Conservative Evangelicalism has always believed that “ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God” (II Timothy 3:16) and that, because it is divinely inspired, the original manuscripts were infallible and inerrant in every way, and that there were no contradictions found within it. Also, as Article 10 of the ‘Council on Bible Inerrancy’ (Chicago,1978) has affirmed that, because there are over 5000 manuscripts of the New Testament extant from the early church, the original words can “in the providence of God be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy.”
But there are many liberal theologians and scholars that dispute this, who claim there are contradictions in the Bible. One example of this they would point to is known as ‘Matthew’s Doubling’. This can be seen in at least two places. One is found in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ healing two demoniacs in the country of the Gadarenes (Matthew 8:28). Both Mark and Luke give the account of this same incident but speak of only one demoniac (Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39). Also, Matthew speaks of two blind men being given their sight as Jesus passed through Jericho on his way up to Jerusalem to be crucified (Matthew 20:29-30), while the other two Synoptic gospels mention only one (Mark 10:46-52, Luke 18:35-43). So how are we to answer those who claim this represents an obvious contradiction in the accounts, and therefore, disproves the claim of inerrancy?
In answering this, let’s first consider how the Synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) came into existence. There are several theories involved here, but I will speak from the position that makes the most sense to me and I believe, therefore, to be the most likely.
Many, if not most, scholars believe that Mark’s gospel was probably written first, followed in order by Matthew and Luke. One reason is because Mark’s gospel is shorter, which suggests that the longer gospels of Matthew and Luke took Mark’s gospel as a source and added to it. Additionally, there are many accounts found in both Matthew and Luke’s gospels that are worded virtually identical and are missing from Mark’s. This has led scholars to the belief that there was another collection of Jesus’ sayings (defined by scholars as document ‘Q’) that existed and used by both Matthew and Luke. Though this makes sense, without a discovery of the existence of such a document, it remains speculative at best.
Personally, I believe the best explanation for how they came into being is this. Mark indeed was written first. Matthew followed, using Mark as a resource and the Q document (assuming it existed). Luke did the same, and both added information from other sources they had, as directed by the Holy Spirit.
So how does any of this account for Matthew’s doubling in the disputed passages? Some have suggested that Matthew simply used this as a device to convince his audience (the Jews) that, based on Deuteronomy 19:15, they should accept the miracles as evidence of Jesus’ Messiahship. But while Matthew may have been motivated by this, it doesn’t prove he lied.
There is a better reason for believing that what Matthew wrote is accurate which does not threaten the integrity of either Mark or Luke’s accounts. Of the three, only Matthew, as one of the Apostles, was actually an eyewitness to the number of people healed on both occasions. Mark took his information, it is believed, from Peter’s sermons and Luke through interviews and his relationship with Paul.
Also, neither Mark nor Luke’s account specifies that there was ‘only’ one person involved. In that case, there would indeed be a contradiction. Mark and Luke may have simply been focusing on the importance of the miracle itself and were not concerned with the actual number involved.
I guess the bottom line is this: If one does not desire to believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, he can always find something to question. But for those like me, there always seems be a logical way to explain these issues that does not deny the faith. Because of that and because of all Christ has done for me, I believe the truth lies with those in the latter group.
For God’s glory and His alone,
Pastor Terry