Is this a Bible contradiction?

Question

I am a Christian and I was wondering how these two verses might not be a contradiction. These are both Jesus speaking.

John 5:31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

“It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.” –Jesus Christ (John 8:17-18)

Someone let me know!!!

Answer 1

LOL, I am a Christian too and there are hundreds of these contradictions. Some of them of great magnitude. Lay the Resurrection accounts out side by side and if you are careful, you will find 46 irreconcilable contradictions. If one is true, the others must be false.

However, don't worry only people who believe in the bible alone for doctrine find this an issue. The rest of Christianity doesn't have that problem.

Now to your verses. Try this translation, it is more literal and better for 5:31

31 "If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony cannot be verified.
32 But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true.

He is citing the Father as His witness (probably). And for John 8 try this

16 And even if I should judge, my judgment is valid, because I am not alone, but it is I and the Father who sent me.
17 Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two men can be verified.
18 I testify on my behalf and so does the Father who sent me."

Given this translation, they are saying the same thing. In fact, there are four groupings of this type of witness saying in John calling attention to one another. This one is not a contradiction. It is a contradiction created by translation and points out the danger of creating doctrine from translations. You are not alone in this however. When Augustine developed his doctrine of original sin, which is the doctrine of almost all of Protestantism, he read the scriptures in Latin. What he didn't know was that Jerome had to choose between two translations and that in the other meaning Augustine's doctrine falls apart. Because Greek uses a part of speech called a "reflexive verb" that we do not have, it is hard to render into English either because with a reflexive verb both meanings are true at the same time and the intention is for them to both be true.

That is why the Catholic Church only acknowledges the existence of original sin without explaining it officially. There is a lesson to be learned about too deep a dependence on authorities such as our Holy Father Augustine without regard to other authorities.

Answer 2

Start reading at 5:30 and read to 32.
You see that again, as he stated in John 8:17-18, he stated that both he and his Father are the ones that bear witness that he is the Son of God. That's what the witness is about. He was saying in 5:32 that not him alone can bear witness that he is the Son of God because what would that prove? In Chapter 8 verses 17-18 he says that he bears witness of himself because his Father as well as he himself bears witness that he is the Son of God.
I hope that helped :)

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

If you read more of the passage I think it makes sense.

John 5:31 - 34
"If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. 32 There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid. 33 "You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved"

See he's saying that why should they believe him if he's just saying it but John the baptist backs him up as well.


John 8:17-18
In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me."


He's really saying the same thing here it's just one time he talks about John the baptist being is second witness and the other time he's talking about God the Father being his second witness, which actually gives him two witnesses besides himself.

Answer 5

No contradiction seen. In the first he said that if he bear witness of himself only, it would not be true. Two men must bear witness. In the second phrase he confirms again that only he did not bear witness. His father also bear witness with him. Two men. No contradiction.

Answer 6

Jesus is urging the Biblical rule of evidence which requires two or three witnesses. Check it out in the NASB, which is closer to the Greek - "If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true." If anyone testifies something about themself, other people will not believe it is valid unless someone else backs them up. In the case of Christ, the Father testifies that He is true, therefore, He is.

Answer 7

In the first verse Jesus says IF he was the only witness, it would not be true. He gave us a second witness, the Holy Ghost.

Answer 8

What it means is that long ago, something could not be "confirmed" if only one witness was testifying, but upon the testimony of two it could be confirmed.
It does not mean that something is wrong because there is only one witness, but that it can not be corroborated with just one.

Answer 9

The Bible was written by several different writers. Not all of them agree with each other but they write what they have to prove a point. If there's a contradiction, there's a reason for it, but i dont see any contradiction in the line above.

Answer 10

Please, what you are doing is absolutely irrational. How can you ask somebody whom you do not know at all and believe that such person will give a good explanation ? That makes no sense at all. People will confuse you even more with many different opinions. ASK A PRIEST !
He is the only one who can give you a true, authorized explanation about your question