5.
What
are Supposed Contradictions in the Bible?
Answer:
The
following are a variety of ways that people sometimes suggest
there is a contradiction when in fact there isn't.
a)
The question of prophecy
Liberal
theologians have challenged the apparent dating of certain books
of the Bible because, they say, they speak of events that don't
occur until many years later. There is a contradiction, they
say, between what the Bible says, and what is possible.
The
rejection of the concept of prophecy, being a revelation from
God speaking of future events, presupposes that God either doesn't
exist or doesn't speak, or doesn't know the future.
The
so-called contradiction is actually in the mind of the investigator,
the critic with presuppositions that deny certain possibilities
even before examining the evidence.
-
Lesson:
check
the presuppositions of critics who claim prophetic contradictions!
b)
The question of cultural style
There
are several areas where culturally writers of that time were
different to modern reporters.
The
first was the practice of forming genealogies. The writers
simply sought to give a general line that showed roughly how
‘A' came from ‘B' and so weren't terribly concerned if they
didn't pick up all the names.
The
second was the practice of rounding up numbers. More
often than not, a writer would simply round up numbers. It was
rather like us, instead of saying 4925, saying, ‘about 5000'.
The
third area appears when writers are quoting the O.T. in the
N.T. Our
Old Testament comes from the Hebrew but there was a version
of it called the Septuagint (LXX) which was a Greek translation
produced between the 1st and 3rd centuries BC, which was highly
accredited and which N.T. writers often used to quote O.T. prophecies.
Although
some words may be different, the sense is always the same.
(It
may be worthwhile here, reminding ourselves that both Old and
New Testaments which we have today in English are translations.
We will deal with this later in detail, but it is worth noting
that some differences are merely those of the translators and
not of the original writers. Where there are questionable words,
these are noted at the bottom of the page in your Bible)
-
Lesson:
Learn
and observe the cultural differences of Israel
two thousand years ago.
c)
The question of text snatching
A
general rule of interpreting the Bible is read it in context
– don't snatch words out of context – and read any part in the
light of the whole.
A
silly example of this would be to quote part of Psa 14:1 – There
is no God.
Does
the Bible say that? Of course not! In fact the whole of the
sentence actually reads, The
fool says in
his heart, ‘There is no God'
Obviously
there are a multitude of verses you could do that with.
- Lesson:
Don't
take texts out of context. Read it as a whole.
d)
The question of understanding
The
more you will read Scripture, the more you will understand it.
This
is especially helpful when you come across teaching which, at
first sight, appears contradictory – and there are some! As
you examine more fully what you are reading you will realise
that there is in fact no contradiction.
Example
1: Saved
by faith or by works
James
2:14
a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such
faith save him?
Rom
3:28
we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from
observing the law.
Reconciliation:
The apostle Paul in Romans was maintaining that to receive salvation
from God you simply needed to believe what He said. Once you
believed you were saved by God. James, you'll see from
the context, was concerned to see that his readers lived out
the salvation they had received from God.
Salvation
is received by faith (Paul's point) and then has to be lived
out in practical everyday living for the rest of our time on
earth (James' point).
Example
2: God
doesn't change his mind.
Num
23:19
God
is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should
change his mind .
Thus
a principle is laid down. (also 1 Sam 15:29 & Psa 110:4)
We
find two things happening:
a)
Wanting His heart to be revealed
Ex
32:14 Then
the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster
he had threatened .
The
context here shows God discussing with Moses what He will do
with the rebellious people of Israel.
We find a similar thing a number of times in Scripture with
different people.
It
is as if God wants to test them to bring out what they feel
to see if it corresponds with His own heart. It is not His desire
to bring judgement but He threatens it and waits to see if His
servant will argue against it, to come to the real place of
God's heart.
b)
Being changed by a change of heart
Ezek
33:15
if I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die', but then
he turns away from his sin and does what is just and right -
if he gives back ….and does no evil, he will surely live; he
will not die.
The
principle here laid down can be applied widely. God may intend
judgement but when there is repentance He relents. It is not
that He has changed His mind about the original situation –
it has changed with the repentance.
- Lesson:
Seek
to learn by wide reading, the means of reconciling Scriptures
which, at first sight, may appear to be contradictory. None
are!
e)
The question of objectives
Example
1: Kings
v Chronicles
When
we look at the two sets of books we find different ways of recording
the lives of the kings of Israel
and
Judah.
