In the entire time I was indoctrinated into believing the Bible was truth, I had never noticed the many contradictions. I guess no Sunday School teacher or pastor ever asked us to compare notes.
This is just another example of obvious contradictions.
Links to Biblegateway.com (King James Version) provided so you can check it out easily for yourself.
Matthew’s And Mark’s Account
From Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20 we see the same story – no contradictions. Both accounts say that Jesus was walking by the Sea Of Galilee and sees two brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew, fishing in a boat. It’s a short story in both Matthew and Mark. Jesus simply calls to them and the men immediately leave their nets and follow him. Going from there, he sees two more fishermen, brothers, James and John in the boat with Zebedee, their father. Again, Jesus calls them and they leave the boat and leave their father to follow Jesus.
Luke’s Account
Luke’s account, from Luke 5:1-11 tells a very different, contradictory story. It’s not as short and sweet. In this version, Jesus is not walking by the lake, but rather standing there preaching to people. He sees two boats by the water’s edge, gets into the boat belonging to Simon Peter, sits down in the boat, and continues preaching from the boat. There is no mention at all of Simon Peter’s brother Andrew!
When he finishes preaching, he tells Simon Peter to take the boat to deeper waters to let down the nets. Simon Peter agrees reluctantly, stating that he was tired of fishing all night only to catch nothing. As he lets down the nets, they fill to capacity to the point where the nets might break. He calls for help from his ‘partners’ James and John, who come to his aid. Both boats are so full of fish they are close to sinking. Peter falls on his knees exclaiming, ” “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Jesus assures him and tells him that from now on they will be fishers of men. The three men – Peter, James and John, leave their boats to follow him. Again, no mention of Andrew.
There is also no mention at all of Zebedee, other than his name mention of being the father of James and John.
John’s Account
John’s account of the calling of the first disciples also contradicts the other accounts. From John 1:35-51 we see no mention of boats or fishing at all.
John the Baptist stands with Andrew and an unnamed disciple (but not Simon Peter) and sees Jesus and says “Behold The Lamb of God”! The two disciples hear him speak and follow Jesus. Jesus sees them following him and he turns around. Andrew and the other disciple ask Jesus where he lives. Jesus tells them, “Come with me” and he shows them where he lives, and the 2 men, Andrew and the unnamed disciple and Jesus hang out together that day. Andrew then goes and finds Simon Peter and tells him that they have found the messiah and Andrew brings Simon Peter to Jesus. Jesus says to Simon Peter “Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.” So we have Andrew and another unnamed disciple first meeting Jesus, then later that day, Andrew introduces Simon Peter to Jesus.
The next day, Jesus went to Galilee, found Philip, and said to Philip, “Follow me”. Philip then finds Nathaniel. Jesus and Nathaniel have a conversation and tells him that Nathaniel will see great things.
It seems like Nathaniel might be one of the 12 by this account, however, he is not named only in Matthew, Mark and Luke when they name all 12 disciples, which brings us to another contradiction.
The Inconsistencies Of The Apostles Names
Now we have inconsistencies to observe in the four gospel accounts. Using the King James, for consistency purposes, let’s examine that.
For the most part, the names are consistent.
Matthew and Mark name 12 apostles. They are the same except that Matthew’s mention of Thaddeus includes a first name of Lebbaeus to Thaddeus.
Luke also names 12 apostles, but he names two men named Judas and leaves out the name Thaddeus or Lebbaeus altogether.
John does not have a complete list of the 12 apostles, but throughout his books, seven of the apostles are named. One name of an apostle that does not appear anywhere else is Nathanael.
Obviously, the names of the apostles is problematic and it is debated among scholars. There are reasons suggested as to why there are inconsistencies.
Whether you see the inconsistencies of the lists of apostles as errors or as “mere” complexities where we need scholars to sort them out or debate them, the fact remains that the Bible at face value to the common person, is inconsistent.
That said, if you are unable to see the blatant contradictions in the gospel accounts concerning the calling of the first disciples, you might be under the spell of an intense indoctrination.
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