The morning newspaper reports that the attendance at the Saturday afternoon university football game was 51,700. The afternoon edition of the same paper reports that the attendance was 53,200. A critic, every ready to find fault with the local paper, would immediately cry out, "Contradiction!" However, it happened in this instance that the evening paper more fully explained the matter. The lower figure represented the box office count of the exact number of tickets sold. The higher figure represented the number who actually came through the gate, which included many persons with free passes from the local Veteran’s Hospital and the local boys and girls club. Thus in the end there was no contradiction at all between the figures, only a different basis from which the figures were derived.

Please turn with me in your Bibles at Mark 15:25.

According to Mark, Jesus was crucified at the third hour of the day.

Now turn to John 19:14-16.

In the first passage Mark says that Jesus was crucified at the third hour of the day. In the second passage John indicates that Jesus was not yet on the cross, but in Pilate’s Hall at the sixth hour and was crucified still later.

Critics of the Bible allege that this is a contradiction. On the basis of this apparent discrepancy and some similar ones between these and other Bible writers, they hold that the Bible could not possibly be the inspired word of God. "The Bible is full of contradictions," they say. Some have left the faith because of such allegations. Others remain skeptical and don't believe. Still others choose to put their heads in the sand and pretend that such things don’t exist.

It is my conviction that the Bible is literally and verbally inspired. I’ve shown you some reasons for that in the recent series of sermons I’ve been doing called God’s Word – The Bible. Perhaps the things I’ve been presenting have caused a stirring of faith within you. But then maybe you have heard before that the Bible is "full of contradictions." So how could it possibly be the word of God?

I do not believe that the Bible is "full of contradictions" as some allege. Of course, one who holds this position must be ready to answer the allegations of the critics and explain such passages as these that seem to contradict one another.

What about these and other alleged contradictions in the Bible? Are they valid? Can the Bible be defended or is what the critics say about it true?

To answer these questions, we must first be sure we are clear about exactly what we're talking about, so I begin by asking:

Here is an example.

The morning newspaper reports that the attendance at the Saturday afternoon university football game was 51,700. The afternoon edition of the same paper reports that the attendance was 53,200. A critic, every ready to find fault with the local paper, would immediately cry out, "Contradiction!" However, it happened in this instance that the evening paper more fully explained the matter. The lower figure represented the box office count of the exact number of tickets sold. The higher figure represented the number who actually came through the gate, which included many persons with free passes from the local Veteran’s Hospital and the local boys and girls club. Thus in the end there was no contradiction at all between the figures, only a different basis from which the figures were derived.

Let me repeat the lesson here: Simply because two statements differ does not necessarily mean they are contradictory. A contradiction exists only when both statements cannot be true at the same time, considering all of the facts involved.

This single principle accounts for the majority of alleged Bible contradictions. For those willing to investigate, the so-called "contradictions" turn out to not be contradictions after all.

That’s what happens to that apparent contradiction between Mark and John that I pointed out. What some critics fail to recognize is that at the time of the writing of the New Testament, there were two methods of keeping time. The Roman method started the clock at midnight, the same way we do in the U.S. The Jewish method started the clock at sunrise, or about 6:00 A.M. Mark, using the Jewish method, said that Jesus was crucified at the third hour. Reckoning from 6 A.M., that would be 6 + 3 = 9, thus Jesus was crucified about 9:00 A.M. John, using Roman time, indicates that the trial was underway about the sixth hour. Counted from 12 midnight that would be 6:00 A.M., which allows plenty of time for the events he describes prior to the crucifixion at 9:00 A.M. Thus two passages which seem to contradict are actually in full agreement.

Obviously, in the short amount of time we have in this session, I can’t resolve all of the alleged contradictions that have been raised. But I can call your attention to:

We must be willing to consider all of the facts that bear on each case. True seekers of God are willing to dig as deeply as is necessary to see if there is a solution to such issues. Once resolved, it is prejudice and not fairness that refuses to let go of an allegation.

In other words, just because you don’t at the moment have the answer, it doesn’t mean that there is no answer. Seeking truth takes time, effort, and study. This is often where the skeptic falls short.

I had a good friend who attended a very liberal seminary in the 60’s, one that was and still is noted for its attacks on the accuracy of the Bible. During that decade these "contradiction" allegations against the Bible were really "hot" in academic circles. That experience upset him so much that he not only dumped his preparation for ministry, but he also dumped his faith. Both of us were runners some time back and we ran together for several years. In the course of the miles we logged on the trails he asked me about some of these so-called contradictions. I had ready answers for some of his questions. Others took more careful study and refreshing of my mind. One of the things he told me more than once was, "Dave, they never mentioned the things you are telling me!" The fact is many of the allegations that proved so fatal to his faith have been answered again and again. But he didn't have access to these answers when he needed them most and had no idea that such explanations existed.

