Christians: When you hear about a bible contradiction...?

Question

Is your first impulse to assume it is false and try to find out why, or is it to take it at face value and accept it as a contradiction if the evidence supports it?

bzqqsq: That does not really answer the question. The question is what is your first impulse when hearing one?

Julie: I have you down for the first one then. Thanks.

Witty: My options were not prove or disprove. They were prove or go where the evidence takes you.

Answer 1

I don't take it at face value. I reserach it myself to see if it was accurate or not, and along with that I learn more.

Answer 2

Good morning Steve! Good to see your chemical implulse are a little more logical this morning. Not as funny as yesterday, yet, but more logical. (for the others, we can't use the term rational with Steve, he is a self proclaimed humanoid of no rational ability, sad I know but true!)

Steve, when I first "hear" of a contradiction to the bible my impulse is to consider the sourse. If the sourse is one that seems to have any credibility, integrety, or rational line of thought then I next try to understand the perspective from which they derive their thought.

I generally take people for what they proclaim themselves to be. You for example, while I find you immensly immusing, I stuggle very little over an assertion you make, because you have, by your own words and actions, shown that not only have you no credibility or integrety, but although you claim that you do not contol your though or action (having no rational thought) you cannot even maintain a consistant role in an image you seek to portray.

If the contradition were to come from a source of rational thought with some logic, I would then proceed to investigate the source material givin in support of the contradiction, in context, in various translations to try to assertain if there is indeed a contradiction.

If upon completing my study I feel there is a contradiction (which has very rarely occured), I will then weigh the value of the content to decide weather I must go further.

Glad to see you back on today!

Answer 3

There are only contradictions, because you want there to be contradictions. Something may seem like a contradiction, but when you read the surrounding verses and look into the situation, and who was the writer, there is no contradictions. I know some say there are contradictions with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These are each accounts of Jesus life. It's the same story, but some elaborated on certain events, it was what stood out in their mind. It's the same when several people witness the same event, one will remember one thing, that the others may not have noticed, and vice-versa. It doesn't mean they are all wrong, when you put all the accounts together, you get a more complete picture of what happened.

Yes, I do research on the matter and I have not found any valid contradictions in the bible.

Answer 4

No. I am not arrogant enough. The Bible has been rewritten by different religions to suit their own purposes. It has been retranslated to "make it easier to read". Although the general concept is still there, the Catholic bible is not the same as the King James Version of the bible. The King James version which I have dated 1726 is not the same version I have dated just a few years ago.

Remember the bible is a story. Stories change so one must be careful as to which "version" of the story they follow. Even Bible.com has more than 40 versions. Also, if you have read your bible and know your bible not much matters within the pages with the exception of:

The book of Revalations. Everything you need to know is there. The rest is just background history. Mainly, know and follow the 10 comandments of God. The last verse in the book states:

"And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." Revalations 19 KJV


I wonder what happed to those who have changed it over the years?

Answer 5

My first impulse is to do more research. There are contradictions in the theories of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. These contradictions point us to deeper truths: the Heisenburg Uncertainty Principle, for example. Eventually, they hope to find a unifying theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics to explain these contradictions, but as it stands, they are what they are.

The same process usually follow in Biblical criticism. A contradiction or innacuracy is seen to be discovered, but then after careful thought and study and finding more evidence, it's found not to be a contradiction, but rather to lead to a deeper truth. Take, for example, when Daniel was promoted in Daniel 5:16. He is promoted to the position just below the king. But this position is called the "third highest position." Wouldn't the position just below the highest person (king) be the second highest position? But after people discovered more about the history, they discovered that the King who offered this promotion was acually a prince, and his father was away fighting a war at the time this offer was made.

Then there's things like calling the rabbits cud chewers: there are a lot of questions about exactly how that should be interpreted, but the point of the verse (don't eat rabbit because it doesn't divide the hoof) doesn't change. There may be deeper scientific, linguistic, and cultural truths to be explored in that statement, but we don't seem to be ready for them yet so I'll wait until we are to explore it a whole lot further.

Answer 6

My first impulse is to consider the source. If the source is someone who is trying to personally convince me that my faith is pointless, then I don't tend to challenge the information because clearly they have invested some time into the subject and no doubt are trying to bait me.

But generally, when I see a Bible contradiction, I recognize that the Bible is the work of man, written by man, from ancient scrolls and stories passed down through the ages, and as such it is fallible, incomplete, and often written to serve man's purposes.

That doesn't mean that the Bible is void of truths, like peace and love, that we as people should learn to live by.

Answer 7

It's a matter of throwing the baby out with the bath water. Consider this... the bible was written by many different authors over centuries ago, obviously there are bound to be contradictions in it, however, if you've ever read the bible there are more truths in it than falsehoods.

So it boils down to this...if you have no faith, you choose to put emphasis on the contradictions, if you are a man of faith you hold to true to the true lessons of the bible...it always comes back to your individula faith, that's what makes it such a unique book. It is you, yourself who must do battle within yourself when it comes to battling the bible.

Answer 8

I look at it in context, and it may be no contradiction at all or it may not even be important. For instance one person showed a verse in Matthew saying Jesus fed 5000 and then a verse from Mark saying Jesus fed 4000. Well Matthew says Jesus fed 5000 and also fed 4000, and Mark says the exact same thing, so simply by looking at the Bible in its entire context many alleged contradictions are no contradictions at all. But if the context doesn't seem to nullify the contradiction, then I will read the original Greek and see what the actual translation is, because perhaps an error in translation led to the "contradiction".

Answer 9

I have read the Bible many times and have found that what appears to be contradictions are actually explained by the Bible itself.

The Bible explains itself if a person is willing to listen and heed its counsel.

Here are a few keys to understanding the Bible.

Wrong motives for reading the Bible = wrong understanding or misunderstanding of the Bible

Right motives for reading the Bible = right understanding of the Bible

A text without context is a pretext to reject text

Show N Tell

Answer 10

There is not contradictions in the Bible. Give me one. I'd never first assume it was false and start to research it. I'd just start to see what the person was saying was contridicting and set them straight. I don't take it at face value either because many things that Jesus said where parables and things in the OT were proverbs and moral stories. I'd have to see what you are talking about to see if it's a moral story or a historical story and go from there.

Answer 11

I believe in God however I dont use the bible to guide my life. The bible was written by man, not God, so when I hear something that contradicts the bible it really has no effect on me. I know a lot of Christians will disagree with me, but I think that all God wants us to do is be the best person we can be and to be sorry when we are in the wrong. I dont think that God dislikes gay people nor do I believe they will go to hell. There are lots of things in the bible that I dont believe. The bible can sometimes make God sound angry, I dont think he is, I think he is loving. Im sure you probably dont believe there is a God by the tone of your question, and I am fine with that, I wouldnt try to convert you. IF you someday choose to believe that choice should be your own and shouldnt be because someone forced their ideals on you.