Silencing Skepticism: Contradictions in Conversion

In "One Donkey Or Two?" we looked at a common objection raised by skeptics, claiming that Matthew's account of Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem contradicted those of the other gospel writers. Whereas the former misinterpreted an Old Testament prophecy and depicted Jesus riding astride two donkeys simultaneously, Mark, Luke and John interpret the prophecy correctly and record only one donkey. We learned, however, that Matthew did not misinterpret the prophecy, nor did he contradict the other gospel authors, and instead merely included a detail the other authors left out.

The number of such seeming contradictions skeptics allege occur throughout the pages of Scripture is enormous, and though I believe they are all easily answered, responding to each one blog post at a time would take more time than I am capable of comitting to the endeavor. As such, when it comes to these alleged contradictions I'm going to try and pick up the pace a bit, and answer more than one at a time. However, I will always include additional resources so you can research more deeply if you so choose.

Today we'll look at three alleged contradictions in Scripture surrounding Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus. First, in the book of Acts Luke records his account of Paul's conversion in which his companions did not hear Jesus, and also records Paul's descriptions of the event later, in which he says his companions did hear Him. Second, in Luke's account Paul's companions stand speechless, but in Paul's they fall to the ground. Third, we're told by Luke that Paul didn't see Jesus on the road, but in his letter to the Corinthians Paul claims he did see Jesus.

As we'll see, skeptics' objections notwithstanding, Luke did not contradict himself. A close examination of the original Greek words penned by Luke reveals that Paul's companions heard the voice speaking to Paul but did not understand the words it spoke. Luke's wording does not require that Paul's companions were standing, only that they were "rooted to the spot." And Paul does not contradict Luke when he says in his letter that he saw the risen Jesus.