Category Archives: Harmony of the gospels

Fifty Thousand Screaming People, Harmony of the gospels

To Post or Not To Post

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I should post today, but I sit here at my computer in the office, 32 minutes before I start my work day, with a mostly detached mind. It’s not writer’s block, for I can think of twenty things to write about, but none of those seem well enough developed in my thinking to begin writing for public consumption.

My evening writing time for the last three or four weeks has been devoted to the Harmony of the Gospels I’ve been working on for some years. Right now I’m entering the NIV footnotes (my base text is NIV). This has been a tedious task. Sometimes the footnote will say that it applies to the noted verse and several other numbered verses in the passage. Since I don’t have numbered verses, I have to alter the footnote. I began the footnote work with Matthew, then Mark, then Luke, and am now to the 13th chapter of John. With each gospel, as I got to a parallel passage, I found fewer notes to enter, the same footnotes typically applying to the multiple versions of the passage. Also, as I typed much of the unique passages from John, I entered some of the footnotes as I went along. So, tonight I should finish John.

As I entered footnotes, I found a couple of places where I had missed something in the harmonizing. And, I left two or three places up in the air as I did the original work in manuscript, passages that were particularly difficult to blend, or to establish a most probably timeline, so I put them off to a later date. That later date arrives this weekend, it looks like.

Also, one difficult part of harmonizing is knowing how to fit the unique passages in John into the approximate timeline presented by the synoptic gospels. John Chapter 5, for example, a trip to Jerusalem. Where does that go in the synoptics? Assuming John’s gospel is chronological and not topical (a dangerous assumption!), all we know is it goes between Jesus’ second miracle in Galilee and the feeding of the five thousand. That puts it anywhere between Matthew 4:13 and 14:13, or Mark 1:2 and 6:30, or Luke 4:38 and 9:10–assuming each of those is chronological, again a dangerous assumption. The same can be asked for chapters 7 through 12 in John; where do they fit in?

In general, I followed the chronology suggested in the NIV Life Application Bible. After I was about a third of the way through my original harmonizing, I checked the harmonizing of events in the NIV-LIB, and found that we had exactly agreed up to that point. So from that point on I just followed the NIV-LIB order, rather than develop my own chronology. However, I now think I need to shift John chapter 7 to a later point than I have it. I also need to figure out what to do with Luke 9:51, which seems to upset much of my chronology.

All of this will not likely lead to publication. But it is fun; it stimulates my mind; and should produce something useful for Bible study, even if only for me.

I think, however, when I come to a good stopping point in the Harmony, which I see coming in about two weeks, I will shift back to In Front of Fifty-Thousand Screaming People, and try to finish that.

Bible study, critique group, Danny Tompkins Short Stories, Documenting America, goals, Harmony of the gospels

February Goals

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After my blistering pace last month (just kidding), I’m going to establish fairly moderate goals this month.

1. Blog 10 to 12 times.

2. Monitor the five blogs I’ve been monitoring on a regular basis.

3. Complete as much of the Harmony of the gospels as I can. This will include:
– All NIV footnotes entered
– Formatting for reading completed
– Introduction written and typed
– Passage notes cleaned up and typed for a few key passages
– Appendixes identified, and one written

4. Market “Mom’s Letter” to someone; includes marketing research

5. Attend one critique group session; present a Documenting America column

6. More fully capture, for future development, a couple of Bible study ideas that have recently flittered through my mind and managed to make their way on to a capture list.

7. As time allows, work on my essay on the Resurrection.

Bible study, critique group, goals, Harmony of the gospels, reading

The January Report

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As always, I begin the new month with a report of how I did last month relative to the goals I set. Here ‘t’is.

1. Blog 10 to 12 times. I far exceeded this, coming in at 16. Of course, having not met some other goals, maybe I spent too much time here.

2. Complete my review essay of T.B. Macaulay’s essay on the History of the Popes. For whatever reason, I did nothing on this at all. I’m not sure why, but after working on this diligently in December, and having only a few paragraphs remaining to finish it, I forgot about it completely.

