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There are No Contradictions in the Bible


Brother_Bliss

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The Bible contains 66 books that were penned by 40 different writers over the span of 1600 years. During that time, it was copied by hand from one generation to the next. It’s not surprising that some people would ask “Is the Bible free from error?”

 

Are there contradictions in the Bible? Atheists and skeptics want you to believe that there are and that therefore the Bible cannot be trusted. Do you know how to answer them? Many of them have never studied the scriptures on their own, and this is the main reason for their misunderstanding. They are usually just parroting claims they have heard from other people, using these as their excuse for not putting in the work and doing the research themselves.

 

On the other hand, countless Christians read the Bible repeatedly. What has all this Bible study revealed? Intelligent, honest-hearted people come to realize that each of the 66 books in God’s Word, the Bible, actually harmonizes with each other. ­­If you have ever come across what seems to be a contradiction at first glance, a little research will reveal that the alleged contradiction doesn’t really exist.

 

Most so-called contradictions are actually not contradictions at all, but rather are differences. For example, one Gospel writer may have recorded an event from his point of view, while another Gospel writer wrote about it from his point of view. One writer might include details that the other writer chose not to include, and vice versa. In some cases, a law that was binding on ancient Israel may no longer be binding for Christians (shrimp, anyone?).

 

This is the purpose of this Blog entitled “No Contradictions”. Our goal is to provide an answer to every supposed discrepancy that is often lobbed towards bible believing Christians, usually by uneducated Atheist sheep and other skeptics. By means of this blog, we will admonish skeptics to stop copying and pasting other people’s criticisms and arguments, but to take a moment to dig deeper, and learn for themselves about how remarkable Biblical accuracy really is.

 

Of course, results will vary. The apostle Paul reminds us…

 

“A physical man does not accept the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot get to know them, because they are examined spiritually. However, the spiritual man examines all things.” – 1 Corinthians 2:14-15

 

Did you notice who really examines all things? It’s not the atheist, the skeptic, or the unbeliever. It’s actually the spiritual man. So we challenge skeptical readers to examine all things and to think for themselves.

 

Contrary to the baseless claims that opponents of Christianity like to make, thorough research, an honest heart, and an open mind will lead you to declare as we do: that the Bible is not guilty of contradicting itself. You will realize that when you dig deeper in order to understand biblical statements in context, there will be no errors to be found. God’s Word is a harmonious book from cover to cover, one that is accurate, trustworthy, and true.

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If you have ever listened to a sports broadcast from the commentators for each opposing team - you can get a good grasp on the "point of view". Take a game between two college teams. Most of the major colleges have their own "broadcasting network". If you were to listen to the "home team" network and the same game from the "visiting team" network - you might not think you were listening to the same game ... except for the final score the different points of view describe vastly different aspects of the same game.

 

I have done this, and it is almost comical to hear how each side describes the exact same play.

 

Study is the best way to truly understand that the Bible is in complete harmony with itself.

 

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Since the events we are reading weekly in 1 Kings have parallel accounts in Chronicles, from time to time you meet some "contradictions", which are always easily explained.

 

For example, 1 Kings 7:14 says that Hiram, the artisan who built all the copper elements in the temple, "was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphʹta·li, and his father was a Tyrʹi·an coppersmith;" By reading that, one might conclude that Hiram's mother was from the tribe of Naphtali, married a Tyrian man, and then became a widow. Yet the parallel account at 2 Chronicles 2:14 says that woman was from the tribe of Dan. Is there a contradiction? Not really. She probably was from Dan, married a man from Naphtali, then when he died she married a Tyrian man. That is a simple and logical explanation.

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Another good example I'd like to share, are scriptures which are often used to support the Trinity (or lead to it based on misunderstanding of Jewish texts), are "agency texts".

 

Sometimes you'll see a verse where one man does something, and then a later reference will say another man did something.

 

Examples:

Roman officer with the sick man and the Jewish Elders

Jehovah and Satan and the incitement of David over the Census

 

In Jewish law, there is a concept known as "Sheliah".

 

This means "a man's agent is himself".

 

This explains why the Jewish Elders are attributed the actions of a Roman officer in the alternative gospels. It also shows why both Satan and Jehovah are said to incite David, as one "allowed" the other to do so.

 

In turn, it explains why Jesus has some of the titles of God and speaks for God at the same time, whilst worshipping him. For Jesus as the agent of Jehovah, acts as his "Sheliah" agent. Taking on names, roles, ranks, and speech, by means of representation.

 

Thus, as opposed to trying to "fix" the supposed contradictions that God is "talking to and worshipping himself" (via the Trinity), it's a simple matter of Jesus being God in an agency way.

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