The Synoptic Problem and the Titanic

The Synoptic Problem is not a good reason to reject Jesus’ death on the cross for sin, His resurrection, or the Christian Scriptures

The New Testament Gospels contain witness and testimony to the person and work of Jesus. Three of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are similar to one another but also differ in their content, wording, and order. This is called by New Testament scholars the “Synoptic Problem”.¹To learn more about the Synoptic Problem see “The Synoptic Problem” by Daniel Wallace.

Muslims apologists, in more recent history, focus on the “Synoptic Problem” and allege that the differences undermine the reliability of the New Testament. This has the advantage in keeping Muslims “in the fold” because most have never read the Gospels let alone taken the time to think carefully and prayerfully about the way events in the life of Jesus were recorded. So who does one believe? The Gospel accounts or modern scholars? Where does one even begin?

Let me give five suggestions:

(1) Pray for God’s guidance.

(2) Understand that the Quranic Injeel does not exist and has never existed. Contrary to the Quran, Jesus was never given a book from heaven (cf. Qur’an 5:46; 57:27).²The Quranic Injeel has caused much confusion. Christians rightly point out the reliability of the New Testament, but that really is not the issue. Muslims believe a singular book (Arabic: Injeel) was given to Jesus. Muslims do not believe Jesus was given Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, etc. Even if Christians possessed the original copies of the twenty-seven New Testament books, they would not be the book from heaven (Injeel) the Quran says was given to Jesus. The burden of proof is not upon Christians to prove the reliability of the New Testament. The burden of proof is upon Muslims to prove that the Injeel was given to Jesus Who then gave it to His followers.

(3) Read the Gospels for yourself.

(4) Be specific and focused. Pick a topic of great importance such as the matter of Jesus’ death on the cross. Do the Gospels contradict at this point? Is there explicit testimony that Jesus died on the cross? Is there explicit testimony that Jesus did not die on the cross?

(5) Understand that differences in accounts do not automatically mean contradictions.³Doesn’t the Quran give variations on the story of Lot and Sodom? [Quran 7:80-84; 26:165-173; 27:54-56; 29:28-31] This is true for the Gospels and in the rest of life. John Gilchrist gives a marvelous illustration of this in his debate with Shabir Ally. Fast forward to 14:30: