Apparent contradictions in the Bible

1
Apparent contradictions in the Bible

• A common criticism of unbelievers is the claim
  that the Bible contains tons of contradictions
  and the Bible cant be taken seriously. This talk
  will help you answer their criticism.

2
Contradiction Example 1

• Luke 1835, Luke 191
• And as He came near Jericho, it happened that a
  certain blind man sat by the roadside begging....
  
• And going in, He passed through Jericho.
• Matthew 2029
• And as they departed from Jericho, a great crowd
  followed Him. And behold, two blind men were
  sitting by the wayside.
• So does Luke and Matthew contradict each other,
  not once, but twice ???

3
Contradiction Example 2

• You need to look at the King James Version
• Act 97
• And the men who journeyed with him (Paul) stood
  speechless, indeed hearing a voice but seeing no
  one.
• Act 229
• And they who were with me indeed saw the light
  and were afraid. But they did not hear the voice
  of Him who spoke to me.
• What weird of this contradiction is it is
  written by the same author !?

4
What is a contradiction

• A thing cannot be both A and non-A at the same
  time, in the same place, and in the same manner.
• Example
• It cannot be both raining and not raining at the
  same time in the same location.
• two statements can differ from each other without
  being contradictory
• I saw John in the mall yesterday
• I saw James in the mall yesterday
• Not a contradiction I saw both John and James !!!

5
Complementary statement

• Are statements whose sum of information is
  greater than any one of them alone
• Example
• Luke 1835 a certain blind man sat by the
  roadside begging
• Mat 2029 two blind men were sitting by the
  wayside
• Matthew 2029 complements Luke 1835.
• Perhaps there were 2 blind men, one of them was
  begging.

6
Common sources of "contradictions"

• Complementary accounts that are not contradictory
  (we just saw an example)
• Difference in Author's perspective
• Unclear (poor) translation from Hebrew or Greek
  into English
• Difference of language usages in Jesus' days
• Copy errors (that did NOT change the meaning of
  the text)

7
Example complementary contradictions

• Who discovered the empty tomb ?
• Matthew 281 -- But late in the week, at the
  dawning into the first day of the week, Mary
  Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the
  tomb.
• Mark 161 -- And when the sabbath was past, Mary
  Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and
  Salome, had bought sweet spices so that they
  might come and anoint Him.
• Luke 2410 -- It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna,
  and Mary the mother of James, and the rest with
  them, who told these things to the apostles.
• John 201 -- The first of the sabbaths Mary
  Magdalene came early to the tomb, darkness still
  being on it, and she saw the stone taken away
  from the tomb.

8
Example complementary contradictions

• How many times did the rooster crow ?
• Matthew 2634 - Jesus said to him, Assuredly, I
  say to you that this night, before the rooster
  crows, you will deny Me three times
• Luke 2234 - Then He said, I tell you, Peter,
  the rooster shall not crow this day before you
  will deny three times that you know Me .
• John 1338 - Jesus answered him Most assuredly,
  I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you
  have denied Me three times
• Mark 1430 - "Assuredly, I say to you that today,
  even this night, before the rooster crows twice,
  you will deny Me three times"
• Matthew, Luke and John did not say only once !

9
Example complementary contradictions

• How did Judas die ?
• Matthew 275 -- And he (Judas) threw the pieces
  of silver down in the temple and departed. And he
  (Judas) went and hanged himself.
• Act 118 Indeed, then, this one (Judas) purchased
  a field with the reward of unrighteousness. And
  falling headlong, he burst apart in the middle,
  and all his bowels gushed out.
• Acts did not say that Judas did not hang himself
• Judas could have felt headlong from his suicide
  hanging position

10
Contradictions" by author's perspectives

• Luke 1835-191 reported that Jesus went into
  Jericho
• Matthew 2029-30 said that Jesus went out of
  Jericho.
• Cities in the ancient days are often destroyed by
  wars and re-established in a different location -
  near a water supply, or a new road.
• Jericho was established (and found) in at least 4
  different locations

11
Contradictions" by author's perspectives

• When was Jesus crucified ?
• Mark 1525 -- And it was the third hour, and they
  crucified Him.
• John 1914 -- And it was the preparation of the
  Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he
  (Pilate) said to the Jews, Behold your king! But
  they cried out, Away with him! Away with him!
  Crucify him!
• How can Jesus stand trial in front of Pilate at
  about the 6th hour when Jesus was crucified
  earlier at the 3rd hour ???
• Or maybe the Romans had a time-machine ???

