Christians, why there are so many contradictions in the Bible?

Question

I am not an atheist, I believe in God but the contradictions I find in the Bible, they scare me!

God's attributes are revealed in his works.
Rom 1:20
God's attributes cannot be discovered
Job 11:7/ Is 40:28

Robbery commanded
Ex 3:21,22/ Ex 12:35,36
Robbery forbidden
Lev 19:13/ Ex 20:15
Lying approved and sanctioned
Josh 2:4-6/ James 2:25/ Ex 1:18-20/ 1 Kings 22:21,22
Lying forbidden
Ex 20:16/ Prov 12:22/ Rev 21:8
Hatred to the Edomite sanctioned
2 Kings 14:7,3
Hatred to the Edomite forbidden
Deut 23:7
Killing commanded
Ex 32:27
Killing forbidden
Ex 20:13
The blood-shedder must die
Gen 9:5,6
The blood-shedder must not die
Gen 4:15
The making of images forbidden
Ex 20:4
The making of images commanded
Ex 25:18,20
Slavery and oppression ordained
Gen 9:25/ Lev 25:45,46/ Joel 3:8
Slavery and oppression forbidden
Is 58:6/ Ex 22:21/ Ex 21:16/ Matt 23:10
Improvidence enjoyed
Matt 6:28,31,34/ Luke 6:30,35/ Luke 12:3
Improvidence condemned
1 Tim 5:8/ Prov 13:22
Anger approved
Eph 4:26
Anger disapproved
Eccl 7:9/ Prov 22:24/ James 1:20
Good works to be seen of men
Matt 5:16
Good works not to be seen of men
Matt 6:1

Answer 1

VERY FUNNY!



You assumed that no Yahoo Christians would take the time to actually look up your so-called ranting contradictions of the Bible. But... I did. You lost credibility with your first two examples.



* In your first example: Job 11:7 asks the question; and Rom 1:20, Is 40:28 gives the answer. NO contradiction!



* There is NO robbery in Ex 3:21; nor 12:35-36. The word is BORROWED! Please look up borrowed vs robbery in your English dictionary.



* Lying approved and sanctioned

Josh 2:4-6/ James 2:25. CUTE! In this life and death situation, Rahab saved her live, and the lives of the spies by telling the pursuers that they went another way. OKAY...next time your life is in danger, tell the absolute truth that will for sure get you KILLED!





* Hatred to the Edomite forbidden

Deut 23:7: Doesn't mean you can't defend yourself in a war if they start it first.



* Killing commanded

Ex 32:27: Do you read the context? Didn't think so! God can judge rebellion if you don't know that.



* The blood-shedder must not die

Gen 4:15: It called the MERCY of God. Cain was left with "the mark." Not an easy thing. Thinking of the MERCY of God. You forgot Moses and David. They both were guilty of murder.



* The making of images commanded

Ex 25:18,20: The difference is in Ex 20: 4-5 you are not to BOW DOWN and serve them. See the difference?



* Slavery and oppression ordained

Gen 9:25/ "And he said, cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." A servant is not a SLAVE.



* Improvidence enjoyed

Matt 6:28, "And why take thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin."



Improvidence condemned

1 Tim 5:8/ "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.



You forgot "he that does not work, should also not eat." 2Thess. 3:10. Where is the contradiction?





* Anger approved

Eph 4:26: "Be ye angry, AND SIN NOT." Can YOU do this? "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath."



* Good works to be seen of men

Matt 5:16: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works." The works that bring glory to God.



* Good works not to be seen of men

Matt 6:1: "Take heed that you do not your alms before men, TO BE SEEN OF THEM: otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." In other words, we are not to glorify ourselves. See the difference?



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Okay DANY, let's be honest. Your post is a rant. Did you come up with this list by yourself? Did a teacher, or professor give it to you? The facts should shame the Christian bashers who came here only to mock.



Have you ever read the Bible in context? I hope you do sometime, it's quite an education. Eternal life is only found in Jesus Christ. (see John 5:39) That's the life I hope you find. Not a reason to mock a book that has been around centuries before you were born.



God bless!



The General.





Edit: "Am I taking the Bible verses out of their context? Am I misinterpreting the Bible?"



I believe you have answered your own question. Thanks!

Answer 2

1. The bible was not originally written in English and copying is not perfect. All the removals are documented and nobody tries to hide it. They look at early manuscripts and if they do not have the verse then they take it out but note that they did that. The earliest manuscript will almost always be the one they go with but we cannot be 100% sure that it is the original translation. There may be an older version they used to copy. 2. No contradictions. Don't assume there are contradictions like an idiot. Give us what you consider a contradiction so we can address it.

Answer 3

Bible difficulties, or apparent Bible contradictions, exist. The opponents of Christianity often use them in their attempts to discredit Christianity. Sometimes these attacks undermine the faith of Christians who either don't understand the issues or don't have the resources to deal with them.



Opponents of Christianity will cite what they consider a Bible contradiction or difficulty by comparing one verse to another (or more) that seems to disagree with the first. In doing this, several verses are often referenced as being contradictory or problematic. Therefore, to make this section of CARM easy to use, it is arranged by verse for easy lookup. Since many of the same "difficulties" deal with one verse in opposition to another or even several others, I have listed all the verses addressed in the same answer. This makes the initial list look larger than it really is. For example, how many animals did Noah bring into the ark? Genesis 6:19-20 says two while Gen. 7:2-3 mentions seven. Therefore, both verses are listed and both links point to the same answer.



http://carm.org/introduction-bible-difficulties-and-bible-contradictions



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 easy-to-understand book. Yes, there are difficult passages. Yes, there are verses that appear to contradict each other. We must remember that the Bible was written by approximately 40 different authors over a period of around 1500 years. Each writer wrote with a different style, from a different perspective, to a different audience, for a different purpose. We should expect some minor differences. However, a difference is not a contradiction. It is only an error if there is absolutely no conceivable way the verses or passages can be reconciled. Even if an answer is not available right now, that does not mean an answer does not exist. Many have found a supposed error in the Bible in relation to history or geography only to find out that the Bible is correct once further archaeological evidence is discovered.



http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-errors.html



The Big Book of Bible Difficulties: Clear and Concise Answers from Genesis to Revelation

By: Norman L. Geisler, Thomas Howe

http://www.christianbook.com/difficulties-clear-concise-answers-genesis-revelation/norman-geisler/9780801071584/pd/071584?event=AFF&p=1011693&

Answer 4

Haha, i like Citizen of the Cosmo's answer. That's basically the best answer that could be given. TONS of people were involved with writing it, but they didn't have the 'Contradiction Check' Microsoft word tab. And, like the Citizen said, the writing of this book crossed over many years, and in the constantly shifting politics of the ancient (and current) times one month it was okay to say one thing, the next one they had to say something totally different.



One thing though. Seems to me like you may have (and i don't mean to accuse) taken some things out of context. I mean, "Killing commanded"? Really? Were the next words, "by Satan, so don't ever do that."?



Not saying that there aren't contradictions in the bible, anyone who says there isn't, or if they say that only because of your weak mind you would think that those are contradictions, basically, they're lying to their selves. It does sound like you are just looking for contradictions, and you are just taking words and saying, "Ha! Look here, these words are different!" Even if in their context they may have meant the same thing...

Answer 5

You are in error, not the Bible. Just a couple of responses to your tirade. Look at the context of anger in Ephesians. Anger is an emotion, that initially one cannot stop. One can deal with anger and overcome it, in fact we are supposed to overcome it prior to the sun going down. It is actually a very accurate and beneficial view of anger

As far as slavery, the Bible never condones slavery. I mean look at Genesis 1, the initial positive command of God to Adam was "You are free to eat of every tree of the garden.... except one." The Bible does recognize the existence of slavery and severely limits it and provides strong condemnation of harsh slave owners. William Wilburforce spent his lifetime in British parliament working to end slavery in the Empire based on his commitment to the Bible. He finally succeeded. But, I guess you understand the Bible's view better than he or numerous other scholars.

Give me one or two further alleged errors and I will show you are in error. But, thanks for copy and pasting all that trash.

Answer 6

Since we are ALL different, diverse, unique and individual beings - is there any wonder HOW man has interpreted and perceived the same eternal issues, laws and doctrine so differently through the centuries? Come now....



It's all about interpretation and translations.

Answer 7

Why indeed? Perhaps the forest is being missed for concentration on the bark of trees? Small contradictions meant to illustrate different points in particular stories don't erase the central truths evinced by Jesus: Love one another as yourself and Love G-d with all you heart.

Answer 8

Oh, and there are SO many other blatant ones that Christians tend to conveniently overlook. They will always come up with an answer as to why, but they are SO obvious. Keep looking and studying my brother, you'll be quite shocked if you do. The first four gospels alone don't agree on many of the key points and once Paul started writing his letters, oh boy, more contradictions.



Props to you for intelligent research.

Answer 9

Well, let's remember that even if it was divinely inspired--a big fat IF--humans have taken "God's" dictation, to paraphrase Harriet Beecher Stowe. And being human, they have mistranscribed (remember, until the invention of the printing press in the 1500s, copying was done by hand) and mistranslated and maybe changed things. Of course, "God" is not doing a whole lot to clear up these sources of confusion for whatever reason.



I wish I knew what to tell you.

Answer 10

"The man with too many questions has no confidence"



I see them all and see no contradiction, yet I don't project that on you.

You see what you see, fine, but why assume everyone in the world is like you ? Why ?

Answer 11

Because man only knows in part.

Answer 12

Because the bible is not holy, divinely inspired, or even remotely logical. It's a bunch of stories that were written about other stories that people heard who decided to put some of these stories in a book.

Answer 13

You try being 65 writers over 1000 years and not contradicting yourself once.

Answer 14

The bible isn't consistent or even factually accurate at points, but the bible is true. Think about that. I'll spare you the long winded rant.

Answer 15

If the bible always made sense and depicted reasonable people, it would be hard for us conflicted and complex humans to relate to.

Answer 16

well if all that is in the bible then it cannot be true.. Go and join the prophecy and beyond site, they are christians and should be able to answer you...hopefully.

Answer 17

Because people wrote them there.

Answer 18

the current version of the bible is fake, it is man-made.

Answer 19

http://www.pleaseconvinceme.com/index/The_Bible_Does_Not_Contradict_Itself

Answer 20

translations

Answer 21

Man's mind "IS" contradiction......

Answer 22

Only to a carnal man are there contradictions. Spiritually there are no contraditions in the Bible.

Answer 23

wrong...it is ppl who dont understand rightly....read the footnotes and repent...with spirit its a little easier