I recently read a note from a Lutheran pastor who was encouraging the dissenters in is congregation not to exit the ELCA as other churches are doing. One of his arguments was that the Bible encourages diversity of belief. He maintained that the existence of four gospels demonstrates that we don’t have to all believe the same things.

The premise of the argument is that the gospels are substantially different. While they offer different perspectives on the life and teaching of Jesus, they do not conflict over the content of his teaching. In each gospel Jesus reveals his identity as savior, preaches about repentance and the need to be reconciled with the Father, and dies on the cross as a substitute for those who would put their faith in him. The emphasis and flavor of the gospels may vary, but their depiction of who Jesus was and what he taught is the same throughout.

Paul argues strongly for the unity of the gospel message in Galatians 1:8, insisting, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” The unity of the teaching of the true gospel precludes the adoption of beliefs contrary to those Jesus taught. His endorsement of the moral code of the Old Testament and the revelation given through the writers of the New Testament are in agreement. Any teaching that purports to be biblical but does not concur with these documents must be rejected as heretical.

Some reject the teaching of scripture as outmoded and irrelevant today. That position, though foolish, is preferable to this argument that the gospels somehow disagree theologically, giving us the option of adopting doctrines that contradict the teaching of scripture. Such arguments are a lame attempt to spiritualize faulty thinking and elevate personal preferences over the revelation of God in the Bible.