An old rumor has it that "the good book" is a library of contradictions. It is said by some that the real genius of this bestseller is that, like other successful "fortune tellers," it covers its predictions with enough broad, obscure, and contradictory statements to be able to hide in the tangle.
But is that really the truth about the Bible? Or is there some way to resolve its alleged contradictions? We offer the following resource to you with the confidence that the more of the Bible you understand, the less you will wonder about its overall unity, consistency, and reliability.
Martin R. De Haan II
OUTLINE
Double-talk
What's at Stake?
Where Are the Contradictions?
Why Aren't There More?
How Should We Approach This?
What Are Studies in Contrasts?
Does the Bible Contradict Itself . . .
About God?
About Salvation?
About Christian Living?
Do Contrasts Explain Everything?
Does the Bible Contradict Us?
DOUBLE-TALK
Does the Bible contradict itself?
"Yes," responds the well-groomed businessman. "The way it looks to me, the Bible does contradict itself. I think it is riddled with inconsistencies."
"Show me one," says a second-year college student, counting on a sophomoric bet that the critic hasn't done his homework.
"I can't think of a specific," says the self-appointed authority, "but I know they're there."
"I can," says another. "In some places the Bible says God loves everybody. In other places it says there are some people He hates. And sometimes the biblical authors contradict themselves before the ink has had a chance to dry on their first statement. For instance, within the space of two sentences the author of Proverbs says that a wise man will and will not try to answer a fool (26:4,5). What kind of sense does that make?"
"A lot of sense," says a little old man with baggy pants and a grey-white shirt marked by a mustard stain on the pen-laden left pocket. "The Bible only seems to contradict itself to those who don't understand it."
"Sir, with all due respect," the other responds, "the Bible makes sense only because you want it to make sense."
"And is it possible that you'd rather it didn't make sense?" replies the old man. "Does your live-in girlfriend and your life-risking wager that this life is all you need to worry about make you a good judge of the Book that judges you?"
WHAT'S AT STAKE?
Is the issue of double-talk important? It is if your employer promises you he's going to give you a raise and then a few days later tells you that he was only thinking about it. It's important if a politician is caught talking out of both sides of his mouth, or if a teacher sends mixed signals about what you can expect on the final exam. It's serious if you rent from a landlord who keeps changing his story about whether he's going to raise your rent.
It's even more serious if the Bible gives you mixed signals about what God thinks of you. It is absolutely essential for you to know whether you can trust this Book.
Does God really know every thought that is in our mind? (Psalm 139:1-6). Does He care about what happens to us? (Matthew 6:25-34). Is He willing to forgive the worst of our sins? (1 Corinthians 6:11). All of these things are in doubt if the Bible is a book of double-talk and self-contradiction.
WHERE ARE THE CONTRADICTIONS?
It's important for our theory to fit the facts of the case before us. On this question, the fact is that the Bible does appear to contradict itself. (1) It appears that way to the unbelieving critic. (2) It appears that way to the Christian who works hard to harmonize those passages of history, ethics, or prophecy that seem to be in conflict with one another. (3) It appears to the casual reader that the Bible is less than consistent. He's confused by the fact that the Bible says:
1. We should/should not be afraid of God.
2. God is in control/Satan is in control.
3. Christ was less than/equal with the Father.
4. We are/are not saved by faith alone.
5. Salvation is once-for-all/continuous.
6. We can/cannot come to God as we are.
7. Self-esteem is dangerous/healthy.
8. With faith we can/cannot do everything.
9. We should/should not follow men.
But does the fact that the Bible seems to contradict itself mean that it actually does? We can't afford to jump to a wrong conclusion. The issues are too important. Too much is at stake to casually dismiss a book of the Bible's stature just because it appears at times to contradict itself. There is too much to be said for this Book that has inspired more faith, more hope, more love, more honesty, more hard work, more social reform, and more justice than any other book the world has ever known.
WHY AREN'T THERE MORE?
A look at a few other facts could easily cause us to ask a question different from the one proposed on the cover of this booklet. We could ask, "Why doesn't the Bible appear to contradict itself more often?"
SEVEN OBSTACLES TO UNITY. (1) The Bible was written over a period of 1,500 years, (2) in several different languages, (3) by 40 different authors (4) from many walks of life and (5) from several geographic locations in the Mideast. (6) These authors claim to speak in behalf of a God who describes our situation from His own infinite, eternal perspective. (7) Yet these authors also approach those same issues from the perspective of people caught up in the intense emotions, ecstasies, and agonies of human experience.
