History or Hear Say ? A Resurrection Harmony

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Have you ever read through the resurrection accounts side by side and noticed that while the key objects and events seem to be in common, the details all seem to contradict. Or have you ever wondered why the initial witnesses seem to be such bit players in the rest of the Gospel story -  Joanna, Cleopas, an un-named woman and an un-named disciple on the road to Emmaus.

Until recently scholars felt that while the seeming contradictions seemed insurmountable they at least illustrated that the Gospels where independent accounts of a real event, even though the witnesses had got the details confused. However, over the last twenty years solutions have emerged that take into account the geography of Jerusalem and real identities of the key players. These not only fit all of the facts in all of the Gospels but actually help explain why the differences are there.

Chris Forster talks through the various resurrection accounts and shows how although on the surface they seem to be filled with mini contradictions, they can in fact be pulled together in a way that gives a more three dimensional view of the events than any single account, and are at the same time more credible for being built up from separate witness statements.