3. Return to typing the Harmony of the Gospels I wrote in manuscript over a several year period. If I finish the typing this month–and that is easily possible, I can start the editing process next month, including adding a bunch of notes. This I did in a big way. I did indeed finish typing it this month, and proof-read it once and made those corrections. I also began laying out the introductory remarks and the passage notes and appendixes, writing some of them. I also began going through and making sure I had all the NIV footnotes typed and properly referenced. I estimate I’m 60 to 70 percent done with this.

4. Come close to finishing my current reading project, The Powers That Be, by David Halberstam. Only 453 pages to go as of last night. I worked on this, but only on the weekends and not as much as I should have. As of last night I am at page 549, leaving about 180 pages to go.

5. Work on Life On A Yo Yo, which I begin teaching this coming Sunday, as a publishable Bible study. I did a little bit of this. I’m in the midst of teaching it to our adult Life Group, so obviously I’m working on it. I haven’t done a whole lot to turn it into a publishable idea, but did some.

6. Monitor five websites regularly…. I did this, even posting a couple of comments and receiving some feedback. I think having narrowed my reading down to these few sites regularly, and a couple of others occasionally, I have reached a doable reading list.

7. Critique 5-10 poems at various places, both public and private. I met this goal, critiquing seven poems publicly and one privately. This feels good, and at a rate sustainable from month to month.

In addition to these, and maybe in place of some, I actually completed some other things related to writing that were not on my to-do list.

8. Attend one critique group meeting, presenting “Mom’s Letter” (a short story) and receiving good feedback.

9. Captured some new ideas for Bible studies/small group studies I think I could write.

10. Began research and writing on an essay on the resurrection. This was sparked by a discussion thread at the Absolute Write Christian writing forum, and became a real activity after a little research. I’m not sure where I will go with this, but I like the start. This is engaging my mind right now more than anything.

career, Harmony of the gospels, miscellaneous, reading

Iced In

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Since 5:00 PM Monday, I have barely left the house. As I returned home from work early, the ice storm had already started; driving was already a little slick in Bentonville, but okay in Bella Vista. I parked the truck up the hill, not quite to the brow, thinking maybe I would go to work on Tuesday. All Monday evening and night we heard the roof being lightly pelted, either freezing rain or sleet or ice.

Tuesday I slept in, finally reached the office by phone about 9:00 AM and learned only 5 or 10 people (out of a hundred) had come in. The frozen stuff was still coming down. I walked a couple of tenths of a mile, up to the stop sign to see how the somewhat-major road was. It was sanded and had many tracks, but it was a mess. I didn’t bother to clean off the truck. I spent the whole day being tired doing nothing. Well, not really nothing, as I’ll explain in a minute.

This morning, Wednesday, I was up at 5:45 AM and out the door by 6:00 AM. I walked to the truck, started it, and began clearing windows. Forty-five minutes later I walked a ways further up the road where my near neighbor I work with had parked his pick-up. I put a note on it saying I would like to ride in with him, worked on clearing his windows, then went back to the house about 7:00 AM. I read for an hour, contacted the office and got my near neighbor’s number, and called and left a voice message. I then slept a while.

About 10:00 AM I decided to try to get to work on my own, but couldn’t get the pick-up even up the slight hill remaining (should have parked it OVER the brow, I guess), so came inside. Later, about 3:00 this afternoon, they had sanded our road, so I drove the truck down the hill and around the corner and up the next hill with no problem. I then drove a mile or so, out to the highway to judge its condition. Which was not good, but probably passable in my truck in the morning. On return to my neighborhood, I was not able to back the truck into the place I wanted to, so parked it up at the house closest to the main road, the home of a widow. I asked for permission to park in her circle drive overnight, and she said fine. So, in the morning I will have to drive it 30 feet on our side road, then I should be alright for the 15 miles to work.

