Bible Contradictions

These were posted without explanation, but it's obvious the author is suggesting that these are contradictions within the Bible. The implied argument is that the message can't be trusted because the Bible has contradictions. The author's logic fails because of its ad hominem tu quoque nature. That is, he hasn't shown that the contradictions (if they in fact exist) invalidate the entire message of the Bible. Furthermore, I contend that many of these are not, in fact contradictory.

I'll post my comments as I have time; feel free to email me yours.

Don't interpret my lack of comment on any of these to be because I'm stumped. I'm just not going to take the time at one sitting to write out an explanation for every one. And I want to let you have a chance to think over each of these yourself.

Proverbs 6:19 ("A false witness...is he that soweth discord among brethren") versus Gen. 11:7 in which God says, "...let us go down and confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."

The author misquotes Prov 6:19. The context is the seven things the Lord hates. Items 6 and 7 are: "A false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers." The verse does not say that one who spreads strife is a false witness, but rather that God hates those who spread strife among brothers. He does not establish that God's actions in Gen 11:7 amounts to "spreading strife among brothers".

26:4 ("Answer not a fool according to his folly....") versus 26:5 ("Answer a fool according to his folly....")

Some versions of the Bible translate verse 5 "answer a fool as he deserves". To show this is a contradiction one must show the construction of the two Hebrew sentences is identical in both cases (the alternative translation would suggest otherwise).

Then one must provide some believable reason as to why the author of this passage would knowingly contradict himself within the space of a sentence. It is as if I were to say, "I believe Jesus was the Son of God, but I don't believe that Jesus was the Son of God!" If you read that in my writing you would have to read further to determine my true meaning.

30:30 ("A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any") versus Gen. 9:2 ("And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth....")

Two possibilities: 1) The lion does not turn away for any beast; and/or 2) There's no indication that a fear of humans should result in turning away. The lion might attack that which it fears in order to remove the threat.

Ecclesiastes 3:2-3 ("a time to be born , and a time to die...a time to kill, and a time to heal...") versus Ex. 20:13 ("Thou shalt not kill")

The commandment is not to murder. The Ecclesiastes passage refers to war, in which killing is justified.

Isaiah 2:4 ("...and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more") versus Joel 3:10 ("Beat your plowshares into swords, your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say I am strong")

Bad eschatology.

6:1 ("I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up....") and 6:5 ("for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts") versus John 1:18 ("No man hath seen God at any time")

Isaiah may refer to an Old Testament appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ prior to his incarnation. John refers to God the Father, which no one has seen at any time. (Thanks to Bob P. for the suggestion.)

39:1 ("At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon....") versus 2 Kings 20:12 ("At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon...")

This is either a transcription or translation error, or it's a variant spelling of the same name. It's talking about the same person. It's as if you mistakenly referred to my son as "Jon" instead of "John" and someone tried to claim that you were trying to say I had another son named Jon when in fact I don't.

54:7 ("For a small moment have I<God>have forsaken thee....") versus Deut. 4:31 ("For the Lord thy God is a merciful God; he will not forsake thee....") and 1 Sam. 12:22 ("For the Lord will not forsake his people....")

The Deuteronomy and 1 Samuel passages refer to God's eternal plan, in which he will not forsake his people. The Isaiah passage refers to a particular instance in which God turned away from his people to teach them a lesson. This temporary situation does not change the overall relationship. If I isolate my child in his room to calm a tantrum, I'm not evicting him from the family permanently.

Jeremiah 3:12 ("...for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever") and Micah 7:18 ("...he retaineth not anger forever") versus 17:4 ("...for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn forever")

4:2 ("And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness") versus Matt. 5:34 ("But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven....")

4:14 ("O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved") versus 2:22 ("Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me")

Not even a surface contradiction here. The first passage refers to true repentance, the second to an attempt to hide sin by our own efforts.

13:14 ("And I will dash them one against another, even the father and the son together, said the Lord: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them") versus James 5:11 ("...the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy") and 1 Chron. 16:34 ("...the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever")

31:34 ("...saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more") versus Eccle. 12:14 ("For God shall bring every work into judgment...whether it be good or bad")

32:4 ("And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes") versus Jer. 52:11 ("Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon...."). Zedekiah's eyes were put out but he later saw the king of Babylon.

42:17 ("So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them") versus 44:28 ("Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah....")

52:25 ("He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king's person....") versus 2 Kings 25:19 ("And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence....")

52:31 ("And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year...in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach....") versus 2 Kings 25:27 ("And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year...in the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach....")

Ezekiel 5:7 ("...Because ye...have not walked in my statutes...neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you") versus 11:12 ("...for ye have not walked in my statutes...but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you")

21:3 ("Thus saith the Lord...I will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked") versus Psalm 37:17 ("For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord upholdeth the righteous")

Daniel 12:2 ("And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting contempt") versus John 5:28-29 ("...for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And they shall come forth....")

