Does the Bible have contraditions?

Some people claim the Bible is full of contradictions. It is true that not every account of an event in the Bible has the exact same details written down. But is that a contradiction?

If you and a family member watched the movie Gettysburg and then were asked to write down what happened in the movie, would what you wrote both have the same details. Of course not! You each would key on different aspects of the movie and recount different parts of the movie. However, the core theme would be the same. The North and South had a great battle at Gettysburg with great loss in life, but the North won the battle and the South retreated.

Same thing with the “contradictions” in the Bible. The Bible is different people recalling the same events. For example: Was there one or two angels at Jesus’ tomb? Who did Jesus first appear to; Mary Magdalene and the other Mary or just Mary Magdelene? Where did the ascension happen; Near Bethany or from the Mount of Olives?

Regardless of how the details are recorded the core theme is the same: Jesus was crucified, he rose from the dead, was seen my many people and then ascended into Heaven. Same core theme with different details told by different people.

If the details were exactly the same, one would think that the writers collaborated with the story. Investigators of crimes know that eyewitnesses will have different details of an event. If the witness has the same details, the investigators will suspect that they collaborated with their stories.

The Bible contains eyewitness recounts of the same event. It is expected that the details will vary, but the core theme will be the same.

Even when you look at the details in the Bible, they are not necessarily contradictory. For example, if there were two angels at the tomb, there was one as well. If Jesus appear to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, he did appear to Mary Magdalene. Also, Bethany is on the back side of the Mount of Olives.