These two days, which I will charge against accumulated vacation, seemed lazy, but they weren’t. I worked on my Harmony of the Gospels. I entered a bunch of footnotes, worked on the chapter notes and appendixes, finished typing the edits for typos, misspellings, etc., and worked on getting the proper white space. I did all that in the Dungeon. Upstairs, I did a few more edits, read in The Powers That Be, which is going incredibly slowly, worked on reading for my next Bible study, and had what seemed a leisurely time. But it was productive.

I’m wondering, could this be a dry run for a time in the future when I might actually be a published author, working on deadlines and galleys and multiple projects? Could be.

Harmony of the gospels, Life On A YoYo

Fishermen Called: Matthew/Mark vs. Luke

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As I said a few days ago, I believe that the calling by Jesus of the fishermen that Luke describes in his Chapter 5 is a different event than the one described by Matthew in his Chapter 4 and Mark in his Chapter 1. In the prior post I dealt with the timeline. Now I’ll deal with the specifics of the event(s).

Certainly, when two eyewitnesses see the same event, they will have different recollections. That is especially true when they wait thirty years to write it down. The inspiration of God for them to write probably did not eliminate their foibles and nuances of memory. So, when Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell of the same event, we can expect some differences. So differences alone are probably not enough to be certain of whether these are two events.

In Matthew and Mark, Jesus is walking by the sea of Galilee. In Luke, he is more or less stationary. At least Luke does not mention him walking along.

In Luke, he has a crowd with him, waiting to hear him teach, that is so big he decides to use Peter’s boat as a platform and get a little distance between him and the crowd so as to be more effective in his teaching. Neither Matthew nor Mark mention any crowd. They lead us to believe Jesus was alone.

In Matthew/Mark, Jesus calls Peter and Andrew, and they immediately follow; he then goes on a short distance and sees James and John sons of Zebedee, calls them, and they immediately follow. That’s the end of the scene. In Luke, after Jesus finishes teaching, he suggest that Peter put out into deep water to catch some fish. Peter does so, and catches some. When he returns to shore, he worships Jesus, yet at the same time says he is not worthy to follow Jesus.

The difference in the words that Jesus says are also of importance. In Matthew and Mark, Jesus’ words are almost identical: “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” But in Luke his words are: “Don’t be afraid; from now on your will catch men.” Could this be different recollections of the same words? Possibly, but the differences lead me to believe these are different events. Matthew and Mark is a calling; Luke is a declaration. And “don’t be afraid” appears to be in response to Peter saying he was sinful and Jesus should leave him.

But the really key item in my mind is that in the Luke account Peter calls Jesus, “Master”. The Greek word is epistata, a word used in political or military sense to imply chain of command issues. The president of a Greek democratic institution was the epistata. Certain officers, not necessarily the ones in highest command, were epistata. The word may also have the connotation of a school master in authority over his students. Now, if this is the first calling of Peter (and remember that the encounter in John 1:41-42 was not a calling), why would Peter call him epistata? Was Jesus’ reputation such by then to warrant that kind of title?

Some say that, since epistata appears several times in Luke’s gospel but in no other, this was Luke’s way of using a term of authority that his Greek and Roman audiences would understand, rather than rabbi and other Aramaic or Hebrew titles. Still, Peter used a title, of respect and authority. I maintain that he would only use such a title if he had already spent some time with Jesus, and had found him to be one he (Peter) would be willing to have in authority over him. By the time of what is described in Luke 5, Peter must have already spent a significant amount of time with Jesus.

So what kind of calling was this? Did Peter follow Jesus for a while, possibly a couple of months, then leave him to go back to fishing? That’s what I suspect happened. Jesus called Peter and his companions (Matthew 4:18-22/Mark 1:16-20); Peter followed immediately; took part of some of those events given in the combined timeline, but then went back to fishing. He was at his trade when Jesus came by again, this time with a crowd, and used another method to convince the inconsistent Peter that people, not fish, were to be his life’s pursuit.

So says the layman, dangerously dabbling in theological water he possibly shouldn’t be. I’m not dogmatic about this. Others will read these passages and a few before and after and come to another conclusion. So be it. But this is my conclusion, one I have found others to be in agreement with, and I throw it into cyberspace for whatever good it may do.

family, Harmony of the gospels, Screwtape's Good Advice, Writing

Getting Things Done, Part ?

