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Michael J. Alter is the author of the copiously researched, 913-page volume,\u00a0The Resurrection: a Critical Inquiry<\/em><\/a> (2015). I initially offered\u00a0 59 \u201cbrief\u201d replies to as many alleged New Testament contradictions<\/a> (March 2021). We later engaged in amiable correspondence and decided to enter into a major ongoing dialogue about his book. He graciously (and impressively!) sent me a PDF file of it, free of charge, for my review.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mike describes himself as \u201cof the Jewish faith\u201d but is quick to point out that labels are often \u201cmisleading\u201d and \u201cdivisive\u201d (I agree to a large extent). He continues to be influenced by, for example, \u201cReformed, Conservative, Orthodox, and Chabad\u201d variants of Judaism and learns \u201cfrom those of other faiths, the secular, the non-theists, etc.\u201d Fair enough. I have a great many influences, too, am very ecumenical, and am a great admirer of Judaism, as I told Michael in a combox comment<\/a> on my blog.<\/p>\n He says his book \u201ccan be described as Jewish apologetics\u201d and one that provides reasons for \u201cwhy members of the Jewish community should\u00a0not\u00a0convert to Christianity.\u201d I will be writing many critiques of the book and we\u2019ll be engaging in ongoing discussion for likely a long time. I\u2019m quite excited about it and am most grateful for Mike\u2019s willingness to interact, minus any personal hostility.<\/p>\n To see all the other installments, search \u201cMichael J. Alter\u201d on either my Jews and Judaism<\/a> or Trinitarianism & Christology<\/a> web pages. That will take you to the subsection with the series.<\/p>\n I use RSV for all Bible verses that I cite. His words will be in blue<\/span>.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Michael Alter wrote:<\/span><\/p>\n CONTRADICTION #101<\/em> John versus the Three Synoptics\u00a0and Acts<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Perhaps one of the most important ideas taught in John is that the\u00a0apostles had the power to remit the sins of \u201cwhose soever sins.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n John 20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them;\u00a0if you retain the sins of any, they are retained (NRSV 1989, 113).<\/span><\/p>\n John 20:23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if\u00a0you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven (NIV 1978, 1225).<\/span><\/p>\n Mark 16:16 instructed: \u201cHe that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;\u00a0but he that believeth not shall be damned.\u201d Therefore, no power delegating\u00a0the apostles to forgive sins was mentioned or implied. Instead the power was\u00a0in the hands of the sinner to be saved by believing and being baptized.<\/span> (p. 584)<\/p>\n Yes, belief in Jesus and the Gospel and baptism are necessary for salvation, as a general, proverbial (true) statement. At the same time, sins can cause one to fall away from salvation:<\/span><\/p>\n 1 John 5:16-17<\/strong> If any one sees his brother committing what is not a\u00a0<\/b>mortal\u00a0sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not\u00a0mortal. There is sin which is\u00a0mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that. [17] All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not\u00a0mortal. [most translations have something similar to NASB: \u201ca sin not leading to death\u201d]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is the NT basis for the Catholic notion of mortal sin: the sin that is so serious and grave that it can cause one to fall away from fellowship with God and salvation: which can be removed in the Catholic system by confession to a priest and subsequent absolution, which is what John is talking about above (and reiterating here in his first epistle). 1 John 5:16-17 is also the primary NT basis for a venial sin (\u201csin which is not mortal\u201d): sin that is less serious and won\u2019t cause loss of communion with God or salvation, and is not required<\/em> to be absolved by a priest.<\/span><\/p>\n Mark happens to not mention absolution (though he alludes to John the Baptist\u2019s foreshadowing<\/em> of it: Mk 1:4-5; cf. Mt 3:6; Acts 19:18). No one can give good reasons for why he supposedly was obliged or required to do so, except for [I use sarcasm] \u201ccontradiction hunters\u201d who foolishly think they \u201csee\u201d a supposed \u201ccontradiction\u201d under every \u201cNT rock.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Matthew 28:18 reported that Jesus claimed: \u201cAnd Jesus came and spake\u00a0unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.