The Truth About the Bible

My opponent believes that the Bible is true and can explain all things. As such, he has made a positive claim that can be tested. So, I would like to briefly examine and test the greatest claim that the Bible makes that Christians have pinned their hopes to; the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Specifically, I will talk about the time and day in which Jesus was crucified. Each of the gospels tell us with certainty that Jesus was crucified and resurrected. But do any of them tell us when Jesus was crucified? As it turns out, we are fortunate to have two gospels that tell us with some degree of accuracy when Jesus was crucified -- the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John. Before we begin examining the evidence, it would be helpful to understand how Jews in Jesus's day tell time. According to Jewish custom and practice, a new day begins as dusk, not according to our modern time system, which places the beginning of a new day at 12:00 A.M. midnight. The next thing we need to do is put this into context with regard to the death and resurrection. Both gospels of Mark and John tell us that Jesus was crucified around the time of the Passover celebration, which was an annual celebration that the Jews hold to commemorate their release from Egyptian captivity approximately 3,300 years ago. Beginning in Mark 14:12, we learn that the disciples ask their master, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations so that you can eat the Passover?" Jesus tells them and they depart to prepare the Passover. They eat the Passover, and Jesus predicts that Judas Iscariot will betray him. Jesus is later arrested, stands before Pilate, is crucified at 6:00 A.M., and is dead by 3:00 in the afternoon. But as we look at John, the story changes significantly. The story of Jesus's betrayal by Judas Iscariot begins in John 13:18 and confirmed in verse 26. After Simon Peter asked would betray his master, Jesus answered, "'It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.'" Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot." So far, it seems that there is no discrepancy between the John and Mark. But reading on further into John, we learn that not only was there no Passover meal consumed, it hadn't even been prepared yet by the time Jesus had been crucified. We learn that Jesus was arrested five chapters later in 18, was crucified in 19:18, and dies in verse 30. The major discrepancy comes in verse 31 when we learn that it was the day of the preparation of the Passover. But how can that be when we learn in Mark's gospel that Jesus was alive during the day of Passover? So, by reading the gospels Mark and John we can reach a logical conclusion. Either Mark is true or John is true, or one or the other is false, possibly even both because both can't be true. My opponent wants us to believe that the Bible is true and can be used to explain all things. But I have demonstrated that at least one part of the Bible is false. If the Bible is inconsistent with regard to the very essence of Christianity, that being the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, how are we to believe that the Bible is true and can explain anything? I yield the forum to my opponent for his defense.