SEVEN EVIDENCES OF UNITY. In spite of these obstacles, the Bible shows amazing unity when it comes to describing (1) the personality and character of God, (2) the personality and character of man, (3) the human need for salvation, (4) the need for a substitutionary blood sacrifice to accomplish that salvation, and (5) the anticipation and coming of a promised Messiah-Savior described as "God with us." Beyond that, the Bible shows unity (6) in the way it uses public miracles and fulfilled prophecies to support its spiritual claims and authority. Its claims are not left to the philosophy, idealism, or good intentions of its authors. The message of the Old Testament was confirmed by events as physical as the Flood, the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, and the supernatural conquest of the Promised Land. The message of the New Testament rests on the miracles, life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Even the teaching of the early apostles rests on claims of "sign" miracles that were seen by many witnesses.
Finally, the Bible shows amazing unity (7) in the way that the creation themes of Genesis are brought together in the judgment and re-creation themes of Revelation. There Christ the Creator is described as Christ the final Judge and Savior.
THE UNITY OF THE BIBLE
It is this aspect of the Bible which constitutes its grand distinction from all collections of sacred writings - the so-called "Bibles" of heathen religions - in the world. These, as the slightest inspection of them shows, have no unity. They are accumulations of [unrelated] materials, presenting, in their collection, no order, progress, or plan. The reason is that they embody no historical revelation working out a purpose in consecutive stages from germinal beginnings to perfect close.
The Bible, by contrast, is a single book because it embodies such revelation and exhibits such purpose. The unity of the book made up of so many parts is attestation of the reality of the revelation it contains (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, pp. 467-8).
In this light, let's ask some other questions. Are the apparent contradictions of Scripture clear or specific enough, and do they carry enough weight to dismiss this evidence of unity? Is it even possible that the varying perspectives and alleged discrepancies actually lend credibility rather than suspicion to the authors?
HOW SHOULD WE APPROACH THIS?
Are we willing to approach it the same way we approach other matters? Are we willing to give the Bible the kind of consideration we would want for ourselves?
* Would we want to be quoted out of context?
* Would we want a chance to speak for ourselves?
* Would we want to be given the benefit of the doubt after giving others adequate reason to trust us?
* Would we want to be accused of contradicting ourselves by someone who had not tried to understand what we were saying?
With these questions in mind, we're going to suggest that most of the apparent contradictions of the Bible can be resolved by (1) studying them in context, (2) letting the text speak for itself, and (3) discovering that the contrasting ideas are just that - contrasts, not contradictions.
WHAT ARE STUDIES IN CONTRASTS?
A study in contrasts looks at an alleged discrepancy in the Bible and shows that the problem may be nothing more than two sides of the same truth. The solution, in turn, is to see that each side has its appropriate, God-given time and place. Such a solution is modeled in the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 when he wrote:
"To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck . . . ;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain . . . ;
A time to gain, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time of war, and a time of peace."
This series of unrelenting contrasts overwhelmed Solomon. But it also brought him to a place of solution as he realized that opposites can be harmonized in the perfect design and plan of God. With this insight, Solomon declared, "[God] has made everything beautiful in its time" (3:11).
In the following pages we will illustrate how the contrasting ideas of Scripture can be seen in their proper "time and place." We'll also use the diagram below to show how complementing truths work together to form balanced completeness.
This sense of balance is important because the question of whether the Bible contradicts itself goes beyond the issue of the Bible's credibility. Once that is established, we can gain a more mature understanding of the Bible's message by seeing the bigger and broader perspective on many issues. Most important, this growing sense of completeness can also help us to know and trust the Lord, who is both predictable and unpredictable, loving and hating, one in three, self-revealing and self-concealing, gentle and angry, God and man.
DOES THE BIBLE CONTRADICT ITSELF ABOUT GOD?
Let's take a look at three apparent contradictions about God that have been the source of so much disagreement and confusion.
WE SHOULD FEAR GOD
1. When people in the Bible came face to face with God, they reacted with fear. They either hid their faces, cried out in terror, or lost their strength and fell to the ground (Exodus 3:2-6; 1 Kings 19:13; Isaiah 6:5; Ezekiel 1:26-2:2; Revelation 1:17).
2. God is said to approve of such trembling - not only in response to Himself but also in response to His Word (Isaiah 66:1,2).
3. "Fear and trembling" is said by Paul to be an essential characteristic of the Christian life (Philippians 2:12).
4. Such an attitude seems to be appropriate in light of the fact that God reserves the right to take away the health or even the life of a sinning Christian (Acts 5:1-11; 1 Corinthians 11:27-30; Hebrews 12:3-11).
5. The Bible says that a Christian who does not take the Lord seriously enough will suffer loss in the life to come (1 Corinthians 3:11-17; 2 Corinthians 5:9-11; 1 John 2:28).
WE SHOULD NOT FEAR GOD
1. God told people who were afraid of Him not to fear (Exodus 20:18-21; 1 Samuel 12:20; Revelation 1:17).
2. Paul told Timothy that God has not given us the spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7), and John wrote that the perfect love from God casts out fear (1 John 4:18).
