Possible Discrepancy: The Angel(s) and The Women's Intentions

Sorry that I haven't posted in so long! This series of posts is examining a list of 'discrepancies' mentioned by Dr. Ehrman in his debate with William Lane Craig. So far, the discrepancies have not been compelling in the least. In this post two additional discrepancies are examined.

Possible Discrepancies 

Below you will find four parallel passages from the gospels. After each passage, I have included a brief list of what occurred during the passage. The first topic I wish to examine (highlighted blue) has to do with the angels at the tomb. The second topic (highlighted yellow) has to do with what the women did after their visit to the tomb. I encourage everyone to read the material surrounding the texts I am quoting!

Matthew 28:1-10

28:1 Now after the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 28:2 Suddenly there was a severe earthquake, for an angel of the Lord ¹  descending from heaven came and rolled away the stone and sat on it. 28:3 His ²  appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 28:4 The ³  guards were shaken and became like dead men because they were so afraid of him. 28:5 But the angel said ⁴  to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know ⁵  that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶  28:6 He is not here, for he has been raised, ⁷  just as he said. Come and see the place where he ⁸  was lying. 28:7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead. He ⁹  is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you!” 28:8 So ¹⁰  they left the tomb quickly, with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 28:9 But ¹¹  Jesus met them, saying, “Greetings!” They ¹²  came to him, held on to his feet and worshiped him. 28:10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee. They will see me there.”

http://net.bible.org/#!bible/Matthew+28:1

1. Time- after the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week
2. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb
3. Suddenly there was an earthquake, for an angel came and rolled away the stone
4. After rolling the stone away, the angel sat on it
5. The angel speaks to them
6. The women leave to tell the disciples what happened
7. Jesus meets them on the way

Mark 16:1-8

16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought aromatic spices ¹  so that they might go and anoint him. 16:2 And very early on the first day of the week, at sunrise, they went to the tomb. 16:3 They had been asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 16:4 But ²  when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled back. 16:5 Then ³  as they went into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe ⁴  sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 16:6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. ⁵  He has been raised! ⁶  He is not here. Look, there is the place where they laid him. 16:7 But go, tell his disciples, even Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.” 16:8 Then ⁷  they went out and ran from the tomb, for terror and bewilderment had seized them. ⁸  And they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

http://net.bible.org/#!bible/Mark+16

1. Time- When the Sabbath was over, at sunrise on the first day of the week
2. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb.
3. When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back
4. Then, as they went into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side.
5. The man (angel) speaks to them
6. The women run out of the tomb
7. The women said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid

Luke 24:1-12

24:1 Now on the first day ¹  of the week, at early dawn, the women ²  went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices ³  they had prepared. 24:2 They ⁴  found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, ⁵  24:3 but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁶  24:4 While ⁷  they were perplexed ⁸  about this, suddenly ⁹  two men stood beside them in dazzling ¹⁰  attire. 24:5 The ¹¹  women ¹²  were terribly frightened ¹³  and bowed ¹⁴  their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living ¹⁵  among the dead? 24:6 He is not here, but has been raised! ¹⁶  Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ¹⁷  24:7 that ¹⁸  the Son of Man must be delivered ¹⁹  into the hands of sinful men, ²⁰  and be crucified, ²¹  and on the third day rise again.” ²²  24:8 Then ²³  the women remembered his words, ²⁴  24:9 and when they returned from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven ²⁵  and to all the rest. 24:10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, ²⁶  Joanna, ²⁷  Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. 24:11 But these words seemed like pure nonsense ²⁸  to them, and they did not believe them. 24:12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. ²⁹  He bent down ³⁰  and saw only the strips of linen cloth; ³¹  then he went home, ³²  wondering ³³  what had happened. ³⁴ 

http://net.bible.org/#!bible/Luke+24

1. Time- On the first day of the week at early dawn
2. The women went to the tomb
3. They found that the stone had been rolled away
4. They went into the tomb, and did not find Jesus
5. While perplexed about not finding Jesus, two men stood beside them in dazzling attire.
6. The men (angels) spoke to them
7. The women return and tell the disciples what happened
8. Peter ran to the tomb
9. Peter goes home

John 20:1-13

20:1 Now very early on the first day of the week, ¹  while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene ²  came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance. ³  20:2 So she went running ⁴  to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 20:3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out to go to the tomb. ⁵  20:4 The two were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter ⁶  and reached the tomb first. ⁷  20:5 He bent down ⁸  and saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, ⁹  but he did not go in. 20:6 Then Simon Peter, who had been following him, arrived and went right into the tomb. He saw ¹⁰  the strips of linen cloth lying there, 20:7 and the face cloth, ¹¹  which had been around Jesus’ head, not lying with the strips of linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself. ¹²  20:8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, came in, and he saw and believed. ¹³  20:9 (For they did not yet understand ¹⁴  the scripture that Jesus ¹⁵  must rise from the dead.) ¹⁶ 

20:10 So the disciples went back to their homes. 20:11 But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she bent down and looked into the tomb. 20:12 And she saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet. 20:13 They said ¹⁷  to her, “Woman, ¹⁸  why are you weeping?” Mary replied, ¹⁹  “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!”

http://net.bible.org/#!bible/John+20:6

1. Time- Very early on the first day of the week (still dark)
2. Mary goes to the tomb
3. She sees that the stone has been rolled away
4. Mary runs and tells the disciples
5. Peter and the other disciple run to the tomb
6. The disciples go back to their homes
7. Mary stays outside the tomb
8. While weeping, she looks into the tomb
9. She sees two angels sitting where Jesus’ body was
10. The angels speak to her

Discussion:

I find the differences between the accounts concerning the angel(s) to be compelling. I cannot think of a legitimate justification for the differences in location and timeline.

The difference concerning whether or not the women left with the intention to tell others about what they had seen seems to be black and white- two opposite claims are made. However, it is difficult to determine the degree to which this discrepancy weakens the historical reliability of the gospels.