Contradictions in the Bible

One of the most common questions we are asked by those who do not know the Bible is, “how can the Bible be the Word of God if it is so full of contradictions?” The usual smart-aleck reply that we should come back with is, “Is there really? Which one are you talking about?” at which point the person should probably crawl back into their dark caves and we can feel good about knocking out another one of those non-believing crackpots. Or should we? Have we really done them, as well as the kingdom, a disservice by not answering a question that they have heard from many others?

As brilliant as it seems and as good as it might make us feel, answering in such a way will only shut off conversation and stop the person from ever getting an answer to their question. We need to do a better job of explaining the answer to these people.

So the short answer to their question is “The Bible is inspired by God, and the verses that seem to be contradictory really aren’t when taken in context, studied and understood.” If someone really is searching for the truth, you can always give them more. If someone is just looking to bust your chops, you can go back to the former reply and ask for a couple of verses.

“But what can I say to someone who wants to know more about these supposed contradictions?” you ask. Let’s discuss some of the things that cause people to believe that there are inconsistencies in the Bible.

Copyist errors

• The Bible is the Word of God handed down to us supernaturally. But this applies to the originals, what are called the autographs, and not necessarily to all copies ever made after. Luckily for us, there are so many copies, that it is somewhat simple to understand what was meant even when there are copyist errors. So for example:
• She trimmed his gray beard.
• She trimed his gray beard.
• She trim med his gray beard.
• Trimmed she his grey beard.
• His gray beerd she trimmd.
• His grey beerd she trimmd.
• Shet rimmed his gray beard.
• She trimmed his grey beard.
• She trimmed hes gray beard.
• These all have some sort of error, but we can know exactly what was meant by the original writer. Most of these will fall into one of these categories of errors:
• Dittography - Writing twice what should have been written once.
  A good example would be writing "latter" instead of "later." 
• Fission - Improperly dividing one word into two words.
  Example:  "nowhere" into "now here."
• Fusion - Combining two words
  "Look it is there in the cabinet... or Look it is therein the cabinet."
• Haplography - Writing once what should have been written twice.
  A good example would be "later" instead of "latter."  "Later" means after something else.  "Latter" means nearest the end. 
• Homophony - Writing a word with a different meaning for another word when both words have the exact same pronunciation.
  Meat and meet have the exact same sound but different meanings.  Also, there and their and they're are another example.
• Metathesis - An improper exchange in the order of letters.
  Instead of writing "mast," someone writes "mats," or "cast" and cats."
• Do we have to memorize this list of errors? No, but we should understand that there are copyist errors that exist in the copies. However, it should be understood that none affect any biblical doctrine and most copyist errors revolve around numbers and names.
• Some might say that since there are some errors in the Bible, we need to throw the whole thing out, that we can no longer trust it. Hogwash. If there is a science book with a couple of spelling errors, would we say the same thing? Of course not! How many times have we had math homework to solve a problem, only to find that we got it wrong according to the solutions page at the back of the book. After spending hours trying to figure out what we did wrong, the teacher tells us the next day that the answer in the back of the book was wrong. Should she stop using the book, throw it out and understand that since that was wrong, everything else in the book was wrong? That would be plain stupid. So she continues using the book, recognizing that there are some typos, but it doesn’t change the truth of the teachings in the book. Why should the Bible be viewed differently?
• So, an example of a copyist error is Was Ahaziah 22 years old (2 Kings 8:26) or 42 (2 Chronicles 22:2) when he began to rule over Jerusalem?
• We read in 2 Kings 8:17 regarding his father, “He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.” So, his father died when he was 40, hence Ahaziah must have been 22
• Most English version recognize this and have fixed this, but we can see these errors in the King James Version as well as the Hebrew copies.

So we will accept that, although the original autographs are perfect, the copies are not inspired and have potential copyist errors which have no affect on any biblical truth. That brings us to the next type of apparent contradiction. This one is based on misreadings of the scripture. There are several verses that might seem to contradict each other is they are read without investigating the real meanings. These we will call “Difference verses Contradiction”.