He shared with me a diary he kept during those seminary years and in it was a description of a man who began as a believer in God but ended up a hardened skeptic. What a shame! (By the way, before our association came to an end with my move from California, I baptized him. I talked to him last year and he was still attending church.)

If these so-called "contradictions" bother you, do some research and get them resolved!

In the law of our land, a person is considered innocent until proven guilty. If someone comes up to you and makes the statement, "the Bible is full of errors and contradictions," your response should be, "Show me." Don’t allow your faith to be eroded away by unproved assertions and emotional generalizations! Demand that the claims be backed up. Many today parrot only what they have heard from other skeptics in this realm. Few have knowledge of the bible beyond their favorite proof texts.

The following quote is from a critic who claimed that he found a contradiction in the story of the betrayal of Jesus. He wrote: "Ask yourself, did Judas kiss Jesus to betray him or not? Mark and Matthew say Judas kissed Jesus. Luke says Judas tried to kiss Jesus and did not make it. For John, there was no betrayal kiss at all. And John underlines his point of view by adding that Judas kept standing with the crowd."

Let’s look at the texts involved to see if a contradiction really exists.

Matthew 26:49 says, "And immediately he went to Jesus and said, 'Hail, Rabbi!' and kissed Him."

Mark 14:45 says, "And after coming, he immediately went to Him, saying, 'Rabbi!' and kissed Him."

Luke 22:47-49 says:

John 18:4-6 says:

Mark and Luke clearly describe the kiss, but do the verses in Luke say or infer that Judas failed to kiss Jesus? No they don't. What we have is simply a case where Luke recorded the response to the kiss rather than the kiss itself. Luke never says Judas tried to kiss Jesus but failed. The critic, in his desire to find an error, made Luke say something he didn't actually say.

John is also misrepresented. The critic said, "John underlines his point of view by adding that Judas kept standing with the crowd." If you look in John you find that it says Judas was standing with the crowd, but it doesn’t say he "kept standing" with the crowd as the critic alleges. John omits the kiss in his telling the story, but that does not mean it didn’t happen.

Consider the recounting of a car accident. Four different people tell what happened. Three of them tell how the car skidded before it ran into the telephone pole. The fourth just tells how the car came around the corner and ran into the pole. Is there a contradiction because one witness doesn’t describe the skid? No. We simply have a case where a particular detail is omitted in the retelling of the story. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen!

As we can see, some critics, in their desire to find contradictions, are guilty of reading things into the texts that writers never said. The desire to disbelieve can weigh heavily on the findings all too often.

Voltaire, the noted French infidel who died in 1778, predicted that within a hundred years of his time, Christianity would be swept from existence and passed into history. What has happened? Did his prediction come true? Fifty years after Voltaire died, the Geneva Bible Society bought his house and began using his printing press to produce thousands of Bibles!

For instance, critics once charged that Abraham and the patriarchs were not historical characters. The consensus today among those who dig is that they were indeed real characters.

Critics once charged that Moses could not have written the first five books of the Bible because writing was not known among the Hebrews until hundreds of years after Moses’ time. However, archeologists have uncovered whole libraries throughout the Near East dating back hundreds of years before the time of Moses.

Critics once denied the existence of the Hittite nation, which is mentioned at least 46 times in the Bible. However, in 1906, archeologists uncovered the capitol city of the Hittites in central Turkey and more than 10,000 clay tablets containing the history of the empire!

Volumes of writing about the confirmation of Bible events in history are in existence today. If you doubt, I encourage you to do some research.

Renowned archaeologist, the late W.F. Albright, a man who himself was not a Christian, stated:

"Biblical historical data are accurate to an extent far surpassing the ideas of any modern critical students, who have consistently tended to err on the side of hyper-criticism. Thanks to the archeological determination of the site of most Biblical places, it is also possible to establish the age and historical significance of many towns in the Bible."

I have read that archeologists to date have confirmed at least 70 characters in the Bible. Hundreds of biblical cities have been confirmed as to location and place in history. Many times the Bible is used as a source to actually locate cities. Archeology continues to resolve the difficulties alleged against the Bible.

But enough generalities. Let’s get more specific.

Poor interpretation principles are at the root of most alleged contradictions regarding the Bible. Let me note some of them. Some fail to recognize:

It would be good, don’t you think, to note the difference between what Satan says in the Bible and what God says. Both are quoted. Also, we must note the difference between what an inspired writer says and when an inspired writer is quoting an ordinary human or perhaps even an evil person.

For instance, the Bible teaches that God is not one to show partiality due to national origin.

Acts 10:35 says, "…in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him."