Hosea 8:13 ("they<Ephraim>shall return to Egypt") versus 11:5 ("He<Ephraim>shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king....")

Micah 7:18 ("God does not retaineth his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy") versus Matt. 25:46 ("And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal")

The author has not shown that sending some to everlasting punishment is equivalent to retaining anger forever. There's no connection between the verses.

Zechariah 1:1 ("...came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet....") versus Ezra 5:1 ("...and Zechariah the son of Iddo....")

Typical Hebrew pattern of describing ancestry. Author shows an ignorance of the language.

Malachi 1:4 ("...The people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever") versus Num. 14:18 ("The Lord is long suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression....")

Matthew 1:11 ("Josias<Josiah>begat Jechonias <Jeconiah>....") versus 1 Chron. 3:15-16 ("And the sons of Josiah were...the second Jehoiakim...And the sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son....")

1:23 ("...a virgin shall be with child...and they shall call his name Emmanuel....") versus 1:25 ("...till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and called his name JESUS")

4:10 ("Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve") versus Eph. 6:5 ("Servants, be obedient to them who are your masters according to the flesh....")

No contradiction. God commands servants to be obedient to their masters. In obeying that commandment they are actually keeping the command to serve God only. In another place this principle is expressed as "whatsoever you do, do it as unto the Lord".

5:45 ("...your Father who is in heaven: for he...sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust") versus 2 Chron. 6:26 ("When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee")

General principle versus specific instance. In general, God sends rain on the just and unjust. At times, he may choose to send draught to those who sin against him. No contradiction.

6:6 ("When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret") versus 1 Tim. 2:8 ("I will therefore that men pray everywhere...")

The first passage is commanding private prayer as opposed to those who prayed loudly and often in public so as to receive praise of other people. The second passage may not mean that people should pray everywhere, but rather that people everywhere should pray. A more interesting "contradiction" is to the verse that says "pray without ceasing". That doesn't mean we should stay in our closet without ceasing. Instead, the first is giving a warning against praying in order to be seen by others and the second is talking about having a constant attitude of prayer.

6:19 ("Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth...") versus Prov. 15:6 ("In the house of the righteous is much treasure....")

7:1 ("Judge not, that ye be not judged") versus Lev. 19:15 ("Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment...but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor")

7:14 ("Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth to life, and few there be that find it") versus Luke 3:6 ("And all flesh shall see the salvation of God") and John 12:32 ("And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me")

7:21 ("Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven....") versus Acts 2:21 ("And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved") and Rom 10:13 ("For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved")

10:1 ("And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease") versus 17:16 ("And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him")

16:13 ("Jesus asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?") versus Psalm 146:3 ("Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help")

12:36 ("But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment") versus Psalm 103:3 ("Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all diseases") and Psalm 103:12 ("As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us")

21:7 Mod Lang. ("They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their coats on them, and He seated himself on them") versus Mark 11:7 ("And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him")

Mark 12:26 ("God spake to him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob") versus 12:27 ("He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living...."). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not living when this was said.

15:17 RSV ("And they clothed him in a purple cloak...") versus Matt. 27:28 ("And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe")

Luke 3:27 ("Salathiel, which was the son of Neri") versus Matt. 1:12 ("Jechonias begat Salathiel")

9:28 ("And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray") versus Matt. 17:1 ("And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart")

10:25-28 ("And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law?.... And he<lawyer>answering said, Thou shalt love, the Lord thy God...and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right....") versus Matt. 22:35- ("Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God...Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself"). Who said the commandment, Jesus or the lawyer?

22:34 ("And he said, I tell thee Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me") versus Matt. 26:34 ("Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice")

24:40 ("And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet") versus John 20:20 ("And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hand and his side")

20:23 RSV ("If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained") versus Mark 2:7 ("Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?")

Acts 1:1-2 ("In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up....") versus John 21:25 ("And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written")

1:24 ("...Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men....") versus Deut. 8:2 ("...the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness...to know what was in thine heart....")

16:6 ("Now when they...were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia") versus 19:10 ("...so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks") and 19:22 ("So Paul sent into Macedonia two of them...but he himself stayed in Asia for a season")

20:22 RSV ("I<Paul>am going to Jerusalem, bound in the Spirit, not knowing what shall befall me there") versus 21:4 RSV ("And finding disciples...who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem")

27:10 RSV ("And Paul said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo...but also of our lives") versus 27:43-44 RSV ("but the centurion, wishing to save Paul...ordered those who could swim to throw themselves overboard first and make for land...And so it was that all escaped to land")

Romans (Heading=The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans) versus Rom. 16:22 ("I Tertius, who wrote this epistle....")

