A FOOLISH CONSISTENCY

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California, U. S. A. · Nov 11, 1930

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 57, No. 44.

“A FOOLISH CONSISTENCY”

E. F. Hamberg of Kansas asks to be shown the harmony of certain texts of Scripture.

Bible scholars are uncertain as to what day of the Jewish month Nisan it was upon which Jesus was crucified.

Were we in possession of all the details of the happenings that occurred in connection with Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, the apparent contradiction between Mark 16:1 and Luke 23:54–56 would easily and quickly vanish. It may be that in addition to the preparation of the “spices and ointments” on Friday, as recorded by Luke, “when the Sabbath was past” spices were “bought,” as told by Mark. It is just such a minor difficulty as this that establishes beyond a peradventure the veracity and force of the gospel story. Such artless and bald inconsistencies prove the lack of studied fiction and the sheer, simple, forthright honesty of purpose of the evangelists in recording their great object,—the account of the main facts in the earthly career of the Redeemer. Insignificant details were lost sight of in this major design. Let us remember the wise reflection of Emerson: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”