12
Time travel explained...

• Jews reckoned the day starting at sun rise (6 AM
  first hour of the day).
• Julius Caesar imposed the Julian Calendar in 40
  B.C. and the first hour is midnight
• Mark 1525 (Jewish time reckoning)
• And it was the third hour (9 A.M.), and they
  crucified Him.
• John 1914 (John wrote later in Roman city)
• And it was the preparation of the Passover, and
  about the sixth hour (6 A.M.). And he (Pilate)
  said to the Jews, Behold your king! But they
  cried out, Away with him! Crucify him!

13
Contradictions" by author's perspectives

• Who was Josephs father ?
• Mat 113-16 and Eleazar fathered Matthan, and
  Matthan fathered Jacob. And Jacob fathered
  Joseph, the husband to be of Mary, of whom Jesus
  was born, who is called Christ.
• Luke 323-26 And Jesus Himself was beginning to
  be about thirty years of age, being (as was
  supposed) son of Joseph, son of of Heli, son of
  of Matthat
• Is this a real contradiction in the Bible ?

14
Two different fathers explained

• If you read Luke in the original Greek language,
  you will see that Luke uses the word the in
  every case, except for Joseph
• Luke 323-26 --- And Jesus Himself was beginning
  to be about thirty years of age, being (as was
  supposed) son of (no the) Joseph, the Heli,
  the Matthat, the Levi, the Melchi,
• The Talmud (writings by Jewish Rabbis) records
  the fact that Mary was the daughter of Heli
• The common explanation is Luke was tracing Mary
  descendent tree (Mary, daughter of Heli, son of
  Matthat, and so on)
• Also, from the writings in Lukes gospel, it
  seems that Luke has interviewed Mary extensively

15
Contradictions caused by translation

• King James Version
• Acts 97 -- And the men who journeyed with him
  (Paul) stood speechless, indeed hearing a voice
  but seeing no one.
• Acts 229 -- And they who were with me indeed saw
  the light and were afraid. But they did not hear
  the voice of Him who spoke to me.
• NIV
• Acts 97 -- they heard the sound but did not
  see anyone
• Acts 229 -- .. But they did not understand the
  voice of Him who was speaking to me
• (BTW, NIV is not a great translation either
  take a look at Hebrews 1111)

16
Contradiction by language usage

• Did Jesus really stay three days and three nights
  in the tomb?
• Jesus died on Friday afternoon
• Jesus was risen on Sunday morning
• Its barely 2 days !!!
• According to the Jerusalem Talmud
• A day and a night are an Onah and the portion of
  an Onah is as the whole of it
• Therefore
• Part of Friday is a portion of an Onah and it is
  a whole Onah (day)
• Part of Sunday is also a whole Onah.
• Total 3 days according to Jewish time keeping
  !

17
Copy Errors

• Yes, the Bible does contain copy errors
• But its not a big deal these errors do not
  change the teaching in the Bible, nor does it
  make the Bible incomprehensible
• Example
• 2Chron 369 --- Jehoiachin was eight years old
  when he began to reign
• 2King 248 --- Jehoiachin was eighteen years old
  when he began to reign

18
A more subtle copy error

• Who killed Goliath
• I think you all know the story about David and
  Goliath
• But in 2 Samuel 2119 -- And there was again a
  battle with the Philistines in Gob, where Elhanan
  of Bethlehem, the son of Jaare-oregim, killed one
  of Goliath the Gittite
• This problem is most likely caused by a copy
  error
• Note this error does not make the Bible
  incomprehensible, nor did it change its teachings

19
Summary

• Bible contains historical information written by
  different authors from different perspective with
  different emphasis
• As such, various contradictions can arise which
  are in fact not contradictions at all
• The Bible has proven itself to be incredibly
  reliable archeologists use it to locate ancient
  civilizations
• There are no contradictions in the Bible
• There are some copy errors which are small in
  number (considering the time span) and does not
  compromise any Bibles teaching

20
Goliath problem explained

• The explanation of the copy error is found in 1
  Chronicle 205
• 1 Chr 205 -- And Elhanan the son of Jair killed
  Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite
• 2 Samuel 2119 -- Elhanan of Bethlehem, the son
  of Jaare-oregim, killed one of Goliath the
  Gittite
• In Hebrew
• "eth Lachmi" means "Lachmi the brother of".
• "beith hallachmi" meaning someone from
  Bethlehem
• The phrase Elhanan eth Lachmi Goliath was
  apparently changed to Elhanan beith hallachmi
  Goliath