How do christians explain all the contradictions in the bible?

Question

I thought it was supposed to be divinely inspired, perfect, god's word...etc.

go here to see some contradictions
http://www.islamway.com/english/images/library/contradictions.htm

Answer 1

Why should they have to?

Answer 2

I suppose it depends on what approach you take to the Christian Scriptures. Some Christians believe that every word in the Bible should be taken literally. Others recognize that the Scriptures are man's attempt to understand God. Many Christians believe that the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore should be revered. However, no scripture of any religion comes to us without the intervention of man. Most of the world's scriptures began as oral traditions that eventually were committed to writing. They often reflect the time they were written, the culture of the time, the people for whom they were written. Contradictions in the Christian scriptures do not necessarily mean they are wrong. There are two distinct versions of the Creation story in Genesis. Both teach certain ideas the writers wished to express. There are several stories of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. Jesus himself implied that the teachers of his time had perverted the scriptures, allowing divorce for example. It is a complex issue to decide what parts of scripture are "true." Was the world created in 7 days? I don't know. I don't think the writer of Genesis was concerned with this question. He had other ideas to express, for example, that God is the Creator and that God logically ordered creation in a way that Human beings would be the pinacle of God's creation. I think those truths are more important than whether the earth was created in 7 days or billions of years.

Answer 3

There is a lot that happens that we don't understand. Even as much as we have learnt and the amount science has progressed, we still don't know what happens after we die. Is it the end of everything? Does it all go poof? If so what's the point of living?

Intrinsically we, like all other animals, have been programmed to survive, and one means of survival is hope. And one of the ways to give people hope is through religion. There exist fallacies in all religious texts, not Christianity alone. But the idea that if people do good now then they will enjoy some sort of life after death gives people hope.

The sense of loss is another strong human emotion. The sense we feel when we lose friends to death. And the hope that the Christian idea of meeting your loved ones in heaven is what spurs them on to believe in the Bible despite it's fallacies and contradictions. It's what spurs them on to try and convert their friends so that they'll all live together in heaven.

I don't think it's wrong to have faith and hope, as long you are not fanatic about it and forcing it down everyone's throats. There are those Christians who firmly believe in what they do and mind their own business and I like their attitude, but there are those who want to convert every other person and save souls for the lord, these are the annoying kind.

In any case the answer to this question is FAITH. Christians and all other religious folk have faith, and faith is an irrational quality so there's no way that you can disprove them. :)

Answer 4

A lot of those "contradictions" were scribal errors with numbers.

It's now been corrected in most Bibles.

As far as the one with Noah, though, he was instructed with both. He was told to bring more animals to sacrifice, hence the seven.

With most of the "contradictions," all a person has to do is read the entire passage, rather than looking on a biased website to find that they're not contradictions at all.

I don't feel like going through all 101 of them. I already did, for myself, several times over the last few years, since I first "saw" contradictions myself. It's up to you to do the same research.

By the way, I found that there were none, though there have been some errors in copies. But EVERY book occasionally has errors in printing.

Answer 5

with other contradictions from other chapters usually LOL

or just say we are not meant to understand his Kingdom and law. is another famous one.

hard core ones are the ones that do that quote and live by it,

MOST honest to goodness ones I have met do not qoute from it and could care less I am pagan. Only the extremest seem to care and they are mostly outspoken on Y!A with user names to hide behind.

so when you run into this, just remember this is either a zealout and extremist or a fraud hiding behind their faith. The good ones I know would never bash you and not quote and put you down. they follow their faith and turn the other cheek and just accept I am differant on that end and just move onward, its simple for average people.

Extrememest though forget it thats what they live for..so do not even try to show them the holes as you show them one they plug it with another hole and so on and so on.

Im not bashing your bible Christians, only pointing out that the extremist in your faith that are always giving you good ones a bad name take it too literal where you all understand it is a guide more so on how to live, not to be taken literally word for word. thats how I can pick a true one from an extremist or fraud once you can then you can ignore as I am.

Hope that help you.

Answer 6

What about the contradictions in the KORAN? Both written by humans. The quotations in the bible are the written word of God, and we believe because we have faith. Religion is the reason for todays division in the World and without it we have true CHRISTIANITY and that is the FINAL WORD!

Answer 7

Can you give an example?In your own words?The Bible has no abrogation laws by the way.If two reporters go to report on an incident they will come up with different versions.However they will not come up with completely different stories.For example: if they were covering 9/11 one of them is not likely to say" I don't see any towers on fire",Unless he is a liar.
Muslims claim that Jesus prophesied that Mohammed was to be the Paraclete ,why would you quote the Bible if it was unreliable?

Answer 8

anyone can just go around in circles just to get away from the nagging feeling that there's something wrong if someone wills to be blinded by what they want to believe in. so, as I had personally observed, they quote one verse from another as a means to worm their way out of the nagging contradictions that can be seen in the Bible. and the reason that they will give you is that they have "faith".

Answer 9

There are no contradictions in the Bible that cannot be explained by someone with Biblical knowledge.

People read and don't understand some of what they read, but instead of searching for the whole story , they assume, and listen to others who WANT them to be confused, and worse of all, pass this untruth along to others...................as you are doing now

Answer 10

I investigated a list of 270 of them in the New Testament alone and none of them were truly contradictions.

Just an example is one gospel says Jesus was wrapped in a red robe another says a scarlet robe. But the same thing happens in our daily life, for instance my mom says my bird is turquoise but I say it is teal. My dad says it is green. We are all describing the same bird. You do not say, "Since you cannot use exactly the same color in describing it, then you are all wrong"

Answer 11

There are NO contradictions in the Bible , just an obvious spiritual blindness on the part of some of its readers.

If you have specific questions regarding what you think is a contradiction , please feel free to email it to me and I will answer it for you.