Why do gospel contradictions matter?

[Drich]

Here are a few answers to digest.

http://www.tektonics.org/lp/merrit01.php

Or if you like you can pick say, 5 and we can go over them.

Explanations for why there are contradictions, do not cause those contradictions to cease to exist. And there are very good explanations for why there are contradictions: muddled accounts passed down through multiple story tellers; theologically driven changes and additions; made up material; language barriers between the story tellers; and so on.

The explanations attempting to explain that there are no contradictions tend to be more complex and unbelievable than the contradictions themselves.

Your citation is to a mixture of the two.

To answer a contradiction does indeed eliminate the contradiction.

In 90% of all supposed of biblical contradiction perception is the cause. Grant a more diverse understanding of the subject and the contradiction goes away. In the other 10% of supposed contradictions, simple education and a understanding of how translation works eliminates said contradiction.