had never laid eyes on Christ at all—Mark and Luke—whereas the other two had actually seen and sat with him, namely Matthew and John. Each of them adds to, omits from, or contradicts the others, and his Gospel diverges from the Gospels of his companions(1) on many points, even recording both a statement and its direct opposite.

For instance, it reports that he said, “If I bear witness about myself, my testimony is not accepted; another testifies on my behalf.”(2)

Yet elsewhere it has him saying, “If I bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going.”(3)

It also narrates that when he sensed the Jews were about to pounce on him he said, “Now my soul is troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.”(4)

And that when he was raised upon the wooden cross he cried out in a loud voice, “My God, why have You forsaken me?!”(5)

How can this be reconciled with your claim that he willingly surrendered himself to the Jews so they might crucify and kill him as a mercy to humankind—ransoming them from sin with his own person—and that by this stratagem he delivered Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and all the prophets from Hell, outwitting Satan in the process?

How could the God of the universe feel dread over that? How could he ask to be spared from it when he had chosen and approved it? And how could his cry grow so intense that he said, “My God, why…"