How does one account for contradictions in what is supposed to be a divine work -- no less the product of a perfect and inerrant God? Is it not reasonable to expect that a Divine Book, such as the Holy Bible, would be consistent and error free? Indeed, wouldn't it be blasphemous against God Almighty and His Divine Perfection for one to maintain that a book is His divine work where it contains many mistakes and contradictions? That is precisely the dilemma presented by a careful reading of the Bible, and, for this month's column, the resurrection stories in particular.

The resurrection is certainly the bedrock on which Christianity is founded. One of the most blatant examples of biblical contradiction, however, is found in the stories of what occurred on resurrection morning.

According to Matthew, on resurrection morning Mary Magdalene ran to the tomb and encountered an angel who told her that Jesus had risen from the dead and was on His way to Galilee . Mary raced to tell the disciples, and along the way, she encountered Jesus, who told her to tell the disciples to meet Him in Galilee . Here is the story Matthew tells us:

“In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the fist day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher . . . and [the angel] said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified . . . he is not here: for he is risen . . . go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen for the dead and . . . he goeth . . . into Galilee; there you shall see Him. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went . . . behold, Jesus met them saying . . . Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee and there shall they see me” (Matt.28:1-10 KJV).

As the reader will see upon reading John's telling of the same event, reproduced below, Matthew's rendition is in complete contradiction with that of John who mentions no angel at the tomb, and says nothing about Mary encountering Jesus on her way to inform the disciples. Instead, John has Mary run to Peter “and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved,” to tell them that someone had, in effect, stolen Jesus' body. Here is the story:

“The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdelene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus Loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him” (John 20:1-2 KJV).

These two stories are grossly inconsistent, and not in minor details. Did John's Mary simply forget when she was talking to Peter that she had just encountered Jesus? Why would she give Peter bad news instead of the good news she knew?

Christian fundamentalists are happy reconciling this discrepancy by insisting that Matthew's Mary was reporting the spiritual resurrection of Jesus, while John's Mary was reporting the disappearance of Jesus' earthly remains. This doesn't work, however, for at least a couple of reasons.

First, Mathew's Mary, encountering Jesus while on her way to inform the disciples of the Galilee trip, recognized Jesus wearing the same body. She never wondered where Jesus' body was -- as far as she knew, He still had it on him.

Secondly, the emotional disposition of Mary as described by John and Matthew is completely different one from the other. Matthew, on the one hand, tells us of a joyful Mary eager to inform the disciples of the miraculously good news, and then urge them on to Galilee . Matthew, on the other hand, tells of a Mary in distress about her Master's complete disappearance, the whereabouts of whom she knows nothing.

Obviously, Matthew and John didn't get their stories straight. Why is this?

The reason for the blatant contradiction is that “John” and “Matthew” were written by different groups of people, many years apart, and are based on two separate oral traditions about what happened when the women visited the tomb on resurrection morning. One oral tradition held that Mary met an angel who explained that Jesus had risen from the dead and was on his way to Galilee. The other tradition, as memorialized by “John,” had Mary believing that the body of Jesus had been stolen and taken to some unknown place.

The magnitude of this contradiction precludes any reconciliation between the two stories. This, in and of itself, is not so bad if the Bible is understood to be a collection of stories, legends, traditions, and beliefs that ancient civilizations held to in their day. Ancient mythologies, after all, are a fascinating study. When it is claimed, however, that the Bible is a supernatural work -- a divine work by an infallible God -- such contradictions become wholly unacceptable, and seriously undermine any truth to that idea.