biblical Errancy?

Question

why are there so many contradiction in the bible. i read this book many times,and still wonder why people believe it is true. please, where is the religion ? all i have found is retold folk tales and rewritten mythology.

Answer 1

If you approach the Bible with the idea that it is a history or a science book you will find your credibility tested, to say the least.

This is not what the Bible was meant to be, regardless what certain fundamentalists purport.

The Bible DOES contain God's truth, but it is not in the literal interpration (or translation) of the words in the Bible. How could the infinite truth of an infinite omniscient being like God be contained in the verbs and nouns of a language?

God's truth is in the message given by those folk tales and rewritten mythologies. It requires some intelligent thought and not just blind faith in a supposed inerrant "How to know God in 5 easy steps" kind of book.

Answer 2

Have you never found the golden thread that runs from Genesis to Revelation?
Potted story line -
The Maker creates something he is very proud of and requires response from his creation. His care for His creation is so great that he repeatedly makes efforts to achieve the response he would like. Mankind mostly rejects these efforts because he has the free will to do so.
In this day and age many people don't respond to the Gospel message because
1) They are not aware it exists.
2) If they acknowledge that there is a message, it would mean they need to do something in response, which in turn would mean they can no longer please themselves.
The Makers final effort was made when he sent his son Jesus into the world.
This is what the New Testament is all about. The Old Testament is the foundation for the New and paints word pictures like this -

Isaiah 35:1 – 10
The desert will rejoice, and flowers will bloom in the wastelands.
The desert will sing and shout for joy; it will be as beautiful as the Lebanon Mountains and as fertile as the fields of Carmel and Sharon. Everyone will see the LORD's splendor, see his greatness and power.
Give strength to hands that are tired and to knees that tremble with weakness.
Tell everyone who is discouraged, "Be strong and don't be afraid! God is coming to your rescue, coming to punish your enemies."
The blind will be able to see, and the deaf will hear.
The lame will leap and dance, and those who cannot speak will shout for joy. Streams of water will flow through the desert;
the burning sand will become a lake, and dry land will be filled with springs. Where jackals used to live, marsh grass and reeds will grow.
There will be a highway there, called "The Road of Holiness." No sinner will ever travel that road; no fools will mislead those who follow it.
No lions will be there; no fierce animals will pass that way. Those whom the LORD has rescued will travel home by that road.
They will reach Jerusalem with gladness, singing and shouting for joy. They will be happy forever, forever free from sorrow and grief.
Good New Bible

A picture of the future when Jesus returns to the earth to sort things out and set up a community that responds as the Maker would wish. A community that will be made up individuals who are alive today and those who have lived in the last few thousands years and acknowledge His love for them.

Answer 3

"Errors" in the Bible have one of two sources. Either they are errors in translation of the inerrant autographs or they are not really errors or contradictions but a lack of understanding of the contextual or actual meaning of passages. Here's a link that explains many seeming contradictions in the Bible.

Index of Biblical Contradictions -http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/bible.htm#1

Answer 4

what are some of the contradictions. Do you mean people contradict the bible . Yes to that but the book is complete and the truth is in it you do not believe and you can not see . you must search with all your heart and it will reveal its truth to you. I find it to be awesome and true it it how it is intended to work not every one is chosen. You never know who is and who is not and when it will come clear to you. but I say keep searching. You cant deny the historical facts with in it at least.

Answer 5

Because God is testing us all. It is kinda like a book of the whole truth (good and evil) and we have to choose.

It's kinda like a parent of a child......You love the child, but if he runs out in front of a car....you have to spank him to let him know to never do that dangerous thing again. If someone came along and just saw you spanking the child....they might think that you were evil when in actuality you were doing good. See???

We have to pray and interpret everything in the bible, and everyone interprets it differently depending on where their hearts are and whether they want the whole truth and to obey God.

Answer 6

If you read it critically, or even unbiasedly, the contradictions are obvious. But if you read it with the assumption that it was inspired by God, any contradiction can be explained. Even if you can't think of it explantion, you must assume you're reading is faulty.

Answer 7

Could you be a little more specific? Where are these contradictions, folk tales and rewritten mythology? I can't really comment on such a vague question.

Christianity is a religion of the Word, not of a book!

The Word is a Person - Jesus Christ. He is God's "final word" on everything. Through Jesus, God has revealed everything He wanted to reveal to us about who He is and what He intends for our lives.