Chronicles
records only the southern kingdom kings and seems to follow
the line of David.
Kings
follows the two kingdoms and reveals more of the covenantal
aspects of their relationships with the Lord.
As
you read the two sets of books, note the things that stand out
to you that make them different and see the different objectives
of the writers.
Example
2: Synoptic
versus John
The
first three Gospels (Synoptic Gospels) are very similar. They
have identical verses and verses that are unique to them individually.
John's
Gospel covers a few similar subjects but apart from the overall
subjects (ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus) is very
different.
It
is suggested that John was written many years later than the
others.
John
had no desire to simply repeat what the others recorded, but
as he had matured as a Christian leader and looked back and
pondered on what he had seen in those three incredible, life-changing
years with Jesus, he began to realise the significance of many
of the things Jesus has said which the earlier writers had not
picked up.
Thus
he only uses miracles as ‘signs' pointing to who Jesus was,
and he picks up much of imagery language that Jesus has used,
especially in the ‘I am' sayings.
The
first three Gospels cover the basic detail seen from different
perspectives, but nevertheless the same.
John
in no way contradicts the first three but writes with much,
much deeper understanding of who Jesus was – the glorious Son
of God who had come down from heaven and his clear objective
is to portray him as such, with an insight that only come with
the years.
Lesson:
Learn
to read in detail, noting differences (but no contradictions)
and seeing the different objectives the writers had in writing.
f)
The question of accepted behaviour conflicting with teaching
The
Bible doesn't necessarily approve all that happened. The fact
that it may teach one thing but record the opposite happening
needs to be understood.
Example
1: Rahab
the prostitute lying to save the Israelite spies.
The
Bible is against lying, yet lies in this situation (Josh 2)
saved the Israelites, and Rahab is later commended for her faith.
-
Lesson: In
a ‘Fallen World' we sometimes have to choose the lesser of
two evils. It is still evil but it is preferable to the only
alternative.
NB.
This
should never be confused with a person purposely doing wrong
as a wilful act of sin.
Example
2: Slaves
The
Bible notes the fact of slaves at that time in history and the
Law legislated for fair dealing in slaves who were to be released
at regular intervals.
We
may see slavery as a denigrating of men and women but under
the Law it was recognised as a way that a man who had fallen
into hard times could put himself into service to recover.
In
the New Testament we don't find Jesus speaking out against slavery
because he knew that world conditions were not yet right to
be changed.
- Lesson:
In
this fallen World, silence in Scripture is not necessarily
acceptance or agreement of a practice.
g)
The question of developing life and revelation
Rules
of interpretation recognise that there is a development in history
and in revelation.
Example
1:
Ethical Law development
Thus
in the times of early civilisations, God's law declared, if
there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye
for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn
for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
(Ex
21:23-25). What we should emphasise that it was ONLY eye for
eye etc. In other words it was a restraining law, stopping revenge
multiplying the come-back.
When
Jesus taught his disciples many years later we find, You
have heard that it was said, `Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'
But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes
you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also (Mt
5:38
,39).
- Lesson:
Understand
that the N.T. did not contradict the O.T. Law but developed
it.
Example
2:
Sacrificial Law development
In
the O.T
.,
as a picture of what was yet to come, the Jews were required
to bring sin offerings into the Temple
to
deal with their sins.
In
the N.T.
that is no longer required of us because Jesus has himself become
an offering for our sin (see Hebrews)
- Lesson:
Jesus
replaced or fulfilled the ceremonial law with himself. We
no longer need to perform it.
Example
3: Land
versus Kingdom
Many
of the O.T. laws were to do with God's kingdom expressed in
a physical nation living in a physical land.
In
the N.T. the ‘ kingdom
of
God
'
refers to God's reign wherever it may be in the world, expressed
through many different peoples in different geographical location.
- Lesson:
Realise
that Jesus rules over a spiritual kingdom, not a limited geographical
location.
h)
Promises come with Conditions
Critics
sometimes jump on promises of God which do not seem to being
fulfilled.
Realise
that most promises come with a condition which is specific,
or implied within the context that the promise was given.
-
Lesson:
Learn
to look for the condition that goes with a promise.