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I have been in the whirlwind since last Thursday, and am just now taking time to post, in the few minutes before beginning my work week.

This past Friday and Saturday we held a moving sale for my mother-in-law. She moved to her apartment in August, but we have just now gotten our act together for the sale. Thursday night until 10 PM was intense activity of setting up tables, arranging items for sale, and pricing them. Then home to make signs. Up at 6:00 AM to get ready and in to town to place signs and hold the sale. Traffic was steady both days. We sold much, though it still looks like we have a lot left; some of it ours, for we brought some items to sell as well. By Saturday night we were exhausted, physically.

Then, on Thursday as we were setting up for the sale, we received a call from an out-of-state family member who is in the midst of a financial crisis. Dealing with that took much mental energy.

Then, on Saturday during the sale, at least two people showed interest in the house, and one person brought by an offer. While this is good–no great, it also turned out to be part of the mental overload in progress, and we couldn’t deal with it right then. So we arrived home Saturday night mentally exhausted as well. I then got another hit as I received a critique on a book proposal that indicated the work was too denominationally slanted to be published. A further mental blow. I tried all Saturday evening to prepare my Life Group lesson for Sunday, with no concentration available and hence little success.

Sunday was a true day of rest. We were to church a little late, then had a good Life Group time afterwards. The lesson turned out okay, as I came back time and again to the basic principle behind the lesson. Sunday afternoon, after nap, I went to work typing the harmony of the gospels, and I finished it about 5:00 PM! I’d say this is the end of several years of off and on work, but the end is not in sight. I now need to print it and proof it and annotate it and decide on a number of up in the air places. And I have to write a dozen or more appendixes with notes about why I made my various decisions.

But still, that main effort, the document itself, is done in first draft. That is always a good feeling.

This morning on the way to work, somewhat recovered both physically and mentally, I made two stops. One at my mother-in-law’s house to pick up something left there on Saturday that I need today; one to put some gas in the truck. It’s strange, but just getting these two things done has given me much satisfaction to start the day. Well, being down in my weight helped a bunch too. I’ll get back to my series on the harmony of the gospels soon.

Harmony of the gospels

The Timeline of the Fishermen’s Calling

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Busyness presses on me today, both at the office and in personal life. After today, I will unlikely to have any time to post until Sunday, and have little enough time to post today. So I’ll get right at it.

Why do I think Luke 5:1-11, where Jesus directs the fishermen to a seemingly miraculous catch of fish then calls them to follow him full time, is different than the calling of the fishermen in Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20? Because of 1) the specifics of the encounter(s) between Jesus and the fishermen, and 2) because of the apparent timeline the gospels together seem to create.

Let’s deal with “The Timeline” first. Here are the key events as told by the three synoptic gospels (John doesn’t deal with this period).

Per Matthew
4:12 John the Baptist put in prison
4:12 Jesus goes to Galilee
4:13 Jesus goes from Nazareth to Capernaum
4:14-17 Jesus begins his preaching ministry
4:18-22 Jesus calls the four fishermen, and they follow him
4:23-25 Jesus’ preaching and healing ministry in Galilee
5:1-7:29 The Sermon on the Mount
8:1-4 Jesus heals a man with leprosy
8:5-13 The faith of the centurion
8:14-17 Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law

Per Mark
1: 14 John the Baptist put in prison
1:14 Jesus goes to Galilee
1:14-15 Jesus begins his preaching ministry
1:16-20 Jesus calls the four fishermen, and they follow him
1:21-28 Jesus drives out an evil spirit
1:29-33 Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law
1:33-37 Jesus prays in a solitary place
1:38-39 Preaching ministry in other villages
1:40-45 Jesus heals a man with leprosy