\u201d Here,\u00a0too, no power to remit sins was given to the apostles. Instead Jesus instructed\u00a0that his apostles: \u201cGo ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in\u00a0the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.\u201d<\/span> (p. 584)<\/p>\n Matthew is simply teaching about the supreme importance of evangelizing and baptizing: the primary means by which people become Christians and can achieve salvation. As in the case of Mark, he is not obliged to discuss absolution in the same context, since it is not essentially about how to obtain<\/em> salvation, but rather, about how not to lose<\/em> it. But more on Matthew and absolution below . . . He doesn\u2019t ignore it in his entire Gospel.<\/span><\/p>\n Luke reads similar to Matthew. Luke 24:47 declared: \u201cAnd that\u00a0repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all<\/span> Oddly, Alter looks at \u201cremission of sins\u201d in the text, but then obliviously states<\/span>\u00a0that in this passage<\/span>\u00a0\u201cno<\/em> power to remit\u00a0sins was given to the apostles.\u201d Huh? How does he know that? In fact, Matthew 28:18 and Luke 24:47 emphasize two aspects of remission of sins: Matthew is highlighting the initial<\/em> remission of regeneration through baptism (see several other NT passages<\/a> on that), and Luke is perhaps<\/em> referring to the sort of absolution that John 20:23 also refers to: that remits sins committed after baptism<\/em>. In Catholicism both things are sacraments: physical means or rituals by which more grace and power to conquer sin are obtained.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n What Jesus said in John 20:23 was during one of His post-Resurrection appearances. Likewise, with Luke 24:47, the words were uttered right before He ascended. Thus, the Christian plausibly posits that \u201cremission of sins\u201d in Luke may very well parallel John 20:23 (\u201cIf you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n Occasionally there are those instances where it seems inconceivable that\u00a0some event or concept is omitted from the synoptic narrations and is present\u00a0in John. This is one of those instances. Not even one of the synoptic writers\u00a0or the author of Acts discussed the notion that the apostles had the unique\u00a0power to forgive sins.<\/span> (p. 584)<\/p>\n Ah, but Alter has it totally wrong. Matthew in fact does<\/em> discuss the forgiveness or remission of sins by the disciples, and by extension, succession, and analogy, priests (absolution), two times:<\/span><\/p>\n Matthew 16:19<\/strong>\u00a0I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. [said to Peter alone]<\/span><\/p>\n Matthew 18:18\u00a0<\/strong>Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. [said to the entire group of disciples]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n I wrote about these passages and this concept in my first \u201cofficially\u201d published book,<\/span> A Biblical Defense of Catholicism<\/em><\/a>, in 1996:<\/span><\/p>\n Binding<\/em> and loosing<\/em> were technical rabbinical terms meaning, respectively, \u201cto forbid\u201d and \u201cto\u00a0permit,\u201d with regard to interpretations of Jewish Law. In secondary usage, they also could mean \u201cto\u00a0condemn\u201d and \u201cto\u00a0acquit.\u201d This power is also given to the Apostles in Matthew 18:17-18, where it apparently refers particularly to discipline and excommunication in local jurisdictions (whereas Peter\u2019s commission seems to apply to the universal Church).<\/span><\/p>\n In John 20:23 it is also granted to the Apostles (in a different terminology, which suggests the power to impose penance and grant indulgences and absolution). . . . Marvin Vincent [Word Studies in the New Testament<\/em>, vol. I, 96] writes:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n No other terms were in more constant use in Rabbinic canon-law than those of binding<\/em> and loosing.<\/em> They represented the legislative<\/em> and judicial <\/em>powers of the Rabbinic office. These powers Christ now transferred, . . . in their reality, to his Apostles; the first, here, to Peter, as their representative, the second, after his Resurrection, to the Church (John 20:23) . . . (p. 225)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n For the Jewish background, see, Jewish Encyclopedia<\/em>,<\/span> \u201cBinding and Loosing\u201d<\/a>: which also discusses the NT appropriation and development of this concept. Priests forgiving sins in the name of God is found in the epistles as well:<\/span><\/p>\n 2 Corinthians 2:10\u00a0<\/strong>Any one whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,<\/span><\/p>\n James 5:14-16\u00a0<\/strong>Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;\u00a0[15] and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.\u00a0[16] Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 1 John 1:8-9<\/strong>\u00a0If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.