Christian Apologetics Part 6 - What about the apparent contradictions throughout the Bible?

A simple search of the internet reveals numerous sites which describe hundreds of alleged contradictions in the Bible.  One can also find a lists of such alleged contradictions refuted:

• http://www.thywordistrue.com/articles-view-all.htm
• http://www.philvaz.com/apologetics/bible.htm
• http://www.thedevineevidence.com/skeptic_contradictions.html
• http://lmgtfy.com/?q=bible+contradiction+answered

A search of Amazon.comwill reveal many books on the subject.

• http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=bible%20contradictions%20answered

In fact,the vast majority of these alleged contradictions are not at all contradictions, but merely different accounts of the same event or a difference in details.

For example, look at the accounts of Mary, the mother of James, Mary Magdalene, and Salome at the tomb which some call a contradiction.

            Matthew’s Version

Mat 28:1-7 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

    There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.  The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

     The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

Mark’s Version

Mar 16:1-7 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body.  Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"

    But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.  As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

     "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.  But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' "

Luke’s Version
Luk 24:1-8 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.  They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.  In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' "  Then they remembered his words.

John’s Version

Joh 20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.

When examined closely, it becomes apparent that none of these verses conflict.  They just each contain different details of the same event.  This is in no way a contradiction.  For a complete explanation of how these verses are in harmony see my Easter blog post which recounts the final 24 hours of Jesus life and his resurrection as recounted in each of the Gospels with harmonies explained.

On the other hand, there are some errors which can be attributed to copyist errors.  For example, look at 2 Chronicles 22:2 vs 2 Kings 8:26.

 2 Chronicles 22:2 Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Athaliah the daughter of Omri. 

2 Kings 8:26 Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel. 

In the Hebrew, letters are also numbers.  The Hebrew alphabet begins with Aleph, Bet, Gimmel, Dalet, Hey, these letters also represent the numbers 1,2,3,4, and 5.  The following table shows the Hebrew alephbet with their names, sounds, and numerical values (remember that Hebrew is read from right to left rather than left to right).[1]  

t Teit (T) 9	x Cheit (Ch) 8	z Zayin (Z) 7	u Vav (V/O/U) 6	e Hey (H) 5	d Dalet (D) 4	g Gimmel (G) 3	b Bet (B/V) 2	a Aleph (silent) 1
y Tzadei (Tz) 90	p Pei/Fe (P/F) 80	o Ayin (Silent) 70	s Samekh (S) 60	n Nun (N) 50	M Mem (M) 40	l Lamed (L) 30	k Kaf (K/Kh) 20	i Yod (Y) 10
					x Tav (T/S) 400	w Shin (Sh/S) 300	r Reish (R) 200	q Qof (Q) 100

 Thus “two and twenty” would be written kb (mem bet), and “Forty and two” would be written mb (kaf bet), which could easily been mis-copied.  It is clear that the Hebrews version is correct since if he were 42 he would be two years older than his father.[2]

…some copies of the Septuagint, and the Syriac and Arabic versions, read twenty two, as in Kings; particularly the Syriac version, used in the church of Antioch from the most early times.[3]

It is clear that this is not a contradiction, but a copyist error in some versions.  Importantly, this error does not change the details or the doctrine in any way.

In other situations we have different manuscripts which have some text which others do not.  For instance, John 7:53 – 8:11 are not in the earliest manuscripts, and some Bibles, therefore, do not contain them.  Others will give the text and explain that they were not in every manuscript.

We see that the Dead Sea Scrolls version of Isaiah 53 contains the word “light” (interpreted in the NIV as “the light of life”) which the Masoretic text from which we get our Old Testament does not.

Isa 53:11  After the suffering of his soul,

      he will see the light of life and be satisfied;

      by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,

      and he will bear their iniquities.

It is interesting to note, however, that the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament) does contain the word.

Again, the difference in the text in no way change the meaning of the verses, nor do they add or detract any information which is not already known from other verses.

Now that we have established that the Bible has been transmitted accurately and there is no evidence contradicting its veracity, we will turn our attention to the next question in our list.  How do we know Jesus is the Messiah?  That is the topic of next week's post.

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[1] All Hebrew words also have a numerical value based on the numbers of the letters (also see “number of his name", Rev. 13:17-18).  The Hebrew word for life is xi.  The number of life is 18 and thus many Jews give money in multiples of 18 as gifts to someone celebrating a birth, bar mitzvah, or wedding.

[2] See 2 Kings 8:17-24.  His father began to reign when he was thirty two years old and reigned for 8 years.  Ahaziah succeeded him as king when he died.

[3] John Gill’s Exposition of the entire Bible, notes on 2 Chronicles 22:2.