Well Paige, if you were running for class president and lost would that mean you never ran? Would it mean it never happened because you didn’t win? Of course not. Every historical account is going to have some sort of bias because it is from a certain person’s point of view. Everyone has their own opinions and ways of seeing things. For example, if you were to tell a guy to walk into the bathroom and come out and ask him to tell you the first five things that come to his mind that he saw, he would probably tell you a toilet, a sink, a garbage can, a towel and toilet paper. Now if you were to ask a girl to do the same thing she would probably tell you a sink, the shower, soap, lotion, and kleenex. If you were to bring in a third party to look at their objects they could probably figure out that both had been in the bathroom. Now just because the girl didn’t say the toilet and the boy didn’t say the shower doesn’t mean those objects weren’t there. Similarly, if you were to combine the boy’s and girl’s list you now have a more specific idea of what was in the bathroom and the fact that they have some things in common only further shows that they both looked in a bathroom.
In this way, the Bible has different eye witness stories of Jesus. Though some may have extra or less detail, both share the main idea. Having slightly different accounts also makes the Bible more credible as it shows that the witnesses didn’t collaborate before sharing their stories. If there were four people who told you a story word for word wouldn’t you question if they had discussed with each other before coming to you? It is simply that the disciples had different points of view and possibly different word choice. For example if someone said Christ Jesus while someone else said Jesus Christ and then another Lord Jesus wouldn’t you be able to tell they were all talking about the same person? Someone’s use of words or viewpoints does not make their account more or less true than another.
Secondly, history is not always written by winners, look at September 11 2001. That was no win for the United States of America but if you were to look in the Middle Eastern books it probably is. September 11th is no glory for the US, it is a tragedy but it has shaped the country into what it is today and thus is a part of our history. Because of this event, security is tighter, and stronger weapons and defense systems have been built. Technology has developed and communication is far greater than it ever was before. Without this event, The US wouldn’t be as strong and prepared as we are today. Therefore Paige, I challenge you to look at the history you’re studying and see if your city/ your state/your country would be where it is today if it had not been for certain events, tragedies, discoveries or people. We must have a history in order to have a present and future.