3. The author of Hebrews encouraged Christians to come boldly to God for His help, even though it's undeserved (Hebrews 10:19-22).
4. The Bible gives us encouragement to run to God, not away from Him (James 4:8).
How can both be true? Is this double-talk? Test the following explanation: (a) When all passages are considered, it is apparent that both are true. (b) We should always be afraid of resisting or rebelling against God. (c) However, we should never be afraid of coming to Him on His terms and by His invitation. (d) The right kind of fear will drive us to the Lord, not away from Him. (e) Should God choose to reveal His power and glory to us, we can expect to find ourselves trembling on our faces before Him. (f) Paul's words to Timothy refer to the fact that we are not to fear men. (g) John is speaking of "perfect" (complete or mature) love, which characterizes those who are drawing near to the Lord rather than running from Him.
GOD IS IN CONTROL
1. God showed an important king that He, the Lord, was in control of everyone and everything (Daniel 4:28-37).
2. God appoints the rulers of the world and uses them to carry out His purposes (Romans 13:1-7).
3. Sometimes even Satan acknowledges that God is in charge (Job 1).
SATAN IS IN CONTROL
1. Satan offered to give Christ "all the kingdoms of the world" if He would worship him (Matthew 4:8,9), indicating that Satan thought he was in control of those kingdoms (Luke 4:5-7).
2. Paul called Satan "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4).
3. John said that "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19).
4. The kind of evil that afflicts the world is said to originate from Satan, not the Lord (2 Corinthians 12:7).
Are these two sides contradictory? Can you see a way of joining them in contrasting balance? The answer is that (a) both are true. (b) Satan and his forces possess enormous influence over the world and even over the circumstances of the people of God. (c) Satan never has God's approval, yet he does nothing without God's permission. If Satan breathes, he takes a breath only as God allows. If Satan carries out his evil strategy, it is only because the Lord has a good reason for allowing him to do so.
While most of God's reasons for doing this are beyond our understanding, He has told us as much as we need to know to put Satan's presence to work for us. How can we do that? We can use the existence of "the god of this age" to show our allegiance to the one and true God. We can let the apparent "rule" of evil give us occasion to show our trust in the Lord. We can let the turmoil of Satan's rebellion give us reason to show our hope in the One who will eventually bring Satan and his forces to submission and destruction. We can let his evil rule give us reason to love others in the way God has loved us.
Here we have another apparent contradiction that has generated endless controversy.
JESUS CHRIST WAS EQUAL WITH THE FATHER
1. His claim to equality with the Father was so clear that the religious leaders wanted to stone Him for blasphemy (John 5:18; 10:30-39).
2. He referred to Himself as the "I Am," an Old Testament name for the "self-existent, eternal God." This self-reference once again caused His listeners to want to put an end to Him right then and there (John 8:58,59).
3. John called Him God (John 1:1).
4. He is called Creator of all things (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:10).
5. The Old Testament foresaw a coming Messiah who would be called "Everlasting Father" (Isaiah 9:6).
CHRIST WAS LESS THAN THE FATHER
1. Jesus Himself declared that His Father was greater than He (John 14:28).
2. Paul described God as being the "head of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:3).
3. Christ said that He could do nothing by Himself, thereby showing His dependence upon the Father (John 5:30).
4. Christ said that He alone had the right to judge men because that role was given to Him by the Father (John 5:22,23).
5. Christ said that He didn't know the day nor the hour of His return but that only the Father knew (Matthew 24:36).
So how can we make sense of these apparently contradictory positions? Again the solution lies in the awareness that (a) both are true. (b) As God, Christ was equal to the Father in His eternal essence and character. (c) However, when He left heaven on His mission of mercy, He temporarily laid aside His rights and honor in order to become the God-man. To become one of us, He left His glory behind and accepted a role of total dependence upon His Father. So fully did He identify with us that He actually depended on the Holy Spirit when He did His miracles (Matthew 12:28). (d) Although He has once again been restored to honor and glory, His role as the God-man is not over. While being equal with God in essence, He still has accepted a subordinate role in order to carry out the eternal plan (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).
Such a contrast might be difficult to comprehend. In fact, no one is able to understand how God became a man while still remaining God. But it is essential that we acquaint ourselves with both sides of such issues. If we don't have a balanced view of God, we will be vulnerable to mistakes and deception. Innumerable errors are made by those who see part of the truth and assume they know all that the Bible says on the subject.
THINKING IT OVER
1. How do you show a proper fear of the Lord?
2. In what ways should you not be afraid of God?
3. Why do we tend to be afraid when we shouldn't be afraid, yet we do not fear God when we should?
4. How should you view the existence of trouble in your life? Can you tell whether it has come from Satan or from the Lord? In what four ways can you put that trouble to work for you?
5. What would you say to a cult member who points your attention to those parts of Scripture that show Christ to be less than God?
