If the Bible is really the inspired word of God, why is it full of contradictions?

Question

You'd think that a book from a perfect God would also be perfect, without so many errors and confusing statements. You'd think that a perfect God would leave us with a perfect record. If Jesus really did all those things it says he did, why is it that there is no written record about him during the time he was alive? Why were the gospels written so many years later? Why does the bible leave us with more questions than answers? You'd think that a book inspired by a supreme being would be crystal clear.

Answer 1

Because it is a mixture of Jewish mythology and early Church attempts at brainwashing.

Answer 2

If the Bible is really the inspired word of God, why is it full of contradictions?

YOU claim it is "full of contradictions"!!
Probably because you look for and mis-translate and mis-interpret so you can find "contradcitions". Or, perhaps, because you do not understand the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. [[Sometimes it is as simple as seeing whether the author is quoting time by Jewish standards or by Roman standards!!]

And as was said a couple of days ago, the ORIGINAL manuscripts are the inerrent Word.

Copies ave been copied with great care. In a thousand years there has been very little change and any "changes" have not caused any signifcant doctrinal error.

The Gospels were written within a very FEW years after the Resurrection. Written during the lifetime of most of the Apostles and eye-witnesses. Before that, theyu were too busy proclaiming the Good News rather than taking time to sit eown at their word-processors.

You want things to be crystal clear?

Read what Jesus said to Nicodemus!! That seems crystal clear.

Romans 3:3 and Romans 6:23 seem crystal clear.

"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." That seems crystal clear. Of course even as Nicodemus, people would rather question than believe.

It would seem people expect that an omnipotent God would somehow be able to communicate to people with finite minds ... to explain the whole story of how the universe came into being, of God's plan for humanity, and of His plans for the consummation ... all with monosyllablic words and keep it to 25 words or less.

Answer 3

Excuse me , but it takes an honest search of the treasures within. What worthwhile treasure was ever easy to find?

If you went lets say to one of the greatest libraries in the world, lets say for arguements sake--The New York City Public Library--you know the famous one with the 2 lions at the entrance. Lets also say that you wanted to research 10 major topics. Here would be some of those 10--1) Creation vs. evolution 2.) human rule vss. God rule3) Corrutption in religion misrepresenting God. 4) Ethics of the Bible vs. ethics in the business world. 5) Proof of God--in all the proven & legitimate sciences.6) The flood vss. the ice age...........How would you go about doing the research if you had no knowledge of how the library worked?--For instance do they use the standard reference system, do they have total computer access. Where are the various departments such as science, religion , economics, government.
On top of that how do you determine what books are philosophical, theory, or factual.--The truth is that no matter what library you go in the world you will not be able to make the right determination, because the libraries are full of contradictory books on every subject--so which books will you believe or not. That is the scenario with every human library that exists, so people come up with answers they want to believe in, right or wrong.

With the Bible, which is a Library,( the term biblograpy comes from the word Bible-meaning small books). Jerome , a famous Roman Historian , called the Bible "The Divine Library"--why is that, because the Bible does indeed give correct answers to any religious questions on moral, life, family, right government, ethical business practice, etc. etc. Please note the claim by the Bible itself:
(2 Timothy 3:16-17) 16 All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.

If in fact the Bible , alone can fulfill the above claim , how would one do the research, one would have to learn how to cross-reference--the Bible is fully cross referenced. Now one has to ask , do I really want to make the effort? Do I really want to find the truth about the jmportant things in life?
The Bible is made up of 66 little books with related subjects that interpret themselves--lets say for arguements sake , God's interpretation, that indeed is the way of this amazing Library.

As far is Christs reality and accomplishment please note:

*** gt The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived ***

Yet, strangely, some say that Jesus never lived—that he is, in effect, a creation of some first-century men.
Answering such skeptics, the respected historian Will Durant argued: “That a few simple men should in one generation have invented so powerful and appealing a personality, so lofty an ethic and so inspiring a vision of human brotherhood, would be a miracle far more incredible than any recorded in the Gospels.”

The problem is not that there is no clear answers ,but whether one will accept the Godly answers, that make sense--or not.

Answer 4

First of all, you didn't list any contradictions. If the Bible is full of them, you could at least post 1 or 2 so people could repond to the specifics.

Second, there is more written history about the life of Jesus (other than scriptures) than any other figure in history. One of the most popular historians of the time was Josephus, and he has large volumes of writings from that time. There are many other historians (all eye-witnesses) that have documented the life of Jesus.

