Most Christians treat Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as definitive of the life of Jesus.
The Truth Is…
Matthew, Mark and Luke Are Incompatible with John:
Matthew, Mark, and Luke are the “synoptic” gospels, “synoptic” meaning “having a common view.” John differs significantly from the synoptic gospels in theme, content, time duration, order of events, and style.
The Gospel of John reflects a Christian tradition that is different from that of the other gospels. It was rejected as heretical by many individuals and groups within the early Christian movement. It was used extensively by the Gnostic Christians. But it was ultimately accepted into the official canon, over many objections. It is now the favorite gospel of many conservative Christians, and the gospel least referred to by many liberal Christians.
The table below highlights the differences between the synoptic gospels and John. While many of the entries in the table are merely reporting on different aspects of the life of Jesus, a few of them represent critical differences in the fact of an event central to Christian theology. These events are highlighted in red. Since the Bible is supposed to be “the word of God”, there should not be multiple versions of the truth. In fact, as highlighted below, there are multiple versions of foundational stories.
| Item | Matthew, Mark, Luke | John |
| First event mentioned | Jesus’ birth (baptism in Mark) | Creation of the world |
| Authors: according to conservative Christians | Apostle Matthew; Mark and Luke, co-workers of Paul | Apostle John |
| Authors: according to liberal Christians | Unknown authors | 2 or more unknown authors |
| Virgin birth | Mentioned in Matt, Luke | Some interpret John 1:45 as denying the virgin birth |
| Jesus as Son of God… | From the time of his birth or baptism | From the time that the universe was created |
| Description of Jesus | Jesus’ humanity emphasized | Jesus’ deity emphasized |
| Jesus baptism | Described | Not mentioned |
| Preaching style | Brief one-liners; parables | Essay format |
| Jesus teaches as: | A sage | A philosopher and mystic |
| Exorcism | A main function of his ministry | None performed |
| True parables | Many | None |
| Theme of his teaching: | Kingdom of God | Jesus himself. Kingdom of God is a background theme. |
| Jesus’ theology | Deviated little from 1st century CE liberal Judaism. Similar to beliefs taught by Hillel. |
Largely independent of Judaism and in opposition to much of its teaching. |
| Response expected from the reader | Respond to God’s will as expressed in the Mosaic law | Respond to Jesus as the definitive expression of God’s will or revelation |
| Exorcism of demons | Many | None |
| Involvement with the poor and suffering | Focus of his ministry | Rarely mentioned |
| Involvement with Scribes (Jewish teachers) | 26 references to scribes, who are puzzled and angered by Jesus’ teachings |
No references at all. |
| Miracles performed by Jesus | Many “nature miracles,” healings, and exorcisms | Few; all “nature miracles” |
| Jesus references to himself | Rare | Focus of the gospel, including the many “I am” sayings |
| ****** BASIS OF PERSONAL SALVATION ****** |
Good works, helping the poor, sick, imprisoned, and needy | Belief in Jesus as the Son of God |
| *** DURATION OF MINISTRY *** |
1 year | 3 years |
| *** LOCATION OF MINISTRY *** | Mainly Galilee | Mainly Judea, near Jerusalem |
| AGGRAVATED ASSAULT COMMITTED IN THE TEMPLE COURTYARD |
Near the end of his ministry | Near the start of his ministry |
| *** DATE OF THE LAST SUPPER *** |
Passover eve | Night before Passover eve |
| Ceremonial event at the Last Supper: | Communal meal | Foot washing |
| Who carried the cross? | Simon | Jesus |
| Visitors to the tomb on Sunday with Mary Magdalene? | One or more additional women | None; Mary Magdalene went alone |
| Who was present in the tomb? | One angel or two men | Two angels |
| Burial shroud | A single piece of cloth | Multiple pieces of cloth, as was the Jewish practice at the time. (John 20:5-7) |
| Jesus’ first appearance to disciples | At Emmaus or Galilee | Jerusalem |
How is it possible for the inerrant, infallible word of God to have two different values for the same event when there is only one possible value? The events listed below have definite answers. There is no room for interpretation. There can be only one true answer, yet the Bible gives two or more; hence at least one answer is wrong, false.
- Duration of Ministry: One year or Three years?
- Location of Ministry: Galilee or Judea?
- Date of last Supper: Passover eve or Night before Passover eve?
- Who Carried Cross: Simon or Jesus?
- Who was Present at The Tomb? two men or two angels?
- Additional visitors to Tomb? None, One, more than one?
- How many pieces of the Burial Shroud? One or multiple?
- Jesus First Appearance: Emmaus, Galilee, or Jerusalem?
If the Bible is in error on these most crucial, foundational precepts, how can we trust anything the bible says? These contradictions in the foundational events prove that the bible is errant. Many of the errors (creation, Noah, Moses, Exodus, Jesus Divinity, etc) have been addressed in our doctrine.
For an even more complete comparison of the discrepancies in Mark, Matthew, Luke and John,
see this Wikipedia article
The Church Of Truth™ 
Did any of you stop to think that maybe each author was trying to teach something and therefore organized different already written scrips in different ways. They don’t necessarily contradict each other but each teach a different truth.
I think you are on the right track with John being false doctrine that was put into the cannozized text. Manna is mushrooms. The Earth is NOT spinning faster than the speed of sound around an imaginary axis. Water will NEVER stick to a spinning ball, and you are NOT a highly evolved ape. 😊🙏🏼
Flagellum Cell proves Darwin wrong.
Have you considered the possibility that God does not reveal all of his thoughts and motives to man, and that he fulfils his promises in His own time, not when we want?
Science has recently proved that the bright star followed by the wise men occured from the converging of two stars about 2000 years ago.
If that was a serious comment, and I’m guessing it wasn’t, you’re an idiot. Uneducated and typically ignorant Christian who doesn’t understand biology, astrophysics and your own theology. No surprise you believe that nonsense, you have built up a nearly impenetrable fortress of ignorance in your mind that keeps out all rational and critical thought.