Mar
12
Written by:
Spiritual Formation
3/12/2008 3:20 PM
Are there Contradictions in the Bible?
Many people love to write off the Bible as being irrelevant and stocked full of contradictions. The following may seem like a bold statement on my part… and even some fellow Christians would disagree completely with what I am about to say…
There are no contradictions in the Bible.
Okay, now that I’ve thrown that monster out there… let’s back track and explain a bit.
Reason why you probably think I’m full of it #1: Different copies of the Bible are not identical.
We don’t have the originals (they have disintegrated) but we do have copies of the originals. The differences between these copies are not major… For the most part there is a letter or two of difference per page. I’m not talking paragraphs of differences here, but inaccuracies do exist between the manuscripts. Where differences in the copies occur, most modern translations will put an asterisk (*) with a note at the bottom explaining them.
But, with that said… within the original manuscripts, I hold to inerrancy- Which means a lack of errors of any kind. These words are the product of God, not mere men.
Reason why you probably think I’m full of it #2: Different parts of the Bible seem to be saying different things.
I have heard many non Christians use seemingly contradictory statements from scripture to show that God is essentially talking out of both sides of his mouth. Think of the “Two creation accounts in Genesis,” “Cain’s nameless wife in Genesis 4,” and “The different accounts of the thieves crucified next to Jesus.” You’ve probably heard about these and more.
Many great authors have studied these individual “contradictions,” Josh McDowell probably being the best… his book New Evidence that Demands a Verdict is a must read for all Christians looking to defend their faith… or for people who are struggling with these realities. I did for a while… and nothing short of honest study and reflection will settle your conscious.
Reason why you probably think I’m full of it #3: Christians read the same Bible and come to radically different interpretations.
Is there predestination or do we choose our own fate? Is Christ coming back tomorrow or thousands of years from now? Did God create the world in 6 literal days or was this much longer? Christians disagree on a multitude of issues…
This is why I think context is so important… Some of these issues can be resolved by faithfully looking at scripture as a whole but admittedly, many can’t. Some concepts will never be fully understood or agreed upon on this side of heaven. We just have to trust that God has revealed to us exactly what he wanted… and nothing more.
The problem here is not with the Bible… but with the inadequate, mere mortals who are trying to figure out the things of God! Some things are beyond our understanding and other things are not for us to know quite yet. We just have to trust in faith that all truth will be revealed at the appointed time by our heavenly father who loves us more than we will ever know!
Luke
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Re: Q & A part 3
Is it a contradiction that your post both says that "There are no contradictions in the Bible" and that to "mere mortals" the Bible seems to contain contradictions?
Besides, that something is logically complete doesn't necessarily make it true, and that something that is NOT logically complete doesn't necessary make it FALSE. (this statement cannot be proved)
This post isn't even good enough to be wrong. This post would have been more effective and more reasonable you simply wrote that questioning the authority of God would send your sinful butt straight to hell.
By Andrew Yates on
12/9/2007 10:07 PM
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Re: Q & A part 3
I believe that just literal inconsistancies are not enough to describe the real problems of scripture. We have a real issue with the described nature of God. Would a loving Father tell us to love our enemies in one part of scripture, and to kill our enemies in another part? God would not confuse His children by trying to teach two different lessons. This is the whole point of Bible study,to understand the Father who made us. Jesus taught that whoever knows love knows God. With that in mind , we should be able to eliminate anything in scripture that is confusing or unloving. An honest search through the OT is enough to convince an diligent seeker of truth to question the huge ethical dilemma here.
I am a Christian who follows after the God of love and forgiveness, not the one of death and destruction. God's teachings are not complicated in the slightest way. We have become confused by the scriptural oddities found throughout , and have deduced that God must somehow be beyond our understanding. The Book doesn't have to be perfect. Only God is perfect. Your heart should tell you this.
By Richard Knoll
on
3/5/2008 2:28 PM
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