It is possible for one writer to write something that says one thing and another writer to write something that says something totally different, but not contradictory. For example, if one writer writes that Tommy went to the game and another writes that Tommy did not go to the game, these would be contradictory – one of them would be wrong. But if one writer writes that Tommy went to the game and another writes that Tommy went to the store, these are not contradictory – they can both be right.

So for example, how many blind men were at Jericho? Matthew 20:29-34 tells us there were two, but Mark 10:46-52 and Luke 18:35-42 say one. This would seem to be a contradiction, but it really is a difference. Mark calls the blind man Bartimaeus, Luke has no name for him. Does that mean he is nameless in Luke and hence another contradiction? No, we all recognize that he has a name, Bartimaeus, but Luke chooses not to name him. Is it possible that he also chose not to name the second blind man that was with Bartimaeus? Or in fact, just not to mention him at all?

If I happen to go to London and meet with Paul McCartney and the Prince of Wales, and upon coming back home, I told you that you would never believe it, but I met Paul McCartney, would I be lying? How about if right after that, I went to work and told my co-workers that I met Paul and Charles? I would not have contradicted myself at all – both times I told the truth. I might have said something different, but it’s still all true.

In the same way, we can look at these differences, recognizing that they do not contradict and hence can be explained in other ways. A couple more examples of these types of non-contradictions might be Judges 5:25-27 vs 4:21

• Judges 5:25-26 He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish. She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples.
• Judges 4:21 Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

Or Matthew 3:16 and Mark 1:10 vs John 1:32

• MT 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
• JN 1:32 Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.

Or Matthew 26:7 and Mark 14:3 vs John 12:3

• MT 26:7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
• JN 12:3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair.

In all these, and many other non-contradictions, we will find that the problem is not one of contradiction but of difference.

Another seeming contradiction occurs when we translate the original language into English. We’ll call this “Translating into English”. Our language is a difficult one as well as being one that is less descriptive than many others. Many times, words in other languages have no good translation in English, so we translate it into something close enough. And most times, that is fine, but occasionally, we end up with what might look like a contradiction, and in fact would be a contradiction if it’s not explained properly based on the original language.

One example of this is Acts 9:7 vs Acts 22:9, where Paul meets Jesus on the road to Damascus.

• Acts 9:7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.
• Acts 22:9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
• They heard and did not see vs. they saw but did not hear
• Seeing - they saw a light but not a man are different but not contradictory. After this episode, Paul probably turned to the men and said, “Did you see that?!” And they probably said, “Yes, it was the brightest light we’ve ever seen! We could hardly look into it!” To which Paul probably said, “yes, yes, but did you see Jesus?!” And the men probably replied, “No we didn’t.” Different, but not contradictory.
• Hearing – they heard a sound but did not understand the voice. For example, when we are sitting in the airport, we hear the sound over the loudspeaker, but we never understand what they are actually saying. Or another example, how many times have you turned to someone while watching a movie and said, “What did she say?” only to have the other person say, “I didn’t hear”. In both cases, we heard, but we didn’t hear. Or better, we heard the sound, our ears were functioning, but we didn’t understand what was being said.
• This might sound like rationalization until we realize the difference in Greek vs English
• In Acts 9:7, the word being translated “hear” is h~kousan
• In Acts 22:9 the word is ajkouvonte
• Like the words Speak, Spoke and Spoken, all are based on the same word, have the same root. The words h~kousan and ajkouvonte are based on the same word - ajkouvw . But one is the genitive and one is the accusative version of the word. What does that mean? I have no idea. But that’s what the experts in Greek tell us and who am I to argue?! So the experts continue and tell us that in the Greek, the first has the meaning of hearing a sound (physically), but the second has the meaning of “mental apprehension of the spoken word”. In the English, they are both translated “hear”. To use our examples, the first is what we did when we heard the announcement in the airport. The second is what we hoped the person sitting next to us in movie experienced when the actor said something we didn’t understand.

