Does The Bible Contradict Itself?

THE DAILY WORD
By Jim Seekamp

Tuesday April 21, 2009

I've heard people who don't believe the Bible say that the reason they don't believe it is because it contradicts itself!!

The Bible never contradicts itself. The problem is always in people's interpretations of what it says. I'm going to give some examples of some supposed "contradictions" that people have mentioned in the past, and show how these are not contradictions at all. The Bible itself tells us that it must be "rightly divided":

2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

By saying it must be RIGHTLY divided, the Bible tells us that it CAN be WRONGLY divided! It's our job to RIGHTLY divide it!

Just last week I heard from someone who said that someone told him the following two sections of scripture contradict eachother:

1 Samuel 31:4-6 (NIV)
4. Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me." But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
5. When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him.
6. So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day.

2 Samuel 1:5-10 (NIV)
5. Then David said to the young man who brought him the report, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?"
6. "I happened to be on Mount Gilboa," the young man said, "and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and riders almost upon him.
7. When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, `What can I do?'
8. "He asked me, `Who are you?' "`An Amalekite,' I answered.
9. "Then he said to me, `Stand over me and kill me! I am in the throes of death, but I'm still alive.'
10. "So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord."

If you read these two passages closely IN CONTEXT, you will see that 1 Samuel 31:4-6 is an account of what actually happened, while 2 Samuel 1:5-10 is a quote of the young Amalekite man's lying report of what happened.

2 Samuel 1:5-10 is a CONTINUATION of the same story told in 1 Samuel 31. 1 Samuel 31 is the last chapter of 1st Samuel, and 2 Samuel 1 is the first chapter of 2nd Samuel.

The Amalekite man gave a lying report thinking that it would give him favor with David, since everyone knew that David would be king as soon as Saul died. Was the Bible in error to quote what the Amalekite man said, even though the man was lying?? No, the Bible correctly quoted what the man said.

Some believe the following verse to be a contradiction:

Matthew 12:30 (NIV)
He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.

Some think that even though they are not "with Christ" they aren't against Him either, therefore causing Jesus' statement to be incorrect. But those people are the very ones Jesus was talking about!! He said that whether you think so or not, if you are not "with Him", you are against Him!

There are only two ways to go in life; either your name is written in the Book of Life or it isn't! Either you're part of God's family or you aren't. There is no in between. Jesus called the Pharisees children of the devil:

John 8:44 (NIV)
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire.

God is not the Father of those who do not accept Jesus Christ as Savior. Ever since the garden of Eden, people have been born into sin, with the devil as their father. That's why Jesus said "You MUST be born again"!!

Another supposed contradiction is that one of God's commandments is "Thou shalt not kill", yet He Himself ordered the Israelites to wipe out nations.

Exodus 20:13 (KJV)
Thou shalt not kill.

But a better translation is found in the NIV:

Exodus 20:13 (NIV)
You shall not murder.

There are seven verbs for "kill" in Hebrew, and the one used in the commandment is "ratsakh," which is only used for criminal murder and private blood-revenge. The very next page in Exodus prescribes capital punishment, so obviously that commandment is not talking about ALL instances of taking human life.

PRAYER
Thank You Father for Your unfailing Word that tells me timeless spiritual truths. Help me understand Your Word so I can allow You to govern every area of my life.
In Jesus' Name, Amen

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