Per Luke
4:14-30 Jesus rejected at Nazareth
4:31 Jesus goes to Capernaum
4:31-37 Jesus drives out an evil spirit
4:38-41 Jesus heals many, including Simon’s mother-in-law
4:42 Jesus prays in a solitary place
4:43-44 Preaching ministry in other villages
5:1-11 Catch of fish and calling of the fishermen
5:12-16 Jesus heals a man with leprosy

As you can see, none of these are identical, but they are similar. Mark and Luke are closest to each other. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew is a big event the other two don’t mention. Actually, Luke does have much of this material, but it is later in his gospel, in chapters 6, 11, and 12 (maybe others as well). If Luke has his gospel somewhat chronological, it appears that Matthew has grouped this material and put it where he did, not to establish a chronology, but to early on explain the main thrust of Jesus’ teaching. Matthew has done this in other places, grouping miracles of healing together and parables together. Matthew is, perhaps somewhat, being more of a biographer or theologian than a historian.

Blending the timelines of Mark and Luke, with the same events together, gives the following.

John the Baptist put in prison Mk 1:14
Jesus goes to Galilee Mk 1:14
Jesus rejected at Nazareth Lk 4:14-30
Jesus goes to Capernaum Lk 4:31
Jesus begins his preaching ministry Mk 1:14-15
Jesus calls the four fishermen, and they follow him Mk 1:16-20
Jesus drives out an evil spirit Mk 1:21-28, Lk 4:31-37
Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law Mk 1:29-33, Lk 4:38-41
Jesus prays in a solitary place Mk 1:33-37, Lk 4:42
Preaching ministry in other villages Mk 1:38-39, Lk 4:43-44
Catch of fish and calling of the fishermen Lk 5:1-11
Jesus heals a man with leprosy Mk 1:40-45, Lk 5:12-16

Adding what Matthew has, leaving out the Sermon on the Mount, results in the following.

John the Baptist put in prison Mk 1:14, Mt 4:12
Jesus goes to Galilee Mk 1:14, Mt 4:12
Jesus rejected at Nazareth Lk 4:14-30
Jesus goes to Capernaum Lk 4:31, Mt 4:13
Jesus begins his preaching ministry Mk 1:14-15, Mt 4:14-17
Jesus calls the four fishermen, and they follow him Mk 1:16-20, Mt 4:18-22
Jesus’ preaching and healing ministry in Galilee Mt 4:23-25
Jesus drives out an evil spirit Mk 1:21-28, Lk 4:31-37
Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law Mk 1:29-33, Lk 4:38-41
Jesus prays in a solitary place Mk 1:33-37, Lk 4:42
Preaching ministry in other villages Mk 1:38-39, Lk 4:43-44
Catch of fish and calling of the fishermen Lk 5:1-11
Jesus heals a man with leprosy Mk 1:40-45, Lk 5:12-16, Mt 8:1-4
The faith of the centurion Mt 8:5-13
Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law Mt 8:14-17

Thus, only two things are out of place when Matthew is added in: the faith of the centurion, and the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. Looking ahead in Luke, we find the story of the centurion in Luke 6, immediately after the same material as in the Sermon on the Mount! Thus it looks like Matthew grouped this with S-o-t-M, and it falls within that chronology. As far as the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, is it easier to think there were two such healings, or that one of the authors has it out of sequence, for whatever reason? I think the latter. Therefore, I cross out the last two items of Matthew, only because I believe they are out of sequence in this chronology: Peter’s mother-in-law was healed earlier, and the centurion’s servant was healed later, after some other things happened.

One other item concerning timeline: Luke does mention John the Baptist being put in prison. He does so right after his discussion of John’s ministry and before the discussion of Jesus’ baptism. Clearly, John couldn’t have baptized Jesus if he had been put in prison. A careful reading of Luke’s mention of John’s imprisonment shows he is not giving that as a chronological event, but merely puts it in at a convenient place.

So, I conclude that the blended chronology of these three gospels implies that the calling of the four fishermen in Matthew/Mark is a different event, in the chronology of things, than the miraculous catch of fish and what must be a second calling of the fishermen. But relying strictly on this chronology could be dangerous, and potentially misleading. Perhaps none of these writers gave us a true chronology. What about the specifics of the encounter(s) in the gospels?

