A good piece of original research by Mike Licona on Plutarch and the flexibility expected within ancient biographies.

“The careful reader of the Gospels will notice that there are differences in the manner in which they report the same events.

These differences have led many to conclude that the Gospels are hopelessly contradictory and therefore historically unreliable as accounts of Jesus. Meanwhile, many conservative Christians have resorted to harmonization efforts that are often quite strained, sometimes to the point of absurdity.

However, the majority of New Testament scholars now hold that most if not all of the Gospels belong to the genre of Greco-Roman biography and that this genre permitted some flexibility in the way in which historical events were narrated.

Dr Mike Licona is a New Testament scholar, author, and Christian apologist. He is Professor of New Testament Studies at Houston Christian University, and Associate Professor of Theology at North-West University. He holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from University of Pretoria.