How to Approach Bible Difficulties

Why would anyone give much credit to an ancient book that is filled with errors and contradictions? Some are thoroughly convinced the Bible is not that reliable. However back in 1930, a man by the name of Paul Rader was so convinced that the Bible was so reliable in the areas of astronomy, history, physics, geology, chemistry, archaeology, ethnology, etc. that he offered one thousand dollars to anyone who could find a single time the Bible contradicted one of the facts known in one of these fields of study. No one ever claimed the prize.

The Bible claims for itself Verbal Plenary Inspiration. Verbal inspiration means that every word of Scripture is God-given. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim. 3:16). Plenary means that “all parts” of the Bible are divinely authoritative. “The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever” (Ps. 119:160).  This claim is in total contrast with the belief the Bible is filled with errors. What are we to believe? Consider the following rules for examining validity of a Bible’s content and claims.

Give the Bible the Benefit of the Doubt

First, do not begin with a prejudiced mind against the Bible. Those who start off with the firm belief the Bible is filled with errors are bound to find them wherever they look. This approach is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The assumption is being made that God is lying. The Bible is written by “God, who cannot lie” (Tit. 1:2). And it is being examined by man who consistently lies. “Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). Most of us would give an author the benefit of the doubt and investigate the content and claims of his book. Does not honesty demand the same for God? We even give the accused criminal the assumption of innocence until proven guilty.

If a student of the Bible will begin with the idea of giving God the benefit of the doubt, he would not assume an error or apparent contradiction without investigation. Too many readers are quick to jump to conclusions (and even convulsions) when they come across an apparent Bible contradiction. Those who are content to hold to this attitude will not look for a solution. With even a little imagination one can come up with some plausible explanations. This is the precept of showing charity to the writer.

Many of those who have made a study of the historical accuracy of the Bible have come to the conclusion that the Bible is the most accurate historical record of ancient history available. An international panel of thirty-four scholars concluded in a 1987 study titled The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: “It is fair to say that all the alleged inconsistencies among the Gospels have received at least plausible solutions.” This should encourage us to have a wait-and-see approach to the so-called historical and archaeological “errors.” If God is God, and He is. If He wrote the Bible, and He did. Why assume God is automatically in error? God’s Word is all knowing and eternal. He was there through all of history. Mankind is constantly discovering that God knows more than we do. This is not to say we blindly accept everything. But it does call upon man to give the Bible a chance to correct our possible misunderstandings or a chance at a possible harmonization of our view with that of the Scriptures.

Never Assume Human Views Are Correct

Why is it that when the Bible is found to contradict what is believed by human “experts” that the Bible is automatically wrong. For example, a pagan account of an event is assumed to be the correct account whereas the Bible is in error. Critics making this assumption are following their blind prejudices and not following the rules of evidence. Many archaeologists have held the Bible as an archaeological document of the highest caliber.

It is true that sometimes an ancient source clearly contradicts a Biblical one. Josephus, who places the revolutionary Theudas before the revolutionary Judas the Galilean. Luke claims, “for some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing” (Acts 5:36). Josephus dates a Theudus in AD 65, a full decade after Gamaliel speaks in the book of Acts. So, Luke must be wrong, and Josephus must be correct? However, it could be the other way around giving the historical trustworthiness of Luke and contrast to that of Josephus. Furthermore, Luke could have been referring to a different “Theudus”

The Assyrian King Sennacherib boasted on the Taylor Prism (which is a cuneiform written before 681 B.C.):

“As for Hezekiah, the Judean who did not submit to my yoke, I surrounded and conquered 46 of his strong-walled towns and innumerable small settlements around them by means of earth ramps and siege engines and attack by infantry men…He himself I shut up in Jerusalem, His royal city, like a bird in a cage.” His siege of Jerusalem is well-known historically. However, the Bible claims the siege was ended by a divine, catastrophic destruction of the Assyrian army thus lifting the siege. “And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the LORD went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead” (2 Kings 19:35).

It is well acknowledged that ancient kings (like some modern leaders) would use a form of propaganda and use revisioning of a historical event to boast their image and overlook some embarrassing failure. Sennacherib did not claim to take the city of Jerusalem, but only to besiege it. The other important known fact is the while King Sennacherib was besieging Jerusalem (701 BC), his army suffered catastrophic loss. The Greek historian Herodotus (484-425 BC) put his own political spin of the event many years later.

Remember Difficulties Do Not Equal Contradictions

It may be a surprise to some that the Bible readily admits to difficulties. Peter wrote concerning Paul “as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures” (2 Pet. 3:16). Daniel fasted for three weeks because of the complexity of his visions (Dan.10:2,3). However, difficult does not mean the same thing as an error or contradiction. God has an infinite mind and our finite or limited mental abilities will struggle at times to grasp things written in the Bible. Jesus recognized the difficult with His own disciples who often found His statements contradictory. However, this was due to their preconceived ideas about the coming Messiah and taking everything so literal they missed the spiritual message. When coming up against a hard-to-understand passage or apparent contradiction one should proceed with caution not assumptions.

