"Put up, or shut up," they tell me. "You keep saying that the Bible contradicts itself." (like last week); "Show me where the Bible contradicts itself. You can't do it, for the Bible can't contradict itself."

They're right, of course; for the Bible is 100 per cent true, and at the level of its deep meaning it is perfectly consistent. It is only when you try to take all of it literally - as science and history - that it becomes inconsistent. As I said last week, these profound contradictions lead atheists to conclude that God does not exist, when the real conclusion should be that fundamentalism is a false approach to biblical exegesis.

There are thousands of contradictions in the Old and New Testaments, but let me address the differing accounts of one of the most important Christian events: The Resurrection. St Paul says: "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." (1 Cor 15:17). You would think that when writing about something as important as the Resurrection the four gospel writers would at least agree on exactly what happened, but actually they disagree on every point except three.

Take your Bible and put your fingers in these four places: Mt 28:1-8, Mk 16:1-8, Lk 24:1-11 and Jn 20:1-10, and let's compare them.

Day of worship

First point of agreement: The Resur-rection took place on the first day of the week - Sunday; important, because at the time these accounts were written, Sunday was already established as the day of Christian (New Covenant) worship as distinct from Sabbath (Old Covenant) worship. But the accounts do not agree on precisely when on Sunday: Matthew says "towards the dawn", Mark says it was "very early", Luke says "at early dawn", while John says "while it was still dark".

Who was there? The accounts do not agree: Matthew says: "Mary Magdalen and the other Mary", Mark says: "Mary Magdalen, Mary the Mother of James and Salome", Luke says: "Mary Magdalen and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women", while John mentions only Mary Magdalen. The second point of agreement, therefore, is that Mary Magdalen was there; the greatest Christian truth was first revealed to women, a very important point in understanding the status of women in Christianity.

And what did the women see? Here is the greatest disagreement! In Matthew they actually see an angel descend from Heaven, roll back the stone, and sit on it; his appearance and his clothes are described, as well as the response of the guards; the angel makes a speech from the top of the stone, and the women then go away.

Stone rolled away

In Mark when they get there "they saw that the stone was rolled back; it was very large". Then the women go inside the tomb, where they see "a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe"; and he makes a speech similar to the speech of the angel in Matthew.

In Luke the women found the stone rolled away from the tomb, and "when they went in they did not find the body". Then suddenly two men appear "in dazzling apparel" and make a different speech.

In John, Magdalen sees that the stone is rolled away, and she runs and tells "Simon Peter and the other disciple" who run to the tomb; they go inside and see the linen cloths that had wrapped the body, but see no body; they "see and believe", and then go back home. No angel and no message.

And so the third and final point of agreement is that the body was not there.

There is one further disagreement: Matthew says: "So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples." while Mark says: "And they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid."

The discrepancies are there for all to see, but despite this, all four of these stories are 100 per cent true. And if you don't understand that then you need to study some theology.

Peter Espeut is a Roman Catholic deacon. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com