Roland

John

1: Now on the first day of the week Mary Mag'dalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
2: So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."


Matthew

1: Now after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Mag'dalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre.
2: And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.
3: His appearance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow.
4: And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
5: But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
6: He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
7: Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. Lo, I have told you."
8: So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

My question is why is Mary Magdalene confused about Jesus’ condition and whereabouts in John’s account? If we are to believe Matthew’s version, she was told directly by an angel what had happened to Him.

Asha'man

Clearly, there were two women named Mary Magdalene.

CX

You are attributing confusion to the wrong person (people). Rather than attempting to reconcile the conflicting accounts, the parsimonious explanation is that the authors of GJn and GMt were either "confused" or simply reworking different strands of tradition. What objections can be rationally put forward overagainst this hypothesis?

Roland

CX -

Actually, I agree. I am raising the question to make the point that there ARE contradictions in the Bible.

CX

Ah, very well, carry on then. I don't think there are too many here theist or nontheist who subscribe to biblical inerrancy. With a few notable exceptions of course.

Dargo

I can sort of remember a Christian attempt to harmonize this contradiction. I believe they claimed that Mary made two trips to the tomb that morning. John describes the first trip and Mathew the second trip. The actual explanation was probably a lot more complicated in hopes of confusing doubting Christians to the point where they forget about the original contradiction.

Roland

Interesting theory, Dargo. The only problem with that is that in John it is Jesus Himself - and not an angel - who tells Mary what has happened to Him.

The usual response I have encountered is that there were more women there than Matthew tells us and that Mary went in, looked, saw nothing, then left, followed by the "other" women encountering the angel with his message. The problem is that Matthew would have to have been very dishonest if this is the way it happened but he made it seem as if Mary were there all along.

Doctor X

She was blond. . . .

--J.D.

Amos

You may call it a contradiction but many questions must be answered befor we can rightfully say that. For example,

Why did Mary M run to tell Peter and the other disciple?
Why did John outrun Peter?
Why did John look in but let Peter enter the tomb?
Why was the head cloth rolled up and put aside?
Why was it required for them to see before they could believe?

Toto

A poster on the Jesus Mysteries list claims to have solved all of these problems

The Book of Mary

The Book of Mary sets out a new theory on Christian origins - that it was founded by Mary based upon her mystic experiences of her spirit Jesus. She wrote the parables and sayings which came to her from this spirit under Jesus' name. As a woman she had to hide her role. so she appointed twelve male disciples to carry the message to the people and to preach and cure in Jesus' name. Later she appointed her brother James as the leader of the church. Staying in his household as his unmarried sister she ruled the church through him under her male pseudonym Cephas (Peter).

In this theory Mary the Magdalene is the same as the virgin Mary - the story of the virgin birth was based upon the concept that Jesus came into being by the spirit descending into Mary. . .

Highly imaginative? Yes. Less credible than standard NT interpretations? You be the judge.