Contradictions in the Bible

[Hakan101]

I recently had a discussion with an agnostic, who told me that the Bible was a poorly written book, filled with contradictions. He said if it truly was the Word of God, it would have been completely clear and simple to understand, without confusion and riddles.

I asked him to present me with some examples of contradictions, expecting they would be issues like why Christians don't follow "x" Jewish law, and etc. I was surprised by what he had shown me. They were issues like Judas' death, how many animals were on Noah's Ark, exactly what were Jesus' final words, and in Leviticus it says rabbits chew the cud, but "rabbits don't chew cud."

I don't know if this was the right reaction, but I thought such issues were really petty and, frankly, foolish to reject Jesus over. Some quick Google searches provided answers that explained the context of the matter. In truth there were no contradictions. But this man did not accept the answers, insisting that God would have written those explanations in the Bible if he really existed.

That bothered me, because it seemed this man was so worried about minute details that he could not understand what it means to be a Christian. It may sound ridiculous, but I felt as though he had no good reason to reject God's message, so in an effort to avoid admitting this, he merely looked at the words for face-level, and rejected them (I felt the same about another man who did this with the story of Job).

What do you think about these so-called "contradictions" in the Bible? Is there any explanation in Scripture of why the Bible is not easily, clearly written out? Have these issues ever bothered you before? I personally feel it's okay that I don't understand every little detail in the Bible, since I am young and have many years to learn. I think as long as you understand the core message of the Gospel, you're "good to go", but once you've gotten past that milestone, then you are ready to understand the deeper things. Is this right thinking?

 

[texastig]

What do you think about these so-called "contradictions" in the Bible?

There are no contradictions. It's us that doesn't know how they lived back then and how their society really ran.

Is there any explanation in Scripture of why the Bible is not easily, clearly written out?

The only thing I can think of is this:
"And remember, the Lord is waiting so that people have time to be saved. This is just as our beloved brother Paul wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him--
speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters around to mean something quite different from what he meant, just as they do the other parts of Scripture--and the result is disaster for them." 2 Peter 3:15-16 (NLT)

Have these issues ever bothered you before?

No, because the main topic is our sin and Jesus dying for us.

I personally feel it's okay that I don't understand every little detail in the Bible, since I am young and have many years to learn. I think as long as you understand the core message of the Gospel, you're "good to go", but once you've gotten past that milestone, then you are ready to understand the deeper things. Is this right thinking?

Yes, that is right thinking.

 

[BondiHarry]

Is there any explanation in Scripture of why the Bible is not easily, clearly written out?

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)

 

[Lee52]

10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a]
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. 18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:10-23 NIV

 

[Lee52]

Anyway, there are no contradictions in the Bible, only misunderstandings.
A careful, diligent study of Scripture and Bible history will clear up any misunderstandings and solve any faux-contradictions.

 

[SoldierOfSoul]

In the book "Many Infallible Proofs" by Henry Morris, in the chapter entitled "Alleged Bible Contradictions" he writes:

"A person should examine the way he reacts when he hears about some new problem which somebody professes to have found in the bible. Does he experience a subtle feeling of release from the restraint of scripture and of triumph over its proponents? Or does he rest in faith that there is a good solution to the problem and set about to find it? The bible is a mirror with which one can examine both his own heart and those of others, and this fact is nowhere more clearly revealed than in the reaction triggered by the apparent problems of the bible."

There is always an explanation to any perceived contradiction in the bible, it just requires study to come to the realization of it. The bible in its original form is without errors, the only errors and perceived contradictions come from bad translations of the perfect original script.

Look at this way: God is holy and perfect in nature and character, everything He does is in perfection and His character and plans are without error. So why question the word that He has inspired? If it comes from this same God who is, in every facet of His being, ultimate perfection? The word of God could be nothing less than perfect and true based on the character and nature of the One who truly wrote it.

