Question regarding Bible contradictions.....?

Question

Ive heard many many times that there Bible doesnt have any conttradictions in it, it simply needs to be intrepreted correctly, or the writings are being taken out of context. However, I cannnot see how the following contradictions are anything BUT contradictions. Please, help me understand how I am taking these passages wrong:

Matthew 5:1-2 Christ preached his first Sermon on the Mount. Luke 6:17 & 20 Christ preached his first sermon in the plain. WHICH IS IT?? Thats not simply a differing viewpoint from two writers. That is clearly a contradiction.
Is Paul a liar??? In Acts 20:35 Paul told people "to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Since Jesus never made such a biblical statement, is Paul guilty of deception? Is this not a contradiction??

Serious responses only please.

So, lets see....Ive gotten five responses so far, and of them, the only serious one is from an atheist?? Cant one beleiver, one follower of God explain this without insulting me? What does my avatar have to do with posing this question? How can you judge me and say that I must hate God? I didnt realize that thinking out loud and questioning something was hateful....sorrry about that Martin Luther!

Answer 1

The Bible was not even around when Paul was witnessing. Pauls own writings make up the majority of the new testament.
The Bible certainly does not transcribe every word ever uttered by Christ. As to your first question, you are totally inaccurate, the Bible says nothing of the sort. There is no description in either text as to what or where he first preached a sermon.

Answer 2

OK, they are both simple.

Read Matthew chapter 5 through 7 and then read Luke chapter 6. Compare the contents of the chapters. Notice that they are not the same. That is because they are recording different sermons that Jesus gave. As a traveling teacher, he spoke regularly to large crowds over the four years his ministry lasted. Even if he only preached once a week, that would be over 200 different sermon. Matthew recorded one of the sermon - when he was on a mountain. Luke recorded another - when he was in a valley. And as a regular church goer, I can tell you that if I took all my pastor's weekly messages for the last four years and compared them, I would find a lot of "repeat" information (like in Matthew and Luke) with variations (like in Matthew and Luke) and with differences (like in Matthew and Luke). They were not the same sermons.

Acts 20:35 goes right along with that. The Bible does not record every thing that Jesus did or spoke while on earth. There are not 200 + sermons along with all his other words in the gospels. In fact, the Bible actually says that in John 21:25 " And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." The statement Paul quotes there is one of the unrecorded things Jesus did.

Answer 3

In Matt. 5:1,2 Jesus was in the beginning of His ministry yes I can agree with that that is His sermon on the mount but if you read it carefully you will find the beatitudes He only taught to His disciples not to the people. AFTER PEOPLE FROM Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. People from only his home providence. Beyond jordan just means the tribes of Isreal that did not move over the Jordan when Moses brought them into Cannaan.

As for Luke 6:17 Jesus was well into His ministry and was praying in the mountains to decide whom He would chose to be a disciple. If you move up a few verses. Its when He came down He made His choice then he went to the plain where people came from Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon.
This are two different occasions preaching the same message that’s all, don’t get them confused because they sound alike. Many times one preacher will preach the same message in two places it was common then and is now.

As for Paul being a liar no if you read :
John 21:25 and there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
Not everything Jesus did or said was written down so Paul was most likely Quoting from one of the other disciples of what they heard Jesus say.
I hope this helps you some in your quest for answers. Just study a little more before asking the big questions. lol
Messenger

Answer 4

I am a Christian.

The bible is full of contradictions. One of the best is the Resurrection accounts. Line the accounts up side by side and list them. You will find 46 irreconcilable differences.

It is only Protestants who have this problem, if you consider it a problem. I don't.

As to the two you chose, you really didn't pick the best. Look in the early Creation accounts if you would like better ones. As to the first, one must be in error, but it is irrelevant.

As to two, it also is not a good example. Not only do the Gospels not record all the sayings of Jesus, they even state that they do not. The whole point of apostolic tradition, the things the apostles handed on which includes scripture, is to get as much of the story as possible. Paul was not quoting scripture because most of Paul's letters are older than the written Gospels. The Gospels came second, the letters are usually first. And, there are other writings by first century Christians older than some of the scriptures that also give information on the early Church.

Answer 5

To answer the question about the "plain" or the "mountain", let me quote from an article from Apologetics Press. (A link to this article is below.)

"In the introductory comments to Jesus’ oft’-quoted sermon recorded in Matthew chapters 5-7, the first verse sets the stage for His “astonishing teachings.” Matthew indicates that “seeing the multitudes,” Jesus “went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him” (emp. added). When Luke gives the setting for Jesus’ masterful sermon, he says that Jesus “came down with them and stood on a level place”. The question that has been asked by many people is why Matthew recorded Jesus preaching this sermon from a mountain, while Luke said it was while He stood on a level place. Could Matthew or Luke have made a legitimate geographical error here, or is there a reasonable explanation for the difference that exists?

