If the righteous Jesus - the Messiah, who refused to be called "good" by his disciples and taught them "No one is good expect God alone" (Mk. 10:18) was to visit us and listen to the leading evangelical missionaries of our era preaching  the “Christianity”, what would surprise him the most? Probably he would be astonished to see that a religion bearing his personal epithet having its primary roots not in his teachings but in the accounts of his Crucifixion and Resurrection that are recorded in the various Revised Versions of the New Testament. 

      According to the Bible (Book of Acts 2:24 and John 17:4), the act of Resurrection was not performed by Jesus himself. It was done by the ever living God, whom Jesus served and glorified during his Ministry. However, Paul postulated in the under mentioned verse that this particular act of Resurrection was the sole base of "Christian Faith":

And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 1 Corin. 15:17-18     
                (All quotations are from K.J.V.)

QUERY NO. 1:
   What was the time in the day, when Christ was nailed to the cross?

a) Apostle Mark records; 
         “And  it was the 3rd Hour (i.e. about 9 a.m.), 
and they crucified Him”.     (15:25) 

        Briefly, Jesus the Christ was Crucified in the early forenoon.

b) Apostle John records; 
        “…and about the 6th Hour (i.e. about Noon): 
and he (Pilate) said unto the Jews, Behold your King!” (19:14).   

The story continues giving  details of the legal proceedings that followed. Finally, the verdict for Crucifixion was delivered and the Christ was taken to the place of his Crucifixion and “they crucified him” (19:18). 

   Briefly, Jesus the Christ was Crucified sometime 
in the late afternoon.

Since the Crucifixion happened ONCE, which record is to be considered as not trustworthy?

A Christian Critic's Remark:

Under the title "answering-islam", sub-title Rebuttals to Akbarally Meherally, Section A, Part 3, a Christian critic writes:

The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) used a different method to number the hours of day than John. Matthew, Mark, and Luke used the traditional Hebrew system, in which the hours of the day were numbered from sunrise (approximately 6:00 AM), which places the crucifixion at about 9:00 AM, or the third hour by this system.. 

John, did not employ the Hebrew system, he used the Roman civil day. The Roman system defined a day from midnight to midnight, as we do today. Pliny the Elder (in Natural History 2.77) and Macrobius (Saturnalia 1.3) give us historical confirmation of this fact. Therefore, using the Roman system which was used by John, the trial of Jesus ended around the sixth hour (6:00 AM), which was the first hour of the Hebrew system used by Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

My Response:

1. Apostle John was not a Roman citizen. Apostle John was a Jew like the rest of the apostles. The Gospel John had written was of Jesus, who too was a Jew by birth. The followers for whom the text was written were mostly Jews or following the Hebrew system. The critic has given no logical, satisfactory answer as to why John had discarded the prevalent Hebrew system and adopted the Roman system.

2. The critic has also not given an explanation as to why would Pilate, a Roman Governor, give up his sleep and convene his Court in the dark of night at about 4 or 5 a.m. and deliver his verdict by 6 a.m., when most of his citizens were yet in their beds? Did the Roman Courts used to meet at 4 or 5 a.m.?

3. The critic's attempt to salvage the "self contradictory" texts, within the four Gospels, falls flat and all the doors for further arguments are closed when the texts in The New Revised Standard Version and The New English Bible read; "about noon" and in the Phillips Modern English Bible reads; "toward midday". In the marginal notes of The New American Standard Bible it reads: "I.e. noon" for "the sixth hour" (John 19:14). 

I suggest the critic should rather spend his energy and time convincing the editors of the Bible to adopt his unique theory of Hebrew and Roman timings, before trying to convince the surfers.

QUERY NO. 2:
         What was the day when Christ was Crucified?

a) The first three Gospels record that Christ was alive on the 
“day of unleavened bread, when the Passover must be killed (sacrificed).” (Lk. 22:7). That evening Christ ate with his disciples the Passover Seder (A Jewish ceremonial dinner or supper held on the first night of Passover to commemorate the Exodus.) (Lk. 22:14). Thereafter, Christ spent the night on the Mount of Olives, praying (Lk. 22:40). On the next day Christ was brought before Pilate, tried and crucified. (Lk. Chapter 23).        
( also see Mt. 26:20-30; Mk. 14:17-25; Lk. 22:14-23) 

        Briefly, Christ was Crucified the day following the Passover Seder.

b) Apostle John records; when Christ was lead from Caiaphas unto the Pilate’s Headquarters, the Jews did not enter the Hall of Judgment “lest they should be defiled” to "eat the Passover" (18:28). 
“And it was the preparation of the Passover” (19:14) when the verdict for the Crucifixion was delivered by Pilate and Christ was taken to the place of his Crucifixion and “they crucified him.” (19:18).

       Briefly, Christ was Crucified on the day of the Passover Seder.

Since the Crucifixion happened ONCE, which record is to be considered as not trustworthy?

QUERY NO. 3:
     Where did the risen (raised up) Christ first meet his disciples in a group?

a) Apostle Luke records; the risen Christ met for the first time his eleven disciples in Jerusalem. He talked to them and also ate "a piece of a broiled fish and of an honeycomb". (24:33-43). There is no reference of their meeting in Galilee.

b) Apostle Matthew records; the risen Christ himself spoke to Mary and her friend and said; "Be not afraid, go tell my brethren (disciples) that they go into Galilee (nearly 100 miles North of Jerusalem), and there shall they see me." (28:10). The "eleven disciples went away into Galilee" and "they saw him". (28:16-17). There is no reference of their meeting in Jerusalem.

QUERY NO. 4:
           How many disciples were present when the risen Christ saw his disciples in a group for the first time?

a) Matthew, Mark and Luke record; eleven. (Judas was not present).

b) John records; ten. (Judas & Thomas were not present).

c) Paul records; twelve (see 1 Corinthians 15:5).
 

    Note:  A theological statement can be interpreted with a kind of play or leeway for having more than one interpretation. What scope does a recorded historical event, specifying the specific date and time of a singular occurrence has for the kind of variations that we have just observed?

... a man is not justified by the works of law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ… by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.    Gal. 2:16

             To read the contradictory testimonies given by Paul, that are recorded in the Book of Acts as to what did Jesus Christ really tell Paul and what he really did not tell, on the road to Damascus, please click:
                            DAMASCUS