Contradictions in the Bible

“Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing, and he must do his own dying.”

Martin Luther

Kirk Cameron’s Comment

Many of us are intimidated about witnessing because we’re afraid someone will point out an error in the Bible that we can’t explain. Are there contradictions in the Bible, or do they just seem like contradictions? We’ll look at a few of these together.

Questions & Objections

Lesson

The Bible has many seeming contradictions within its pages. A contradiction is an inconsistency or discrepancy, which may give the appearance of an error. The four Gospels, for example, give four differing accounts as to what was written on the sign that hung on the cross. Matthew said, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews” (27:37). However, Mark contradicts that with “The King of the Jews” (15:26). Luke says something different: “This is the King of the Jews” (23:38), and John maintains that the sign read “Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews” (19:19). Those who are looking for contradictions may therefore say, “See—the Bible is full of mistakes!” and choose to reject it entirely as being untrustworthy. However, those who trust God have no problem harmonizing the Gospels. There is no contradiction if the sign simply read “This is Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.”

The godly base their confidence on two truths: 1) “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16); and 2) an elementary rule of Scripture is that God has deliberately included seeming contradictions in His Word to “snare” the proud. He has “hidden” things from the “wise and prudent” and “revealed them to babes” (Luke 10:21), purposely choosing foolish things to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27). If an ungodly man refuses to humble himself and obey the gospel, and instead desires to build a case against the Bible, God gives him enough material to build his own gallows.

This incredible principle is clearly illustrated in the account of the capture of Zedekiah, king of Judah. Jeremiah the prophet told Zedekiah that God would judge him. He was informed that he would be “delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon” (Jeremiah 32:4). This is confirmed in Jeremiah 39:5–7 where we are told that he was captured and brought to King Nebuchadnezzar, then they “bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.” However, in Ezekiel 12:13, God Himself warned, “I will bring him to Babylon ... yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there” (emphasis added). Here is material to build a case against the Bible! It is an obvious mistake. Three Bible verses say that the king would go to Babylon, and yet the Bible in another place says that he would not see Babylon. How can someone be taken somewhere and not see it? It makes no sense at all—unless Zedekiah was blinded. And that is precisely what happened. Zedekiah saw Nebuchadnezzar face to face, saw his sons killed before his eyes, then “the king of Babylon ... put out Zedekiah’s eyes” before taking him to Babylon (Jeremiah 39:6, 7).

This is the underlying principle behind the many “contradictions” of Holy Scripture (such as how many horses David had, who was the first to arrive at the tomb after the resurrection of Jesus, etc.). God has turned the tables on proud, arrogant, self-righteous man. When he proudly stands outside of the kingdom of God, seeking to justify his sinfulness through evidence that he thinks discredits the Bible, he doesn’t realize that God has simply lowered the door of life, so that only those who are prepared to exercise faith and bow in humility may enter.

Since every word of the Lord is pure, any seeming “mistakes” are there because God has put them there, and they are therefore not mistakes. In time, we will find that the “mistakes” are actually ours. Therefore, never have fear if someone points out a “contradiction” in the Bible that you can’t answer. Simply ask for the person’s phone number, e-mail, or mailing address so you can get back to him with a solid answer. If he doesn’t take you up on it, it proves that he really wasn’t interested in an answer but rather used the “contradiction” as a smoke screen to hide behind.

It’s also interesting to note that the seeming contradictions in the Gospels attest to the fact that there was no corroboration between the writers.

Preacher’s Progress

A sample witnessing conversation, written in the style of John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.

Feathers for Arrows

A new convert was reading his Bible when he called out, “Wow! Praise the Lord!”

A liberal minister heard him, and asked him what the noise was about. The young Christian replied with great enthusiasm, “This is incredible. It says here that God performed a miracle of deliverance by opening up the Red Sea for the Jews to march through!”

The minister replied, “Owing to tidal patterns around that time of year, the Red Sea was a swamp that was only three inches deep.”

Somewhat subdued, the young man continued reading, but soon exclaimed, “Wow! Praise the Lord!”

“What’s the matter now?” asked the minister. The Christian replied, “God has just drowned the whole Egyptian army in three inches of water!”

Over 3,000 times, the Bible speaks of its inspiration by God. His Word is true, and you can believe every word of it.

Questions

1. How would you define a contradiction?
2. On what should the godly base their confidence when it comes to seeming contradictions?
3. What is the underlying principle behind the “contradictions” in Scripture?
4. Do you get worried when someone mentions a “contradiction” in the Bible?
5. If you don’t know the answer to a “contradiction,” what should you say?
6. Why are the seeming contradictions in the Gospels a benefit?

Answers to these review questions are provided in the back of the printed book / source PDF.

Memory Verse

“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”

1 Corinthians 1:27

Last Words

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), the famous Austrian composer, is best remembered for his great operas The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni. At the end, his dear partner was at his side offering him refreshment for his parched lips. His last words were: “You spoke of refreshment, my Emilie. Take my last notes, sit down to my piano here and sing them to the hymn of your sainted mother. Did I not tell you that it was for myself—I composed this death chant.”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart