Christian apologists: How do you account for all the contradictions in the Bible?

Question

If it's the divine word of God, it should be infallible, but it's patently not. Explain.

In case someone says "There are no contradictions", check this link:
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jim_meritt/bible-contradictions.html

Answer 1

Since some of you will not take the time to look at the link, here are but a few...

God good to all, or just a few?

PSA 145:9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

JER 13:14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.
War or Peace?

EXO 15:3 The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.

ROM 15:33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Who is the father of Joseph?

MAT 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

LUK 3:23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli.
Who was at the Empty Tomb? Is it:

MAT 28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

MAR 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

JOH 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
Is Jesus equal to or lesser than?

JOH 10:30 I and my Father are one.

JOH 14:28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
Which first--beasts or man?

GEN 1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
GEN 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

GEN 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
GEN 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
The number of beasts in the ark

GEN 7:2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

GEN 7:8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, GEN 7:9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
How many stalls and horsemen?

KI1 4:26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

CH2 9:25 And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
Is it folly to be wise or not?

PRO 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

ECC 1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

1 Cor.1:19: "For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and wil bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."


Now, please refute away...

Answer 2

Space does not permit me to address each one.

Most "contradictions" I see are usually one of these reasons:

1. It is a contradiction. There are minor contradictions between the synoptic gospels. Like what the disciples where or were not to take on a journey. The main message is still valid though - they weren't to take much. If you have many witnesses to the same event, they will have minor discrepancies, but the main story is true. If they were EXACT, they would be accused of collaborating their story.

2. They tell different parts of the story. For example, one gospel says that Judas hung himself. Another says that Judas fell on the rocks and spilled his guts. Well, he hung himself and the rope broke.

3. New Testament writers do not have to quote the Old Testament exactly. Sometimes they paraphrase it and that's OK.

4. Sometimes it is not a contradiction, but the person claiming it is doesn't know how to read. For example, sometimes a number includes everyone and someplace else it only includes the men. If you read the text close, it makes sense.

5. Sometimes God promises things if people do something. The people don't follow through, so God is not obliged to grant the promise.

6. Proverbs are general rules of thumb. There are exceptions to them though. Some people look at these and claim the exception is a contradiction.

There are not major contradictions though.

Answer 3

Elsewhere Luke states that Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, was a cousin (or relative) of Mary and was descended from Aaron, of the tribe of Levi.[17] Some have inferred from this that Mary herself was also a Levite descended from Aaron, and thus kingly and priestly lineages were united in Jesus.[18] Thomas Aquinas, however, argued that the relationship was on the maternal side. Eli (Ηλι, Heli) is the maternal grandfather of Jesus, and Luke is actually tracing the ancestry of Jesus according to the flesh through Mary.[15] How old was Jehoiachin when he began to reign? KI2 24:8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. CH2 36:9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, This was simply an error on the part of the translator. It is not a contradiction.

Answer 4

Sure, there appear to be contradictions when passages are taken out of context. Read the Bible all the way through and see if you find any contradictions.

The only real contradiction I have found is the two different stories of Judas' death. I do not find that significant. It has no bearing on the story of Christ.

Answer 5

I think your contradictions there prove that the Bible was written by man and not by God for He would not have made those mistakes.

By the way, I am not a Christian apologist, nor am I a Christian, but I don't understand why you cannot be happy believing what you believe and they cannot be happy believing what they believe? Why all the anger and divisiveness?

Answer 6

Two points:
First, I don't believe it is the 'divine word of God'. It is a set of books written by men who were inspired by God. Jesus is the Word of God.
Second, we need to be specific about 'all the contradictions'. When these are studied in their context most can be understood.

Answer 7

The Bible is a very magical book. It reveals the mind of GOD.
Let me share some facts about me politically. I'm personally opposed to the democratic party as a whole in general. So far I really like Barack Obama and may end up voting for him. Is that a contradiction? Or is that a simple fact of my personality? You can find whatever you want to find in the Bible. If you do not want to hang out with GOD then by all means GOD will grant your desire and strengthen your disbelief. He's cool like that.

Hope that helps.

Answer 8

Why should anyone account for the contradictions found in the Bible...none of us (christian or not) were alive writing the damn thing.

Answer 9

No matter how blatant the errors and contradictions are, the answer I always get is (paraphrased), "Ah, but you see, you don't understand the scripture. Scripture interprets scripture and you need the Holy Spirit to guide you. That is why you see contradictions even though there aren't any."

But do I get any real answers? No.

And saying, "You have to read it in context" is not an answer, especially when I understand the context more deeply than the accusers of this fallacy.

Anybody can be as blind as they want.

Answer 10

They tap dance all around and skirt the real issues with pious admoitions like "Read it and you will see the truth" or "Have faith in Jesus and your eyeswill be opened"

Isn't that sort of a chicken and egg thing? Do you have to "read it first and then your eyes will be opened?" or do you have to have "faith in Jesus and then you will read the Bible with understanding" It's been put on this Q&A both ways.

MIKE P

Try these contradictions. Hundreds more where these came from:

God can be seen?

Exod. 24:9,10; Amos 9:1; Gen. 26:2; and John 14:9
God CAN be seen:
"And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my backparts." (Ex. 33:23)
"And the Lord spake to Moses face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend." (Ex. 33:11)
"For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." (Gen. 32:30)

God CANNOT be seen:

"No man hath seen God at any time." (John 1:18)
"And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live." (Ex. 33:20)
"Whom no man hath seen nor can see." (1 Tim. 6:16)

UPDATE MIKE P: Where are ya' "mighty refuter of Bible contradictions?