 

[eachallberg]

What do you think about these so-called "contradictions" in the Bible? Is there any explanation in Scripture of why the Bible is not easily, clearly written out? Have these issues ever bothered you before? I personally feel it's okay that I don't understand every little detail in the Bible, since I am young and have many years to learn. I think as long as you understand the core message of the Gospel, you're "good to go", but once you've gotten past that milestone, then you are ready to understand the deeper things. Is this right thinking?

I dont know about rabbits eating poop, but I know my dog does.

The bible was written by imperfect men. I think contradictions can be good because it causes the skeptic to dig deeper.

Here is a couple of verses that reminds me of your question.
"...God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." (1 Corinthians 1:27)
And
"These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves..." (Jude 1:16)

At one point I was bothered by all the questions I had but I just came to terms with are flaws.

Paul advised us not to be wrapped up in genealogies (1 Timothy 1:4), but yet they seem to take up a good chunk of the old testament. Speaking of genealogies the one in Matthew is different from Luke's.

Solomon said sadness is better (Ecclesiastes 7:4) yet fruit of the spirit is joy. (Galatians 5:22).

Speaking of imperfection Paul wishes harm in Galatians 5:27.

We can study till we are blue in the face, but why ruin are selfs? (Ecclesiastes 12:12 Acts 26:24)

What is the core message of the Gospel to you?
To me it's, "love thy neighbor".

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

Grace, mercy, peace through Christ to all.

 

[heron]

ממפריסי הפרסה השסועה את הגמל
--Rabbits are in there somewhere. In the language tools that I checked, there were no translations offered for the animal words beyond camel, so I would guess translations were placed in there according to Jewish tradition. (There was even a word for armor mixed in, which would lead me to think they were talking about turtles and horseshoe crabs.)

"The camel and the rabbit and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. "

The word used for " chew " has dozens of meanings. Cud is from an alternate stomach, or regurgitation. (But guinea pigs eat their own droppings, and live in the rocks.)

What I have heard -- animals with padded feet have a different way of releasing toxins than those with hoofs; and hookworms can take hold in pawed feet better than hoofed.

Translators and linguists are continually trying to build their findings into the accuracy of the Bible, but there are simply differences in language -- including a very different language structure between ancient Hebrew and English.

 

[Maremma]

Well the rabbit thing is most likely that what they called "Rabbit" back them may not be the same animal as we call rabbit today. Just as there are references to dinosaurs in the bible but the word dinosaur is not there once. (Job talks about a mighty animal that cannot be tamed whose tail is as big as a cedar tree and a beast that breathes fire out of it's mouth, thus where we got fire breathing dragons from).

Coprophagy is the term used for animals that eat their own poops. Such as guinea pigs. This is a requirement in them because their systems run so fast they lose to many nutrients the "first time around" and have to re-eat the "digested food" to absorb all the nutrients the second time around. A sickly guinea pig will actually seek the healthy guinea pigs poops to help it regain its health so they do not "just" eat their own poops.

Chewing the cud does not mean eating their own poops. That is where the stomache contents are brought back up to be chewed a second time and is also a requirement for certain animals due to their specific digestive systems, these animals lack an enzyme that would be required to be able to only chew it once and not have it come back up to be -rechewed.

As for the other contradictions? They indeed DO exist in the modern day English versions of the bible and it is caused by the rapid speed in which the scriptures had been translated when King James was pushing the scholars to combine all written scriptures (old and new testament), authenticate them as inspired scriptures get them all translated to English and put together for printing en mass asap.
Then we have the problem of having it "re translated" several more times trying to make it more easily read by all. Small contradictions and errors were bound to happen.

There is actually a misprinted bible on display somewhere (can't recall where) that had accidentally written the "Parable of the Vineyard" as the "Parable of the vinegar" and is nicknamed the "vinegar bible". I would imagine there would have been those types of printing errors that were not caught as well.

It was accidental man made contradictions not contradictions in God or the original text.

