Its remarkable how many skeptics refer to these lists when they reject the bible, but theyve never truly read the underlying scripture in the bible itself. And, just like star wars, the awesomeness within the pages of the bible leads to plenty of continuity errors. Modern scholars find inconsistencies in the old testament and torah. Yet he didnt make the light producing objects the sun and the stars until the fourth day 1. To help christians think through this challenging but important issue, we asked darrell bock, senior research professor of new testament studies at dallas theological seminary, to offer his thoughts. In the 18th century, thomas paine in the age of reason compiled many of the bible s self contradictions. There is no shortage of skeptic websites out there claiming lists of bible contradictions. Aug 12, 2010 for many people, the belief that the bible contains contradictions and inaccuracies is an excuse for not believing. Christianitys critics cast doubt on the new testaments reliability by pointing out disparities in the gospels. One of the ways each book does this is by recounting jesus genealogy. Even though accepted and common definitions of the two terms often make them synonymous, inconsistencies do not necessarily equate to contradictions. I personally believe the bible is true, and that all contradictions can be explained, but a friend asked me about this one and i was stumped. Many such people have not actually read the bible for themselves. Contradictions between the book of mormon and the bible.
Thus, a contradiction is necessarily an inconsistency, but an inconsistency. Genesis god creates light and separates light from darkness, and day from night, on the first day. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything mark 4. A third version of the list exists in the apocryphal book 1 esdras. Joseph jensen wrote, no better explanation has as yet been found of. Alleged bible contradictions explained by george w. These lists are meant to identify possible problems in the bible, especially those that are inherent in a literalist or fundamentalist interpretation. Ill share two contradictions that may not be so clear cut, but they amuse me.
All of the rest of your verses can be explained also. I dont know how else to respect the bible and what i read there but by arriving at a conclusion like this. The bible is filled with mistakes and contradictions. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations.
But the bible is replete with contradictions and inconsistencies. There are always simple and natural answers on alleged bible contradictions. Many of the names in the book of mormon are just plucked directly from the bible, e. But then the book of hebrews weaves a legal case that argues that jesus is a priest in the line of melchizedek, which ought to take. Although the 66 books of the bible were written by diverse human. Contradictions in the bible identified verse by verse. The bible is a divine book but its also a very human book, not in that it is filled with human errors but in that it reflects how human beings tell stories. Analysis of the original languages of the bible hebrew for the old testament and greek for the new testament can solve many apparent issues. Ham wrote in the foreword, many people today buy into the assertion that the bible is full of contradictions, but they havent bothered to look into the claim for themselves.
In fairness to those who believe in the bible, i make no assumptions that any of these contradictions are true. Introduction to bible difficulties and bible contradictions. A muslim writer, shabbir ally, published a book entitled 101 clear contradictions in the bible, while another muslim writer claimed to find 109 contradictions. We can find errors and mistakes everywhere we look in the bible because its a collection of texts written centuries and millennia ago. No matter if youre christian, jewish, islamic or atheist, we can all agree on one point. Some moral difficulties in the bible inter varsity. April 19, 2019 from demolishing supposed bible contradictions. The study of inconsistencies in the bible has a long history. This section will provide answers to common contradiction claims, and other bible. A list of over 700 inconsistencies in the bible from. The contradictions in the bible arent contradictions, for the bible does not reflect the perfectly consistent mind of god, but the diversity of time and place of the writers. This cheeky little book is a straightforward compilation of 144 of the most obvious contradictions that can be found in the bible. The contradictions between the book of mormon and the bible constitute a most serious obstacle to accepting the book of mormon as latterday scripture supplemental to the bible. Top 20 most damning bible contradictions bob seidensticker.
Each of these mens positions on these contradictions is that any book for which the claim is made that it is a perfect and infallible writing given to us by god, cannot have these. Its remarkable how many skeptics refer to these lists when they reject the bible, but theyve never truly read the underlying scripture in the bible. An incredible interactive chart of biblical contradictions. But arent there over 100 contradictions in the bible that have been shown to discredit the bible s divine inerrancy. The opponents of christianity often use them in their attempts to discredit christianity. In the 17th century, spinoza considered the bible to be. Unfortunately for the skeptics, the bible is a supremely solid book, and its words are trustworthy and true. The major sources for my list of contradictions include william henry burrs book, self contradictions of the bible and john w. Hidden between the thou shalt nots and endless passages on who begat whom are stories of giant sex, rather well endowed egyptians and holy murderous bears. Kent hovind explains the truth about these so called contradictions. The socalled synoptic problem is simply that the synoptic gospels matthew, mark, and luke contradict each other. Bible contradictions explained come reason ministries. The disciples asked him why do you speak to them in parables. In attempting to explain some of the bibles alleged errors, i am standing.
If we read the bible at face value, without a preconceived bias for finding errors, we will find it to be a coherent, consistent, and relatively easytounderstand book. Biblical contradictions exemplify internal errors something that contradicts the bible s own message as opposed to external errors something that the bible gets wrong about the external. How do we answer supposed bible contradictions and difficulties. We must not stop believing all the bible just because something particular in it puzzles us. For many people, the belief that the bible contains contradictions and inaccuracies is an excuse for not believing. If in the holy bible there are contradictions that cannot. The companion volume to this book is demolishing supposed bible contradictions volume 2. Top 20 most damning bible contradictions october 20.
Answering contradictions in the gospels chronological problems a common objection to the inerrancy of scripture, especially regarding the gospels, is the synoptic problem. Answering contradictions in the gospelschronological. Many times skeptics will present a list of socall contradictions such as whether god repents, the time of jesus death, and when peter denied him. Contradictions as listed in the sab book the annotated bible. Contradictions in the gospels the bart ehrman blog. Contradictions in the bible identified verse by verse and. Bible contradictions a matter of translation and context some bible contradictions appear contradictory solely because of the intricacies of bible translation.