Third, the Gospels were written mostly by eye-witnesses, meaning that they walked and talked with Jesus. I don't know where you are getting your information, but it is one of the most accurate works of history ever written. This fact is not even contested by serious historians.

Forth, what are the "more questions" that the bible leaves us with after studying it? If you post some of those "questions", you might get a logical, well thought out answer.

Fifth, the scriptures teach that it would confound the wise and would be revealed to babes. To the world, it is foolishness, but to the redeemed it is the power of God unto salvation.

Answer 5

The Bible is not full of contradictions. It is very reliable book. It is written by humans but inspired by God. There are not that many errors, there are different translations. The Bible can confuse you if you do not have anyone to explain it to you, and if Holy Spirit is in your heart. You question God a lot, what have you done to prove yourself to him? There is a lot of historical documentation about Jesus outside of the Bible. To prove that He was really here, we do not even need the Bible for that. Gospels were written within around 70 years of His time, people were killed for following Him. Questions are not bad, and you will get answers. God is God no matter what you think of Him. Your statements do not make any dent on His credibility.

Answer 6

Where are there contradictions in the Bible? Every part of the Bible edifies and reinforces every other part of the Bible. You must be one of those people that do not read the Bible, but take the negative things that you hear about it as fact. You have to study the Bible in spirit, and pray for understanding when you read it. God opens the Word to people that are faithful to Him. The Word of God is spiritual. Unless you have a spiritual life, you will never understand it. Don't even try. Give your heart to God, and then study to show yourself approved. The only thing that your question is accomplishing is showing Christians how very ignorant you are about things that pertain to God. The Word IS God. (John 1:1) The only reason statements in the Bible are confusing to you is because you are not a righteous person. The book of II Peter, ch.3, v. 16 says: As also in all his (Paul's) epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.I suppose that confuses you, too. It means that people such as yourself, that are not saved and do not study the Bible with an earnest heart wrestle with the things that are written in the Bible to the point that they refuse to believe any of it, or learn any of it, or give their will over to the will of God, and it brings about their damnation. Is THAT crystal clear?

Answer 7

The problem isn't the Bible it's with man. WE'RE the ones confusing God's Word. The Bible IS perfect if seen with opened eyes and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Flavious Josephus was a Jew during the time of Christ's life. He wrote about Him. The Gospels weren't written until several years after the fact because the Apostles spread the Gospel by word of mouth.

Answer 8

Goddamn!! (no pun intended) those are all questions I have thought about. the bible was written by man. A lot of the authors of each book lived in different times. So, when they put all of the books a lot of the stuff didn't match up. We have no idea of finding out what is right and what is not. Some scholars believe some things and others will believe basically the same thing but slightly different. In all the bible is pretty funny. Plus, you have to remember it is just another book and with all of those contradictions and errors it should make it clearer and clearer that it is only a book. People who follow it and take it literally are so delusional and f'd up it is pretty scary.

Answer 9

You would think you could answer this one yourself since you used the word "inspired " rather than "authored". The Lord is perfect and His gospel is perfect. He did not write The Bible.We little mortals often make mistakes,but we must continue to try and do the best we can. We are no where near perfect and should not claim to be . Most all of the teachings in The Bible are correct and the ones that may not be complete The Lord will teach us later. It answers more questions than not. it is meant to stimulate and inspire us. The reason for the.questions could be, The Lord does not desire us to have those answers now. We will be taught those things later.We not learn it all here on Earth now. maybe only 5% of it.

Answer 10

The Bible is a collection of manuscripts written by different authors. Most of the "contradictions" that people cite are simply varying interpretations or viewpoints due to the fact that different people wrote the different books. Add to that the fact that meanings of words and phrases can slightly change when the manuscripts are translated, and one can sometimes get the impression that there are contradictions. But when studied more closely they all point to the same thing.

Answer 11

Because that is not the original Bible. King Constantine took out much of the original teachings of Christ and added so many other doctrines. Read the original New Testament which was found. It was hidden by the original followers of Christ (the Essenes) at the time of Christ. They where being killed by the government and had to go underground. It is now available in English called teh Gospel of the Nazirenes by Alan Wauters and Rick Wyhe. go to gospelofthenazirenes for comple details. There is no contradictions there. All of Christs teachings on Karma, Reincarnation, Vegetarianism etc. Hell not eternal one only goes for a duration. etc.