 

[heron]

-double post-

 

[heron]

SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS
"The Last Four Words Jesus' last four statements refer to Himself and were spoken between noon and 3:00 p.m. (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44). He uttered the cry of desolation, quoting Psalm 22:1 in the Aramaic language (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34), expressed His thirst, (John 19:28) and issued the cry of victory, “It is finished” (John 19:30). In His final words, Jesus quoted Psalm 31:5 as He committed His spirit to God (Luke 23:46). "

Steve W. Lemke​

John 19:30
Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

I think we also need to consider that four people wrote what they observed or knew to be true, and four people standing in different spots will hear different things. I do not consider this a flaw in scriptures -- it is simply four different accounts of the same event.

If you go to your parents' for dinner, afterward the siblings will stand outside and different ones will say "wow, that was tense," "they look great -- so good to see them," "You were awfully rude with Mom," "Dad hasn't changed"... people observe different aspects of the same scene, with different opinions.

 

[heron]

accidentally written the "Parable of the Vineyard" as the "Parable of the vinegar"

Lol!

 

[ChrisLeishy]

If someone can look at the bible and only see the contradictions, they are looking for any excuse to justify that there is no way they are going to believe anyway. They dont want to believe.....

 

[Maremma]

Oh geeze I forgot to add the other point. Rabbits/hares are in the same class as guinea pigs and have to re-eat their own poops. Cows, goats and I think sheep, chew the cud. BOTH are redigesting their food just one does it sooner than the other.

If it was not "safe" (sin) to eat one it certainly wouldn't be the other either. The missing enzyme that those that chew the cud lack would have also have parasite killing properties to it. Without it they are more vulnerable to diseases than animals that do have the enzymes.
Animals that have to re eat their poops are also more susceptible to parasitic infections because if they were infected in the intestine they would then be re eating the eggs of that same parasite and many then go onto infecting muscle. brain, organs etc just like STILL happens today.

 

[Tim Myers]

I have read book after book after book after book that dealt with this subject........

And, I can tell you now, all you are going to end up with is one side saying "There are no contradictions".....and the other side nitpicking that there actually are dozens of them.......

 

[Leetposter]

The Bible is not to be interpreted. It is to be understood.

 

[Saucy]

The way I see it, the bible is the perfect word of God. But could there have been any mistakes when it was translated into English? Possibly. Are there enough mistakes to reject Christ? NO!

People hold on to this nonsense and use it as a "reason" not to accept Christ. People would rather reject God so they could live the way they want to and don't have to be accountable to anyone and they'll use anything possible to "justify" it to themselves.

Now, when it comes to the "contradictions" themselves, we don't know everything, nor do we understand God. For example, I believe in Matthew it talks about how there were two angels in the tomb after Jesus resurrected. John says there were three. Is that a contradiction? Or maybe John saw three because God wanted him to see three. That one angel has a special message for John. So it's not a contradiction at all, but someone who doesn't have faith won't see that.

 

[Johnnz]

I see inspiration as God's having infused the authors as they set out with specific purposes and themes for their writing. Thus, the selected material to include according to those criteria, amongst others. And, quite obviously, a narrative with be quite different in style from poetry, and both from a letter; genre is important. Plus,they all wrote within their times and cultures, as we do today.

It's when you have a view of biblical inspiration that is a bit like God actually dictating the text you have some real issues regrading detail and context.

Scripture gives us reliable knowledge of how we can relate our lives to God and His purposes with confidence.

John
NZ

 

[LWB]

When I learnt about Jesus and read Scripture, it wasn't the clearness and flawless accuracy of the text that convicted my heart. It was more like becoming entangled in the embrace of two lovers. One of the lovers was Jesus and his testimony, the other was something inside me, way back, beyond my conscious attention, that affirmed Christ as the truth.

So like an electrical charge arcing from one electrode to another - I was just the one that got zapped in between.

All the little inconsistencies don't bother me. That people remembered things with slight differences in the gospels adds to the authenticity in my opinion. If the entire Bible was polished to perfection, it would be like an imitation of the Mona Lisa. It would look so perfect that it was an obvious fake. All the little cracks and faded paint signify the authenticity of the real Mona Lisa.

 

[Tim Myers]

I have heard it said that the inconsistencies and contradictions actually give the scriptures all the more authenticity......