Now we're really reaching, folks. If I say "I wrote this soapbox article" but then you learn that I only operated the keyboard and the article was "written" by my Gateway computer, would you question the authenticity of the article?

3:10 ("As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one") versus James 5:16 ("...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much")

4:5 ("But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness") versus Prov. 17:15 ("He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord"). God justifies the ungodly; yet, considers those who justify the wicked to be abominable.

5:14 ("...death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression....") versus Heb. 11:5 ("By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him...")

9:18 RSV ("So then he has mercy upon whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills") versus 11:32 RSV ("For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all")

11:26 ("And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written...") versus Matt. 8:12 ("But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth") and Zech 13:8-9

15:33 ("Now the God of peace....") versus Ex. 15:3 ("The Lord is a man of war....") and Psalm 144:1 ("Blessed by the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war....")

God is both the God of peace and the God of war. One would expect an omnipotent God to be both. The God of the Bible could not be God unless he were both.

1 Corinthians 2:15 ("But he that is spiritual judgeth all things") versus Luke 6:37 ("Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not....")

This is a classic misinterpretation of Luke 6, which parallels Matt 7. The context suggest we judge ourselves by the same standards with which we judge others (Lk 6:38). Believers are to be judges: "Do you not know that we shall judge angels?" (1 Cor 6:3).

3:11 RSV ("For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ") versus Eph. 2:20 ("And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone")

7:23 ("...do not become slaves of men") versus Eph. 6:5 ("Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters....") and 1 Peter 2:18

11:14 ("Does not nature itself teach you that for a man to wear long hair is degrading to him") versus Num. 6:5 RSV ("All the day of his vow of separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long")

12:10 ("To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy...to another divers kinds of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues") versus 14:2 ("For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him...")

2 Corinthians 6:17 ("Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate...and touch nothing unclean") versus Mark 16:15 ("And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature")

Galatians 1:10 Mod. Lang. ("Am I now trying to win men's favor, or God's? Or do I seek to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I would not be a slave of Christ") versus Rom. 15:2 ("To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak; I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some") and 1 Cor. 10:33 ("Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many....")

Colossians 2:9 ("For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily") versus 1 Kings 8:27 ("But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded")

2 Thess. 3:12 ("...we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread") versus Matt. 6:31-33 ("Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed...for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you")

1 Timothy 2:6 ("Who gave himself a ransom for all....") versus Matt. 15:24 ("...I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel")

Jesus can be sent only to Israel while still being a ransom for all. There is not even a surface contradiction here.

Philemon 12 RSV ("I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart") versus Deut. 23:15 ("Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee")

Hebrews 6:2 ("Of the doctrine of baptisms....") versus Eph. 4:5 ("One Lord, one faith, one baptism...")

There are many "baptisms" (for example, John's baptism vs. Christian baptism) but only one Christian baptism, which is the subject of Eph 4:5.

6:13 RSV ("For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself") versus Matt. 5:34 ("But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne")

God tells us not to swear, but does not limit himself. These verses are not contradictory even on the surface.

6:18 ("That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie") versus Matt. 19:26 ("But Jesus...said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible")

7:19 ("For the law made nothing perfect....") versus Psalm 19:7 ("The law of the Lord is perfect....")

These don't even refer to the same thing. The first says the law made nothing perfect and the second says the law itself is perfect. There's no contradiction here.

10:31 ("It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God") versus 2 Sam. 24:14 ("And David said unto Gad...let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man")

11:17 ("By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son") versus Gal. 4:22 ("For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman")

Isaac was the only son of Abraham's true wife. The author exhibits an ignorance of the basic facts of Abraham's life.

13:14 ("For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come") versus Matt. 5:5 ("Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth")

James 1:2 ("My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations") versus Matt. 6:13 ("And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil")

4:11 ("Speak not evil one of another....") versus Phil. 3:2 ("Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers....")

The first is a warning against speaking evil of our brothers and sisters; the second is warning against those who are not brothers and sisters.

1 John 1:10 ("If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us") versus 1 John 3:9 ("Whoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God")

The author ignores the various tenses of the Greek verb "to sin" used in this passage.

4:9 ("...God sent his only begotten Son into the world....") versus Job 1:6 ("Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord....")

We are all the "children of God". The answer to this apparent contradiction lies in the very wording of 1 John 4:9: Jesus is his only begotten son. There are others (myself included) who can rightly identify themselves as sons but only one who is begotten of the Father.

4:18 ("There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear....") versus Deut. 6:5 ("Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart....") and Deut. 6:13 ("Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God....")

The author ignores the difference between the Greek word "fear" of 1 John 4:18 and the Hebrew word "fear" in Deut 6.