Ah, Easter! That most holy day of Christ’s resurrection and the central religious feast of the Christian liturgical year.
And, of course, one of my favorite arguments for being an atheist. It goes something like this:
If the Bible is the ineffable, inerrant word of God, then it can contain no mistakes. So when did the crucifixion take place?
John 19:14 states that it was the day before the Passover meal was eaten.
Mark 14:12 and 15:25 state that it was the day after the Passover mean was eaten.
A small distinction, perhaps, but it cuts to the heart of the ineffability and inerrancy of the Bible as THE WORD OF GOD.
The Crucifixion is the central event to establish that Jesus redeemed mankind through His sacrifice . . . yet the major sources specifically contradict each other. Wasn’t anyone actually paying attention while it was going on?!? If we don’t know when that happened, then we can’t know when the Resurrection happened. This defining moment of Christianity is celebrated every year, yet it’s the clearest illustration that the most holy text of Christianity, handed down by God himself . . is just a bunch of stories by a bunch of guys writing stuff separately, which someone later edited together into one volume.
Thanks a lot, God. Like we’re not already confused enough.