Unfortunately, I’m way out of time and space. I’ll leave that for another day, perhaps Sunday.

Harmony of the gospels

Comparing John 1:29-54 to Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20

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Last night I typed away on the Harmony, reaching the death of Jesus on the cross. So all I have left is his burial, resurrection, and post-resurrection activities. Based on my typing speed and available hours for it, I should finish this by Sunday next, if not before. I also spent some time last night adding passage headings and footnotes. Much more of that remains.

Yesterday I gave some of my process of analysis on how to judge whether the four gospel accounts of Jesus calling his first disciples are one event, two events, or three events. Why would I write yesterday, “A careful reading of the four gospels together, as an overlapping panorama (as my friend Gary described it) suggests that these are three events” when a have a study Bible that says these are all one event, and another study Bible that says the John event was separate, but the other three accounts are of the same event? Why would I, a layman, dare to challenge someone (either an individual or a scholars committee) who had enough standing to have their opinion published in a study Bible?

I do so because my detailed study of the four passages leads me to that conclusion. How can I remain silent, despite what I see in a published work? Look at the circumstances of the passage in John 1:29-54. John the Baptist is preaching and baptizing somewhere, probably at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River (Jn 1:28). The day after some Pharisees question him, he begins to point his disciples to Jesus. The next day, some of those disciples (Andrew among them) begin to follow Jesus. Andrew goes to get Peter. Since Peter was likely in Galilee with the fishing boats, this must have required a couple of days. From there, Jesus goes to Cana (Jn 2:1), to Jerusalem (Jn 2:12), etc. as I described yesterday. In John 3:26-36, we see John questioned about Jesus, and his well-known reply, “He must become greater; I must become less.”

Now, in John chapter 4, we see Jesus go from the Judean countryside through Samaria on his way to Galilee. That means, assuming John is giving an accurate chronology–which seems likely, that Jesus was still in Judea when John was baptizing, now at Aenon near Salim. Obviously John the Baptist is a free man; he has not yet been put in prison. Yet, in Matthew 4:12,17 we read, “When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee…[and] began to preach.” This is echoed in Mark 1:14. So Jesus began to preach after John the Baptist was imprisoned, and he called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to be his disciples after he began to preach. Clearly, the encounter between Jesus and Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathaniel in John chapter 1 was before John the Baptist was imprisoned, and thus must be a separate event than Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20. To me this is a no-brainer.

Yet, enough other things are different between the John account and the Matthew/Mark account to show they are different events. John 1:29 etc. takes place at Bethany. Matthew 4/Mark 1 takes place on the Sea of Galilee, probably at Capernaum. In John 1, Jesus doesn’t call anyone; they simply come to him based first on the Baptist’s testimony then by word of mouth. In Matthew 4/Mark 1 Jesus is the one who does the calling. In John 1 there is no mention of the fishermen leaving their livelihood to follow Jesus. In Matthew 4/Mark 1 they do leave their livelihood. All of this points to two events.

What, then, is my basis for saying Luke 5:1-11 is a separate event from Matthew 4/Mark 1? Unfortunately, I’m running long and I’m out of time. Stay tuned for another post on another day.

Harmony of the gospels

Analyzing the chronology of gospel events, part 1

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Yesterday I wrote of my work at harmonizing the four canonical gospels, a work I began some years ago and completed in manuscript in 2006. I’m typing it now, being within a week of having the basic document typed. After that will come adding passage headings from the NIV, adding the NIV footnotes (I’ve done some of that as I’ve typed, and some even in mss), and adding some chapter headings. Since the Harmony brings together gospels with 28, 16, 24, and 21 chapters, I need to create some kind of chapter designations that works for the whole.

After that I will have to dig into some pesky, troubling areas that I put off when doing the original writing. These are some things where the gospels are so different, or seem to have a different time line, and blending them is impossible. I did not find many situations like that, but there are a few. These will require thought to make final, and will need an appendix to explain my thought process.