God's revelation of Himself comes to us in three ways:

* Scripture (the Bible)
* Tradition (especially the liturgy of the Church - the Mass and the sacraments)
* The Magisterium (the Church's teachings, such as its dogmas and creeds)

The Holy Spirit is at work through all three channels - He inspires Scripture, animates the Church's living Tradition, and guarantees the teaching of the Church's Magisterium (Catechism, nos. 81-82) (John 14:17; 16:30 and 1 Tim 3:15)

Because God's revelation comes to us through these three channels, we must remember three important criteria for reading and interpreting Scripture:

* The Content & Unity of Scripture: Though Scripture is made up of different books, we can't read them as separate books. We have to read each one in light of the rest, keeping in mind that Jesus revealed that there is a unity in God's plan for the world, as that plan is revealed in Scripture.

St. Augustine used to say that: "The New Testament is concealed in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New." What he meant is that Jesus showed us how the things that God says and does in the Old Testament pointed to what He says and does in the New. In turn, what Jesus says and does in the New Testament sheds light on the promises and events we read about in the Old.

* The Church's Living Tradition: We must always read Scripture within the context of the Church's Tradition. That means that we should always see how the Church interprets certain Scripture passages, especially in the prayers and readings it uses for the Mass and for special feasts in the Church.

* Analogy of Faith: The same Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures also safeguards the Church's teaching authority. That means that if we're going to read and interpret Scripture properly - the way God intends it to be read - we have to make sure our interpretations don't contradict the interpretations found in the Church's creeds and other statements of doctrine.

As you can tell by now, there's no other book like the Bible. The Church teaches that just as Jesus was "true God and true man," the Bible is truly a work of human authors and at the same time is truly the work of God as the divine author.

This is the mystery of the divine "inspiration" of Scripture (see 2 Timothy 3:16). The word "inspired" in the Greek, literally means "God-breathed." And that's a good way to think about the inspiration of Scripture. Just as God fashioned Adam out of the clay of the earth and blew the breath of life into him (see Genesis 2:7), God breathes His Spirit into the words of the human authors of Scripture and makes them the Living Word of God.

The way the Church explains it, it happened like this: The human authors used their literary skills, ideas and other talents in writing the pages of the Bible. But while they were writing, God was acting in them so that what they wrote was exactly what He wanted them to write (see Vatican II's Dei Verbum, scroll down to nos. 11-12: Catechism, nos. 105-107).

The human writers were "true authors" of Scripture, and so was God.

Because God is its co-author, and because God cannot err or make mistakes, we say that whatever we read in the Bible is true, free from "error" and has been put there for our salvation. This is called the "inerrancy" of Scripture.

This is a very complicated concept that we can't explain fully in this class. But it's important to always read the Bible on its own terms. The Bible doesn't set out to teach modern history, science or geography or biography. So we shouldn't try to compare what it says about the creation of the world, for instance, to what modern science teaches us.

That doesn't mean the Bible is ever wrong. The Bible, entire and whole, is true and without error - not only in what it teaches about faith and morals, but also what it says about historical events and personages. It will never lead us astray. But we have to interpret it responsibly - we have to understand that it is giving us history and natural events from a "religious" and divine perspective, and often uses symbolic language.

Practically speaking, the "divine-human" authorship of Scripture means we have to read the Bible differently than we approach other books.

When we read the Bible we must remember that it is the Word of God told in human language. It's important that we understand the "human element" of Scripture. As we'll see, this human element can't really be separated from the divine element.

But it's important when we read the Bible to remember that it is:

* Literature: The Bible uses literary forms, devices, structures, figures, etc. We must look for the "literary" clues that convey a meaning.

* Ancient: The Bible is ancient. Its not written like modern literature. It's meaning is wrapped up with the way the ancients looked at the world and recorded history. Although they were interested in recording history, they were not interested in "pure history." History was more than just politic, economics and wars - it had a deeper significance.

* Religious: Today people think of religion in terms of personal piety. Not so for the ancients. The word "religion" comes from the Latin, "religare," - "to bind together." For the ancients everything - culture, history, the economy, diplomacy - was bound together by the religion. The Bible gives us history, but it is religious history. It is history from God's perspective.

God Bless
Robin

Answer 8

Even if it wouldn't contain any contradictions, it still wouldn't teach anything that a decent person wouldn't already now. Thou shallst not kill. Duh, don't need a bible for that, neither do I need a stone with the 10 commandments in front of our courthouse.

Answer 9

"instead of just making a bias"-laced comment,do some real" searching for your own hearts sake"...if you really want to know truth-etc JESUS*said seek&knock&ask...simply meaning GOD*will reward your efforts if you truly desire to know,..you won't be sorry in the search.&sadly all'religion is false"true-life is a path walked with the only true GOD*&Jesus*is His son*...i hope you find your answer.

Answer 10

the Bible does not contradict itself at all! but you must be trained in theology for many years to get the correct interpretation of some things. You need to start at the begining and go through it very slowly. If you need help go to the nearest Christian church and ask the pastor for help. Or just ask me :)