No Contradiction

But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!" Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. Luke 22:60

But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are saying." And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed. Mark 14:68

A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times." And when he thought about it, he wept. Mark 14:72

Is there a contradiction in these verses?

First, it is essential for us to know what constitutes a contradiction. A contradiction exists between two statements when both cannot be equally true at the same time. For example, John was in the classroom at 2:00 o'clock PM will contradict the statement that John was in the bathroom at 2:00 o'clock PM. These two statements contradict themselves because John cannot be in both places at the same time. 

When people claim that there are bible passages that contradict themselves, our response should be to ask if there is a probability of the two supposed contradictions occurring at the same time. In this verse, Luke says that the rooster will not crow before Peter denied Jesus three times. Mark, in his account of the same event said that the rooster crowed after the first denial. 

The question is, can these two statements be true at the same time? Luke's account did not deny the crowing of a first cock, only, he did not report it, so, his account did not contradict Mark's. Both Luke and Mark are agreed on three denials, only, Mark gave a more comprehensive account of the happening of the night. Considering that he had Peter as his mentor, it is not surprising that he could give a greater detail of what transpired on that night. If judged by the rule of contradiction, it will be seen that there is no contradiction in both accounts because the two statements can be equally true at the same time. 

Toni