Actually, I will have several other appendixes to explain thought processes. An example of one is how to deal with the calling of the first disciples: Andrew, Peter, James, and John. If you have a study Bible that, under the passage headings, lists where the same passage may be found in other gospels, as you read Matthew 4:18-22, you will likely see a reference to Mark 1:16-20, Luke 5:1-11, and John 1:35-50 (or maybe just 35-42). But are these the same event? A careful reading of the four gospels together, as an overlapping panorama (as my friend Gary described it) suggests that these are three events.

It seems John’s event comes first. The correct sequence of events in Jesus’ adult life seems to be as follows. John the Baptist’s ministry is described, Jesus is baptized, Jesus goes into the desert and is tempted, then Jesus returns to where John is baptizing and John points to Him as the one everyone should follow (John 1:29-34). In fact, Jesus did not ask anyone to follow Him at this point. John’s disciples began going over to Him, including Andrew, and Andrew went and fetched Peter. [I may blog on this in a few days.] After this, Jesus: goes to Cana and performs the miracle of the wine (Jn 2:1-11); goes to Capernaum then on to Jerusalem for a Passover where he cleanses the temple (Jn 2:1-17), teaches (Jn 2:18-22), does some miracles (Jn 2:23-25), and teaches Nicodemus (Jn 3:1-21); then goes to the Judean countryside and baptizes (Jn 3:22-4:2); then goes through Samaria and has encounters with Samaritans and disciples (Jn 4:3-42); then goes to Cana again, from where he remotely heals an official’s son in Capernaum (Jn 4:43-54); then goes to Nazareth where he is rejected for the first time (Luke 4:14-30); then goes to Capernaum where he begins to preach and teach and heal (Mt 4:12-17, Lk 4:31-44).

At this point he calls Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow him. We find this in Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20. These two accounts are remarkably similar, having only minor differences in wording and detail. Many people believe what Luke writes about in Chapter 5 is the same event. But I have come to the conclusion it is not. Unfortunately, I’m a bit long already for this post. Let me leave this thought hanging for now, that is why I believe these are different events, and I will address it in the next post, either later today or perhaps tomorrow.

Harmony of the gospels

Harmony

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Can the four gospels be harmonized? I’ve been working at it for some time, maybe four years or longer. I began and made it a good distance, then put it aside to pursue other writing ventures, then picked it up again and completed it in mid-2006. That was all in manuscript, in three steno notebooks. My method was to take the passage, write in the notebook a verse or two from each gospel that had it, and see how I could blend the language to make one account of the event. I started with the triumphal entry, since this was covered by all four gospels, then went to the end, back to the beginning, and eventually circled round to the triumphal entry.

As I worked on this, my method changed some. The longer I worked the better job I did explaining why I decided to write what I wrote. Some of my early work is now difficult to follow.

My goal is to have one gospel, as seamless as possible. In this my approach differs from most harmonies of the gospels that I see. All of those are merely listing of parallel passages next to each other, with no real attempt to harmonize the accounts. At most they try to figure out a timeline for the events. I have two printed harmonies of this nature, and have found several on-line.

Mine will not be for publication, since I’m using the New International Version as my base, and that is copyrighted. This is for my own study, edification, and enjoyment. It seems a worthwhile project, and I’ve learned much.

Can the gospels be harmonized? Should the gospels be harmonized? I have talked with some who think not. The gospels are not history, they say, but rather spiritual writings and so should be treated as such, and don’t need harmonizing. However, I plug on, now finally typing what I wrote previously. Last night I worked for more than an hour, adding headings and footnotes to the part corresponding to Matthew 4, Mark 1, and Luke 4-5. Then I went to the end of where I’d finished typing before Christmas and typed more, completing the Garden of Gethsemane event. I’ve probably got 10 hours of original typing left, then much time to add footnotes, proof-read, and write appendixes explaining a number of decisions I made along the way.

Can the four gospels be harmonized? What about a life pulled in four (or more) directions? Can it be harmonized? Or must the number of parts be reduced from quartet to trio? These pages must tell.