Harmonizing the Gospels

By Dan Jensen

It is very common to read or hear that the biblical Gospels cannot be harmonized. In fact, many go so far as to mock any attempts at resolution as a fools errand. This phenomenon, often combined with other attacks on the biblical text, can cause Christians to doubt the trustworthiness of Scripture, along with adding fuel to the fire of those that would seek to discredit the faith.

In Harmonizing the Gospels, Dan Jensen walks the reader through the Gospel of Matthew, carefully comparing it to the other three Gospels and demonstrating in a point-by-point fashion that no contradictions exist between the four biblical Gospels. Many works have addressed alleged contradictions among the Gospels as part of broader themes and therefore often do not address every major accusation of contradiction. Furthermore, many of these works are either highly technical or are at the very least somewhat technical. Harmonizing the Gospels, on the other hand, sufficiently answers the objections of skeptics while remaining highly readable for all audiences and avoiding many other subjects so as to keep the work reasonably short and manageable.

Have your faith strengthened and learn how you can answer the accusations of alleged contradiction that are so often leveled at the Gospels by skeptics of the Bible by delving into Harmonizing the Gospels today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 19, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449780340

Dan Jensen

Dan was born in St. Petersburg, Florida and grew up on Aruba. After attending university he moved to St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands and also spent three years in Barbados where his two children were born. Dan did not start to write until after he retired. Aruba Gold is his first book.

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 Dan Jensen

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1-[phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-6611-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-8034-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012916434

WestBow Press rev. date: 9/17/2012

Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue

1.    Laying the Foundation

2.    Matthew 1-13

3.    Matthew 14-28

Epilogue

To R.C. Sproul, James White, and Hank Hannegraaf,

who first lit an enduring fire in my heart for apologetics.

Acknowledgments

33642.jpg

Writing one’s first book is a truly exciting and yet very long and difficult task. Countless people have indirectly influenced the pages of this work, but of course only the major players can be recognized. First and foremost I must thank my wife. She has been through a lot with me as I have sought my calling as a theologian. And beyond her great support as my godly wife, she has been an invaluable help to me as a self-educated lay believer because I wish to write theology for scholars and the laity alike. Her assessments, especially for works such as this, always keep my works readable and grounded. Next I wish to thank my parents. They have supported my efforts to become a theologian in countless ways despite our religious differences and that is a true sign of parental support. Numerous professors, pastors, mentors, and theologians have greatly helped me and shaped my thought, but as far as living ones are concerned none have been more helpful than the three mentioned in my dedication. The three authors who specifically helped this work the most were D. James Kennedy, John Wenham, and Gleason Archer. Finally, I wish to thank Dr. Keith Mathison for his very helpful comments on the work, especially the advice to simplify the piece given my stated goals for the work.

Prologue

33680.jpg

Any Christian who has ever given serious attention to the Gospels knows that at times they do not seem to be consistent with each other. This fact can cause great doubt and confusion. Some become so convinced that the Gospels cannot be harmonized that this fact, along with others, causes them to seriously question the inerrancy of Scripture. The goals of this work are to help believers understand how to harmonize the Gospels, help them see why it is unnecessary to make the tragic decision to doubt the inerrancy of the Bible, strengthen their faith in God and His holy word, and finally to help unbelievers see that the Gospels are wholly consistent with each other despite the fact that it is so often said that the opposite is the case.

This work is intended for the broadest audience possible. This does not mean that I hope scholars will not read or interact with this