The next apparent contradiction occurs because of what we might call “Misinterpretation”. We can take any scripture and make it mean something it did not intend if we take it out of context. This method of argument is most seen when discussing the Bible with Muslims, Jehovahs Witnesses or most other religions that disagree with the Bible. There is a tendency there to read the Bible with a specific mindset, which leads to a misinterpretation of what is actually meant by a passage. For example 2 Kings 2:11 and John 3:13 has been used as an example of a contradiction. In 2 Kings 2:11, Elijah went up to heaven. However, in John 3:13, we read Jesus saying that only the Son of Man (Jesus) has ever ascended to heaven.

But John 3:13 taken in context shows that Jesus’ point is not that he is the only one to go to heaven but that he is the only one who has been in heaven and has returned to Earth and so is the only one who is capable of telling us what heaven is like.

Another example that shows a misinterpretation is Isaiah 44:24 which tells us that God created heaven and earth alone vs John 1:1-3, which tells us that Jesus took part in creation. The thinking is that this is a contradiction since God could not have created alone and with Jesus. However, this falls under the misinterpretation category:

• Isaiah 44:24 "This is what the LORD says—
         your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
         I am the LORD,
         who has made all things,
         who alone stretched out the heavens,
         who spread out the earth by myself,
• John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
• It would be a contradiction to say that both God and Jesus created heaven and Earth if it is misinterpreted that they are separate beings. But a proper understanding of God shows us that there is no contradiction here. God alone did create Heaven and Earth and Jesus did create it with Him because Jesus and God are one God (Trinity).

The next reason for apparent contradictions is due to what we will call “The Time Factor”. Sometimes, time needs to pass before we can fully understand things. In fact, we know that there are some things that we will never know until we meet with God face to face. But until that time, God has given us His Word and we may not fully grasp the meaning, doesn’t mean that it isn’t true. That said, there are things that have cleared up as time has passed and has cleared up some confusion and seeming contradictions.

For example, some things in the OT are answered in the NT. We might not understand it if we were only reading the OT, but when we combine the OT with the NT, we learn things. Time has passed and now we see more clearly what God meant and what God is doing. Many of the OT laws fall under this – God ordering the death of those who do not honor the Sabbath, the need for the sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin.

Another example is the apparent forsaking of Israel by God although He tells them that He will always be their God. Yet God allowed the nation to be dispersed throughout the world and seemed to allow them to undergo much suffering and hardships throughout history. However, as time has passed, we recognize that God has continued to work in History and has given His people a nation again. The understanding of prophecies regarding a literal Israel and a literal Temple did not exist prior to 1948 when Israel became a country. So prior to that, people understood all prophecies that speak of Israel in the future to be metaphorical and symbolic. But time has allowed us to recognize that now these prophecies can be taken literally since Israel now exists.

Additionally, as time progresses, archeology has found answers to questions that we did not understand because prior to these finds, we did not have enough information regarding the times that the scriptures were written. For instance:

• There was a time when people did not believe there was a city called Ur (from which Abraham came), but remains of Ur have been found
• There was a time that the Book of Daniel was thought to have been written in the mid-2nd-cent BC, but the Dead Sea Scrolls, having several copies of Daniel, prove that the book must have been around much earlier than that, since it would have taken years, even centuries, for the scrolls to first be written, then passed on and accepted by the Jewish nation and then reach Qumran before they could have made their own copies.
• Dr. Clifford Wilson in his book, The ABC of Biblical Archaeology, page 550 writes, "Proof of the Bible is not dependent on archaeology or any other scientific evidence.  The Bible has the capacity to defend itself, and to give its positive message to those who seek God through its pages.
• "Its superiority to attack, its capacity to withstand criticism, its amazing facility to be proved right after all, are all staggering by any standards of scholarship.  Seemingly assured results "disproving" the Bible have a habit of backfiring.  Over and over again the Bible has been vindicated.  That is true from Genesis to Revelation…."

So next time someone asks you about the contradictions found in the Bible, don’t just skip pass the question, but give them an answer that will make them think twice about it. Who knows, maybe they will actually do some research and find the truth!

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Last modified: Aug 20, 2007