Hello Meister,

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Thanks for providing this example. Matthew 24:3 and Mark 13:4 are a great case-study in the work of harmonization.

It's clear both are recording the same event. They begin with the same opening question: "When will all these things happen?"

Mark and Matthew then record different questions following after. Yet both fit comfortably as follow-ups to the first question.

This is where harmonization and logic pair up nicely to force the charges of contradiction away.

Many try to charge a contradiction simply because Matthew and Mark don't record the same second question. But that's not how eye-witness testimony works.

Everyone knows that people will view the same event slightly differently. They may remember different aspects of the situation or different words of the teacher.

To harmonize eye-witness testimony, you ask if both claims can be true together. And indeed they can be.

Both Gospels record these questions as summaries. They attribute the questions to a group of disciples, not to an individual. We know that the disciples weren't being mind-controlled to all speak the same question at the same time; such an idea is ludicrous. Thus we know the question is recorded as a summary of what they were all asking.

Mark includes in his summary the question "What will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?"

Matthew focuses on "What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

Both fit the context perfectly. It makes perfect sense for the disciples to ask both these questions at the time. They build on each other, rather than contradict each other.

Thus, we can comfortably say that both questions were asked at that time, and each writer simply focused on the question that mattered more to them.

Further, when you combine both Matthew, Mark, and Luke together, it flows as one narrative. Every word provided by all three Gospels combines flawlessly:

Later, as Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to Him privately and asked, “Teacher, please tell us—when will all these things happen? What will be the sign when all these things are about to take place? And what sign will proclaim Your coming and the end of the age?”

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As to the speculation of which Gospel was written when, I tend to fall back on history.

This is one of the areas where Ehrman does a great disservice to his readers. He creates the impression that history is vague on the identities of the Gospel writers and when they wrote. It's not.

History is remarkably clear. The data is plentiful, from a wide variety of ancient witnesses.

I compiled much of that data here: https://medium.com/koinonia/historys-mysteries-who-crafted-the-gospels-and-why-91c7b364cdb1