Just registered today. I’m glad this forum exists. I’m a Christian and have read the Bible with emphasis on the New Testament. I believe the Bible is wonderful, inspirational, devotional, but the one thing it cannot be is historically accurate.
The gospels differ, which isn’t the issue. In many instances they have conflicting detail which cannot be reconciled. Matthew and Luke differ on Joseph’s father, Mark and Acts differ on the circumstances of Judas’ death, Mark and John differ on what day of the week Jesus died. Matthew has wise men visiting baby Jesus, Luke has shedherds. Mark and Matthew differ on when the stone was rolled away from Jesus’ tomb. Mark and Luke differ on when the curtain was torn at the temple. I could go on and on and on. Any thoughts?
About the narratives of the death of Judas: I have a theory about this.
IMO, the Matthean Judas hangs himself because, like Ahithophel the Shilonite, he has been disloyal to his King: David was Ahithophel’s King; and Jesus the Davidic Messiah-King was Judas’ King. Ahithopel gives Absalom good advice, which is banjaxed; so Ahithophel, seeing that the defeat of Absalom is certain, goes home, sets his affairs in order, and hangs himself. Judas, for Matthew, is Jesus’ Ahithophel.
For Luke, Judas ISTM is a Nadan figure. Who he ?
Ahiqar - the “Achiacharus” or “Ahikar” or “Achior” (see also the Book of Judith) of the Book of Tobit (11.18;14.10) is the hero of a tale, the Story of Ahiqar, in which - well, here is a footnote about him:
“[14:10] Nadin: in the Story of Ahiqar, the hero Ahiqar, chancellor under the Assyrian kings Sennacherib and Esarhaddon, adopts his nephew Nadin and prepares him to become his successor. But Nadin treacherously plots to have his uncle put to death. Ahiqar hides in a friend’s house and is finally vindicated when Nadin’s scheme is discovered. Thereupon Nadin is thrown into a dungeon where he dies. It was Ahiqar’s almsgiving that delivered him from death; see note on 2:2. The Greek and Latin versions of the Book of Tobit read the name as Nadab, but the Aramaic form has the ancient name Nadin, which is also found in the fifth-century B.C. Aramaic Story of Ahiqar.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/tobit/14?10=#17014010
Good brief article on Story of Ahiqar here:
Ahikar (Achior) | Encyclopedia.com
The point is, that in some versions of the Ahiqar-story, Nadan dies by…..bursting asunder. Just like Judas.
For St Luke, Jesus is the Davidic King - and the Lucan emphasis is on His universal reign; His compassion; and, His wisdom. Judas is not, in Luke, as in Matthew, the treacherous and despairing self-hanging wise councillor of the King, but the treacherous “kinsman” of the wise King.
IMHO, both Evangelists drew upon a shared Christian tradition, and shaped it as their respective Gospels, and hearers, required. In both of them, the disciple Judas betrays Jesus, and dies as a result.
Which suggests that some of the details in the narratives of the death of Judas, are more important than others. Which suggests that some parts of the Bible are more important than others. IOW, not everything in the Bible is on the same level: some parts are more theologically central than others.
For St Matthew, Judas is a bad councillor. In Acts 1, he is a bad “bishop”. Either way, he is a bad member of the King’s Household.
And therefore, a warning: to me, to you, and to any and every Christian. The people in the Gospels are not in essence different from us. The Gospels are sacraments in motion, sacred dramas that happen when heard or read.
As for harmonisation in general:
(1) I think the discrepancies in the Bible, and its flaws & limitations generally, are present in order to prevent it turning into an object of undeserved worship. IOW, its imperfections have a positive theological & pastoral function.
(2) My instinct is, not to harmonise discrepant passages, but to wonder what, & why, they mean as they stand. I strongly dislike making passages that say different things as they stand mean the same thing, if they might not be meant to. I think we should ask, “If this passage is erroneous, or discrepant with others, why is it ? And why does it say what it does ?”.