First of all, for these passages to be contradictory one must assume the two sermons were delivered at the same place and at the same time. But, as H. Leo Boles stated in his commentary on Luke, this sermon “may have been repeated a number of times and Luke gives a record of the sermon which was repeated at some later time than the record given by Matthew” It is more than possible that Jesus repeated His teachings on various occasions. He easily could have preached the beatitudes in Capernaum as well as in Cana. He could have taught the model prayer in both Bethany and Bethsaida. Who are we to say that Jesus preached the principles and commands found in Matthew 5-7 only once? There are some men today who travel to a different city nearly every week preaching the same sermons—and do so effectively. Could Jesus not have done something similar?

A more likely solution to this geographical “problem” is simply to understand that Matthew and Luke were referring to the same sermon, and that Jesus was preaching it while being both on a mountain and on a “plain” (KJV) at the same time. The word “plain” (tópou pedinoú) simply means “ level place” (Wycliffe, 1985), and is translated thusly in nearly all modern versions of the Bible. Since a mountain can have level places on it, no one can assert logically that Matthew 5:1 and Luke 6:17 are contradictory. I have been to the top of a mountain in Anchorage, Alaska, that is so level it is known as “Flattop Mountain.” To say Jesus stood on a level place on a mountain is no oxymoron."

This author gives two very possible explanations for this.

Now about Paul.

Not everything Jesus said and did have been recorded in the Bible.

Notice John 21:25, "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written."

Since Paul was a person who lived in the time of Christ, a person who associated with the other apostles, and a person who was inspired by the Holy Spirit, he could have easily known of many things that Jesus said or did that were not recorded by the other writers of the Bible.

Neither of your points show a contradiction.

Answer 6

Neither Matthew nor Luke say it is his first sermon, he had preached before. The content of Luke's "Sermon on the plain" is different to Matthew's "Sermon on the mount" (a lot shorter). Jesus probably preached the same message many times over.
Remember that Paul would have met many Christians who had heard Jesus speak and I am sure he would have been very interested to know their recollections. Not everything Jesus said or did is in the Bible (John 21:25). You would be better to read the Bible to find Jesus' words of eternal life, not being concerned by so-called contradictions which are not. I pray you find the answers you seek.
Grace and peace
Paul. (not THAT one).

Answer 7

Ok Below is Matthew 4:23 .. Looks like Jesus did a lot of teaching before he got to the Mount.

Mat 4:23 ¶ And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people


The content of his sermon could very well have been the same on the plain as on the mountain as in the temple as in the ect ect ect.

The Bible is a collection of 66 Books. Those books do not contain everything Jesus said. How do I know?

Jhn 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

Answer 8

What possible difference can it make where Christ preached his first sermon? Of course there are contradictions in the Bible, the point should be the message not the details.
If you want even more contradictions, go to Genesis and read the two versions in the Noah's ark story and the creation stories. Two versions were merged together with the result that at one point Noah takes 7 pairs of animals aboard the ark rather than the two by two version. If you really want I'll look up the verses for you.

How do we know that Jesus did NOT say "...more blessed to give..." to someone Paul heard it from? Surely He said more than was written in the four short Gospels.

Answer 9

Ok I see what your saying.

Matthew 5 is called the sermon on the mount, or the "Beatitudes". Hence he was on the mountain while doing his sermon.

In Luke, he goes onto the mountain to pray and chooses his disciples then he went down the mountain. It doesn't say he was on a plain. It said he stopped at level ground, meaning a place his feet were level. It doesn't say he was off of the mountain. Also called "The Beatitudes"

But both sermons are called the "Beatitudes" which was considered the first sermon of Christ.

They were the same sermon, written by two different witnesses.

One just says he was on the mountain, and one says he was on the mountain but went down a little to speak to the crowds that had formed.

When talking about Acts 20:35 - Jesus said alot of things that were never written down in the Bible.

It would be impossible to write down everything in the Bible that he said.

Answer 10

As for the first question it really just depends on the translation you are using. I would suggest if you are really interested go get the Greek English Word Study bible and see the original words for mount and plain. I am pretty sure its is just a translation problem, there are many of those that you will run into when studying the bible. Most people are unaware that there are hundreds of different translations and it is basically up to the reader to research words when they run into a problems. I have found that this will almost always answer my questions once I use a literal translation.

As for your second question I don't get how you would know if Jesus has spoken those words or not? How does this make Paul guilty of deception your argument is simply inferred that he is lying.

Answer 11

You are right in saying that many people say the Bible contradicts itself.....I, however, don't believe that

As for whether Jesus preached on top of a mountain or level ground, I'm not sure....that particular sermon is often referred to as His sermon on the mount......but I DO know that two very different people wrote those two books.....Matthew and Luke wrote from two different perspectives, and it could all boil down to Luke viewing one this as flat that Matthew thought looked like a mountain.....my question is that does that detail really change the content of those two passages that much? I mean, it seems a little nit-picky to me....and as for Paul saying that: just because Jesus isn't recorded saying that particular phrase in the Bible doesn't mean that He didn't say it....not everything Jesus said is recorded in Scripture....you do seem very knowledgable of the Scriptures though, and I'm glad that you've asked these questions seriously and have done your research