Totally NOT a debate about the veracity of the gospels

[Drich]

As Requested


Ok, here's my problem. This is what clinched it for me.

Red is not purple.

Matthew says that the soldiers “put a scarlet robe” on Jesus (27:27-28), Mark says that “they clothed Him with purple ” (15:16-17), and John states that the soldiers put “a purple robe” on Him (19:1-2)

I've heard any number of takes on this and none of them are convincing.

Matthew could have been colourblind. Fine, but that means the human limitations of the authors have to be allowed for. Which means someone else might have written something wrong because of perspective.

It could be that one has to COMBINE the gospels to get to the truth. In which case we have a bible which all together leaves us a robe 2/3rds of the way between purple and red. Which is a different colour which is NOT RED AND NOT PURPLE. Read any one gospel and its wrong.

Or we could go down the route that it was a FADED red robe which was starting to look purple. In which case it wasn't red any more.

Some people have it that the romans used the same word for red AND purple. Bully for them. We don't. Red is not purple. Purple is not red.

I've read (ha) a few other explanations but fundamentally it boils down very simply. Red and purple are different. Thus if it was one thing, it was not the other thing. And if it was a THIRD thing (purply red or reddish purple) then it was NEITHER red nor purple.

That's it. Red is not purple.

Actually Red is purple. Rather Purple is a mixture of two primary colors blue and RED.

More over the color being described is what we now call tyrian purple (As it was the only known source for that color in the region durning that time.) Tryian purple would be considered a majenta which is a cross between light red and purple. and depending on how long one's eyes were exposed to direct sun light will determine how that particular person would ultimatly see or identify this color.
The Link below gives to color ranges for tyrian purple. and one looks scarlet and the other maybe a magenta which I would identify as purple.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrian_purple

So both are correct from their own POVs.