Aug 19, 20 a few years ago, computer science whiz chris harrison created a beautiful visualization linking up every cross reference in the bible. But first, i thought id go through the categories in the sab and do unto them as i did to the absurdities. One online skeptic writes, when the bible is examined with dispassion and with objectivity, it soon becomes obvious that it is so hopelessly riddled with errors, impossibilities and contradictions that it is essentially ludicrous to make the claim that it is inerrant. Aug 30, 2018 when you hold the bible, you might think of it as one book. Bible contradictions concerning the names and number of. This is one of the most important questions about the bible. Aug 30, 20 a list of apparent contradictions in the bible is making the rounds again online. An analysis by book i promised in my last post that i would create and analyze a boring index for the books of the bible, and ill to get to that. An inconsistency involves a lack of harmonious uniformity, regularity, steady continuity, or agreement. In studying creation accounts, many skeptics will claim that the bible holds two different creations accounts the six days of genesis 1 and a different version in genesis 2. Contradictions in the bible will vanish as we continue to study it.
Analysis of the original languages of the bible hebrew for the old testament and greek for. A list of apparent contradictions in the bible is making the rounds again online. Its no different from any other human book with the usual errors and mistakes. Contradicting bible contradictions answering bible. The differences in the toledoth statements of genesis 2.
If in the holy bible there are contradictions that cannot be explained, what are they, and why are their explanations invalid. Bible difficulties, or apparent bible contradictions, exist. Yet when they are challenged to cite such contradictions, critics will usually generalize by suggesting, oh, there are many of them. Apologists have many criticisms about identifying contradictions, and in many cases they go out of their way to add things to the bible in order to explain them away. What is incredible about the bible is not its divine authorship. You may disagree that these are, in fact, genuine biblical problems, but it is the authors opinion that a perfect and omnipotent god. Identified verse by verse and explained using the most uptodate scholarly information about the bible, its texts, and the men who wrote them by dr. A lot of people think that the bible has contradictions in it and, therefore, it cannot be trusted.
Audio download options are there contradictions in the bible. Of course there are errors and mistakes in the bible. One supposed bible contradiction is that the gospel accounts seem to indicate that jesus was anointed before and after the triumphal entry. There are many contradictions within the torah the 5 books of moses, the hebrew bible and the talmudic literature.
In the continuation, i will give only one example of contradiction of what. You said youd be happy to answer bible contradiction questions, and i have one. There is no discussion or analysis of the discrepancies, they are simply presented under the groupings of theological doctrines, moral precepts, historical facts and speculative. The story of jesus stands or falls on the trustworthiness of the gospels.
And the 12 false contradictions from king james version are easily explained. When people criticize the bible, they often point to contradictions. The significance of contradictions in the hebrew bible and. This book also includes translation problems, additions and subtractions that have been made to the bible, and problems with themorality of the book in general. Does the bible contain errors, contradictions, or discrepancies. The biggest contradiction in the bible christianity. Thats why skeptics pay so much attention to the gospels apparent contradictions. Haleys an examination of the alleged discrepancies of the bible. Sometimes these attacks undermine the faith of christians who either dont understand the issues or dont have the resources to deal with them. I think nearly everyone is familiar with the contradictions between the first and second creation stories genesis 1. Not always easy to find the answers, but here are mine. The book of mormon teaches that little children are not capable of sin because they do not have a sinful nature moroni 8. This anecdote shows that, for many people, the belief that the bible contains contradictions and inaccuracies is an excuse for not believing.
They do this primarily to try to discredit the word of god. Demolishing supposed bible contradictions volume 1. In fact, some of these so called contradictions come about because the bible is not just one book, but 66 different books written over a period of 1,600 years. Here, lenny responds to several objecions and shows why the approach of these skeptics fails. The defenders study bible, pg 1177 the reign of jehoiachim.
While some passages might seem to show the bible contradicting itself, they can usually be understood correctly by applying one or more of the following principles. However, it is actually 66 books that were written over a period of about 1600 and by at least 40 different men. A few years ago, computer science whiz chris harrison created a beautiful visualization linking up every cross reference in the bible. Please read the bible with your heart, it will explain to you the only way to be saved and go to heaven. Nov 01, 2010 the companion volume to this book is demolishing supposed bible contradictions volume 2. And in 1860, william henry burr produced a list of 144 self contradictions in the bible. Properly read, the bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived. Contradictions archives what do the scriptures say. To do so, one would first have to not read the book, which is the practice of most christians. Biblical contradictions occur when two or more verses, approached from a literalist perspective, state two or more things that cannot simultaneously be true. This puts wellmeaningbut often unpreparedchristians in a. Contradictions in the bible as numbered in the sab book. Keep in mind, however, that what constitutes a valid problem is to some extent a matter of opinion. So, for example, if a verse in the new testament referred back to a verse in the old testament, there was an arc drawn between the two chapters they were in the vertical lines at the bottom represent the number of verses in that chapter.
Yes, there are verses that appear to contradict each other. Since scripture brilliantly interprets scripture, consulting all the texts on any disputed subject will clarify ones questions. Answer book, the 165 pages over 60 of the most commonly asked questions about bible versions are answered in an easily understood style. More of the perceived contradictions are explained in greater detail in this video published by world video bible school. Alleged bible contradictions explained dehoff publications. The book of mormon derives its names from a book that has semitic sources, i. There are numerous lists of alleged bible contradictions. Were humans created before or after the other animals.
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