\u00a0[9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n All of this also, of course, is nothing essentially new, and goes back to the priestly sacrificial and atoning system of the Mosaic Law:<\/span><\/p>\n Exodus 32:30<\/strong>\u00a0On the morrow Moses said to the people, \u201cYou have\u00a0<\/b>sinned a great\u00a0sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your\u00a0sin.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Leviticus 4:20<\/strong>\u00a0Thus shall he do with the bull; as he did with the bull of the\u00a0<\/b>sin\u00a0offering, so shall he do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. (cf. 4:26, 35)<\/span><\/p>\n Leviticus 5:5-6<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0When a man is guilty in any of these, he shall confess the sin he has committed,\u00a0[6] and he shall bring his guilt offering to the LORD for the sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin. (cf. 5:10, 12-13)<\/span><\/p>\n Leviticus 19:21-22<\/strong>\u00a0but he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the LORD, to the door of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. [22] And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the LORD for his sin which he has committed; and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him. (cf. 7:7; 9:7; 12:8; 14:19; 16:6, 11, 25, 27, 30)<\/span><\/p>\n Numbers 8:12\u00a0<\/strong>Then the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bulls; and you shall offer the one for a\u00a0sin<\/b>\u00a0offering and the other for a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites. (cf. 6:11; 15:24, 27-28; 28:22; 29:5, 11; 2 Chr 29:24; Neh 10:33; Ezek 45:17, 20)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n ***<\/span><\/p>\n Photo credit:\u00a0<\/strong>Selva Rasalingam as Jesus in the The Gospel of Luke<\/em> (2016, Netflix USA)<\/span> <\/span>[Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/\u00a0Creative Commons<\/a>\u00a0CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication<\/a><\/span>]<\/p>\n Summary<\/em>: Michael Alter writes on the topic of remission of sins \u201ccontradictions\u201d & tries to claim that the Synoptic Gospels have no concept of remission of sin, as in John 20:23. Wrong! I provide proofs.<\/span><\/p>\n Tags<\/em>:\u00a0alleged Bible contradictions,\u00a0alleged Resurrection contradictions,\u00a0Bible \u201ccontradictions\u201d,\u00a0Bible \u201cdifficulties\u201d,\u00a0Bible Only,\u00a0biblical inspiration,\u00a0biblical prooftexts,\u00a0biblical skeptics,\u00a0biblical theology,\u00a0exegesis,\u00a0hermeneutics,\u00a0Holy Bible,\u00a0inerrancy,\u00a0infallibility,\u00a0Jewish anti-Christian polemics,\u00a0Jewish apologetics,\u00a0Jewish critique of Christianity,\u00a0Jewish-Christian discussion,\u00a0Michael J. Alter,\u00a0New Testament,\u00a0New Testament critics,\u00a0New Testament skepticism,\u00a0Resurrection \u201cContradictions\u201d,\u00a0Resurrection of Jesus,\u00a0The Resurrection: A Critical Inquiry, remission of sins \u201ccontradictions\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Michael J. Alter is the author of the copiously researched, 913-page volume,\u00a0The Resurrection: a Critical Inquiry (2015). I initially offered\u00a0 59 \u201cbrief\u201d replies to as many alleged New Testament contradictions (March 2021). We later engaged in amiable correspondence and decided to enter into a major ongoing dialogue about his book. He graciously (and impressively!) sent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":56098,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[448,172],"tags":[4129,12966,525,524,514,2637,1879,1633,1878,1387,1386,535,4068,140,13451,13448,13445,13457,13454,282,13495,13498,13622,13261,1347,13481],"class_list":["post-56653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jews-judaism-old-testament","category-trinitarianism-christology","tag-alleged-bible-contradictions","tag-alleged-resurrection-contradictions","tag-bible-contradictions","tag-bible-difficulties","tag-bible-only","tag-biblical-inspiration","tag-biblical-prooftexts","tag-biblical-skeptics","tag-biblical-theology","tag-exegesis","tag-hermeneutics","tag-holy-bible","tag-inerrancy","tag-infallibility","tag-jewish-anti-christian-polemics","tag-jewish-apologetics","tag-jewish-critique-of-christianity","tag-jewish-christian-discussion","tag-michael-j-alter","tag-new-testament","tag-new-testament-critics","tag-new-testament-skepticism","tag-remission-of-sins-contradictions","tag-resurrection-contradictions","tag-resurrection-of-jesus","tag-the-resurrection-a-critical-inquiry"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nnations, beginning at Jerusalem.\u201d Consequently, here, too, no<\/em> power to remit\u00a0sins was given to the apostles. Rather, they were commanded to teach<\/em> all the\u00a0nations.<\/span> (p. 584)<\/p>\n