God judges each human being separately, on the basis of himself and not the people around him. Yet in Titus 1:12 we read the words of Paul, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons." So how do you reconcile these words of an Apostle of Christ with God’s impartiality? Well, when you look at the actual passage, you find that Paul was quoting someone else and using his words as an example. He was not giving God’s opinion of a race of people. Yet you will misunderstand this if you don’t look at the context.

Others fail to recognize:

Critics contend that John's statement in John 1:18, which says, "No man has seen God at any time," contradicts Exodus 33:23 which, in describing a conversation between God and Moses, says, "Then I will take my hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen."

If someone should ask me if I have ever seen the back of my own head, I might answer yes or no, depending upon my understanding of the nature of the question. I have never seen the back of my head by direct sight, nor can I. But I can arrange mirrors to see an image of the back of my head. You see, it depends upon the nature of the question. Are you asking generally or specifically?

God is spirit. No man has ever seen Him in His true spiritual sense. Yet, on several occasions in the Bible God has manifested Himself in some sort of physical form to certain individuals. So has anyone ever seen God, or not? It depends on the nature of your question. If you mean, "Has anyone really seen God in His true spirit nature?" the answer is no. If you mean, "Has anyone seen a representation of God" the answer is yes. With this explanation, the two answers are not contradictory.

We must recognize the points of view of the various authors, or we will misunderstand them.

Some also fail to realize:

Some Bible writers arrange their material topically. Others arrange their writing chronologically or even randomly. Just because it appears that there is a discrepancy in the order of things they write may not be proof of a contradiction. We must consider the method of arrangement first. As an example, Matthew arranged His gospel material topically. Luke arranged his gospel chronologically. As a result of this, when comparing the two, it often seems that their order of reporting incidents don’t agree. Factor in the difference in their arrangement of the material and a great number of the so-called "discrepancies" between the two disappear.

Some overlook:

I showed you a Biblical example of this in my opening words.

Did you know that George Washington was really born on February 11, 1731? We say today that it was February 22. Why the difference? During his lifetime an adjustment was made in the calendar in order to bring it into sync with the sun. Some history books, as a result, may give his birthday as February 11 while others give it as February 22. Both are correct when you understand the method of keeping time that the author used.

Sometimes those who claim contradictions fail to recognize:

An idiom is a figure of speech. We say, "put on the dog," "ham it up," "tow the line," "pig out," and many other such expressions. These are idioms, that is, expressions that mean something different than their literal meaning. If someone 2000 years from now were to study our literature and read our idioms, they would be very confused without knowing how we use these phrases. When idioms are not recognized or are misunderstood, contradictions may be alleged which would not be there in the day in which they were written.

Sometimes contradictions are seen when there is failure to note:

Unless you read carefully you will be confused when you read in one spot where Simon did something, then in another that Peter did it, then in another that Cephas did it. Of course all three of these names refer to the same person, a fact that those not familiar with the Bible story would miss.

Some also overlook the fact that:

If you take them out of their context, you will probably misinterpret the author, which opens the door for alleged contradictions which will quickly go away as you study context.

Another important things to note before claiming contradictions is:

A Biblical covenant is an agreement or contract between God and man. There are several mentioned in the Bible. Though there are similarities between them, not all of their characteristics are the same.

A common question asked by skeptics is "Where did Cain get his wife since there were no other people on the earth except the descendants of Adam and Eve?" The answer, of course, is that he must have married one of his sisters. To us living today that is considered incest. However, when you recognize the difference between the covenants and the "progressive" revelation of God's will, you will see that God's laws against incest did not begin until Moses received the Old Testament law on Mt. Sinai thousands of years after Cain lived.

Sometimes the root of claimed "contradictions" is that:

It is entirely possible that Jesus delivered what we call "Sermon on the Mount" either fully or partially a number of times in His ministry. Thus, one author's accurate recording of what he heard on one occasion might differ from another's equally accurate recording, though their words are accurate in stating what was said.

Those who claim contradiction sometimes don't recognize that:

Things are sometimes lost in translation from one language to another. Sometimes translators miss the meanings of words. Sometimes words have different shades of meaning and translators must choose between them, choosing one and leaving the other out when it isn't clear which the author meant. Considering the text in the original languages in difficult passages gets us much closer to the author's original meaning and resolves some seeming discrepancies.

I hope you can see that there is more involved than just a casual glance in understanding the writings of those men who penned God's word. There are many things to consider before allegations of contradiction should be accepted. The critic, by nature of his or her antagonistic mindset, may not put forth the needed effort to find resolution. It remains to those of us who know and love the Bible to defend it when we can, but not blindly.

Jesus said, "Seek and you shall find." There could not be a better piece of advice to follow on this topic.

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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