What do you do when you come across one of the hundreds of contridictions and errors in the Bible?

Question

Here's a couple from Genesis...

GE 6:4 There were Nephilim (giants) before the Flood.
GE 7:21 All creatures other than Noah and his clan were annihilated by the Flood.
NU 13:33 There were Nephilim after the Flood.

GE 10:5, 20, 31 There were many languages before the Tower of Babel.
GE 11:1 There was only one language before the Tower of Babel.

GE 17:15-16, 20:11-12, 22:17 Abraham and his half sister, Sarai, are married and receive God's blessings.
LE 20:17, DT 27:20-23 Incest is wrong.

Answer 1

I have read all your references you call contradictions. I don't see them like you do. Take your first reference... There were giants in the land then there are now. The NBA is full of them... Some people get big some don't it's not a race!!! Ok I am not going through these one by one you could understand better if you were to see the Bible through the Grace of God... Jim

Answer 2

GE 6:4 There were Nephilim (giants) before the Flood.
GE 7:21 All creatures other than Noah and his clan were annihilated by the Flood.
NU 13:33 There were Nephilim after the Flood.

The passage in Numbers 13:33 does not say there were Nephilim after the flood. It says that the cowardly spies REPORTED that there were Nephilim. Big difference.

GE 10:5, 20, 31 There were many languages before the Tower of Babel.
GE 11:1 There was only one language before the Tower of Babel.

Genesis 10:5, 20, 31 doesn't state these languages existed before the flood. It lists the lineage from which these language - speaking people descended, extending from prior to the flood to long after.

GE 17:15-16, 20:11-12, 22:17 Abraham and his half sister, Sarai, are married and receive God's blessings.
LE 20:17, DT 27:20-23 Incest is wrong.

The Law was not given until long after the time of Abraham and Sarah. It was necessary later because of the increased imperfection of humans.

Answer 3

I see what you are saying. So let my try to explain. First of all you must understand that the Bible is not an exact account of all history, and should it should not be read that way.
Where in the Bible does it say that Nephilim could not be created after the flood. I myself believe that God has shown us that he created Adam and Eve, but has not shown us everyone he created. He doesn't tell us because we don't need to know.

As far as the languages go. Could it be possible that everyone share a common language, but also have their own language.

Keep in mind that God gave the command of no incest way after Abraham and Sarah had lived. Just like God use to permit Men to have more than one wife then later on he said that a man should have only one wife. Abraham and Sarah were not subject to that rule because it did not exist when they were alive.

I know that I have not given you the best answers. These are just some possible ways to show that the Bible does not contradict itself. Keep in mind that the Bible has withstood the test of contradictions for a very long time. I suggest that you ask a pastor and study the Bible. It is very easy to read the Bible and come to the conclusion that it contradicts itself, but when we actually study the Bible we find out something completely different.

Answer 4

You refer to 3 "contradictions" However I would like to answer these.

1. Genesis 6:4 tells of the Giants living in those days AND AFTER WARDS. They were caused by angels having sex with humans. This obviously happened both before and after the flood.

2. In Genesis ch 10 we see the genealogy of Noah's sons and where they moved to. In ch 11 we read about what caused the disbursement. This is a common writing style of the ancient Hebrews (still is - flashbacks). For example ch 1 tells of the creation of the world, incl man, then ch 2 specifically looks at the creation of man. Succeeding chapters giving greater details or causes for events.

3. Before the giving of the Law / the Torah incest was permitted as a way to populate the earth. Adam and Eve's children had no one else to chose from other than close relatives.

Keep searching and may God bless you in the reading of His Word!

Answer 5

What do you do? You look deeper. What can appear to be a contradiction at first usually is no contradiction at all. Your first example of nephilim for instance. There is no contradiction. The Nephilim were the result of the interbreeding of "Sons of God" with the daughters of men. This obviously occurred before and after the flood. These parings resulted in men who became the seeds for many of our ancient myths and hero stories.

The apparent contradiction between Gen 10 and 11 can be explained by simple reasoning. Genisis 10's purpose is to record the offspring of the sons of Noah and divisions of peoples that were known in Moses's day (see v32). It is not clear when Babel occured within the context of the geneologies of chapter 10, but likely sometime not to long after the flood. Eveyone would have spoken the same language since they were all on the ark or their direct decendants. God confuses their language to constrain evil by dividing peoples. There is reason to believe that languages were 'confused' according to ancestry as seems to be the indication of chapter 10. No contradiction.

The story of Abraham, marring a half sister was probably not uncommon in his day, even though it was later forbidden under the Mosaic law. If the story of Adam and Eve is true then there had to be quite a bit of incest going on in the early generations of man. After that it was continued for political, social and economic reasons. The prohibition in Exodus is likely a result of the recognition of the progressive weakness of the gene pool due to disease as a result of the fall.

Remember when you get to a contradiction, that these books were written by people whose brains worked at least as well as yours does. However, we are separated from them by 1000's of years and cultural/language differences to numberable to list. Therefore there are some things that are difficult to understand. The best thing to do is question and study. there are some good web sites that deal with bible contradictions. Both in pointing them out and in trying to explain them.

The important thing is to study the scriptures, they are the gateway to knowing God.

Answer 6

1) So there were giants before and after the flood, the average height before the flood seems to be over 10 feet tall.

2) Verses 2-5 are about the descendants of Japheth.
Starting at verse 6 it is now talking about the descendants of Ham.
Shem, Ham, and Japheth were sons of Noah.

3) It did not become wrong until after the time of Abraham.

Answer 7

Your first "contradiction" only implies that Noah and/or part/all of his family were themselves, giants.

Your second "point" is taking verses from a geneology, which in case you did not know, covers many many many years...do you see where I am going or shall I spell it out?

As for the incest, how can something that was done before the law was given be considered breaking the law. In fact, incest was necessary for us to even come into existance from one single woman, and it is a fact that we did, you can ask any scientist, Christian or not.

Subject to mis-interpretation and mis-representation, you could mangle the Bible all day and all night. You can say anything you want to try to keep yourself fooled into thinking that you are right. But the fact is that you are "the blind leading the blind" and when you fall into a ditch, it is your fault that God is not there to pull you out.

Answer 8

The Bible has many seeming contradictions within its pages. For example, the four Gospels 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 said “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 said, “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).

Answer 9

Well, when the General in charge of the Atomic Bomb program went to see Oppenheimer's group they had equazions on the board with wrong figures (-22 on one side and +23 on the other). We're talking a room full of scientists with over 100 man years of college.

Somehow the darn thing actually worked.

Answer 10

I grew up atheist. I was to smart to fall for christianity, with all its flaws. Everyone could see that it didn't make any sense. And then I noticed that the most brilliant people in the world, much smarter than myself, could find reason to believe. I understand when people have a hard time believing because I did, but when they presume to be to smart, pointing out their ridiculous "contradictions", do they not ever stop and think about all the millions of people that have come before them and studied for years more diligently than they have on the topic and come out with faith? Surely they can not argue that everyone that believes Christ is king is decieved when the smartest people in the world are Christians.