There is a distinction between a difference and a contradiction. Difficult passages of the Bible call for greater effort at investigation. Many of these are easily understood with a little bit of diligence.

The lazy man’s approach to these difficulties is to claim an error on the part of the Bible and/or just given up looking for an answer. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). The term “study” means to give diligence. This means to work hard an understanding.  Start by thinking the assumed error as an alleged contradiction or difficulty. Next, the student should diligently put the difficulty into his own words. List possible plausible explanations for the perceived error in the Bible. The simplest answer is sometimes the best solution to making sense of the difficulty. Remember, hard work often pays off.

For example, Matthew claims that a particular prophecy is to be attributed to Jeremiah. “Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me” (Matthew 27:9,10). However, an apparent contradiction arises when one compares this with Zechariah 11:12-13: “Then I said to them, “If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”–that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.” Doesn’t Matthew make a mistake by attributing a prophecy to Jeremiah when it actually was given by Zechariah?

There are two possible solutions to this difficulty. First, the Talmud places Jeremiah first among the list of prophetic books which includes Zechariah. Matthew is quoting from the Collection of the books of the prophets which contains this prophecy of Zechariah. The same thing is done in Luke 24:44 where Psalms is used when the entire third division of the Hebrew canon is in mind. Second, is it possible that Matthew is taking parts of two prophecies and focusing upon the major prophet (Jeremiah) as opposed to the lesser (Zechariah)? Jeremiah 32:5-8 mentions the field in his prophecy whereas Zechariah says nothing about it. Keep in mind that the potter’s field was located in the valley of Hinnom or “valley of slaughter”.

Consider the Context

A vast majority of supposed errors and alleged contradictions are caused by taking verses out of context. The word “context” means “to weave together.” So, a good Bible student will pay close attention to the context. Every word in the Bible is part of a sentence, every sentence is part of a paragraph, every paragraph is part of a book, and every book is part of the whole of Scripture. It is best to let scripture interpret scripture. When dealing with an alleged error first look at the context of the verse itself from there move on to how it fits into the meaning of the paragraph, then chapter, next the book of the Bible, and finally the Bible as a whole.

Additionally, when approaching a difficult subject consider what the whole Bible teaches before coming to a conclusion. Some claim that John 3:16 teaches “faith only” salvation. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). However, the verse does not say “faith only”. There is only one verse in the Bible which mentions “faith only”, James 2:24. It casts a whole different light on the subject.

It is true that “one can prove anything by the Bible” but only if they are willing to ignore the context or to pull things out of their proper context. “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2:24). The same approached should be used in regard to difficulties related to the teachings about “baptism”, “grace” and the “love of God.”

A very important question to ask when faced with a Bible difficulty is to ask the immediate context: “what is being represented here?” In the allegory of the Vine and the branches it has been claimed that the passage teaches the branches are various denominations, such as, the Baptist, Methodist, Catholic churches. These are attached to Jesus who is the Vine. However, while reading the passage take notice of what Jesus says the branches represent.

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (Jn. 15:1-8).

Jesus plainly teaches that a branch is a man in verse six. Jesus is teaching that his individual disciples are represented by the term “branches” and these men must remain attached to Jesus and abide in his word if they are going to bear fruit. He is not teaching that one denomination is a “branch” of the church and thus all denominations (branches) are pleasing to God.

Another important question to ask is: “Who is speaking?” Someone might claim that the Bible promotes atheism. Psalm 14:1 reads “There is no God.” However with the phrase in context, they will discover that it is the fool who makes the claim. “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.”

Identify the Correct Genre

Another mistake some make in their approach to investigating Bible difficulties is a failure to distinguish genres of literature. The Bible is made of several genres are types of literature.

  • There is the Historical Narrative/Epic genre including: Genesis and the first half of Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Jonah, and possibly Acts.
  • Parts of the Pentateuch are Law: especially the last half of Exodus; also, Leviticus, Deuteronomy.
  • The Wisdom literature of the Bible include such books as Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.
  • Poetry sections of the Bible include Psalms, Song of Solomon, and Lamentations.
  • One of the largest sections of the Bible is Prophecy: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
  • Only a few books fit the genre of Apocalyptic literature: most of Revelation, the last six chapters of Daniel, and parts of Ezekiel and Zechariah.
  • The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, are considered the Gospels.
  • A major genre of the New Testament are the Epistles or letters: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, and Jude.

Almost forty percent of the Bible is made up of poetry. Hebrew poetry is not composed of rhyme as is our English poetry but the use of parallelism and various figures of speech. Psalm 58:3 reads, “The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.” Is this verse teaching that unbelievers actually begin lying before they are born? The language is hyperbolic. It is an exaggeration to make a point. Man is so corrupt it would seem they are born liars.
The Psalms also refers to God as having “arms” or “feet”. This is an anthropomorphism where a thing, animal or thing is given human-like attributes. Recognition of these metaphors can be of great help. Failure to interpret them according to their correct genre or figure of speech has resulted in some outrageous interpretations.

Consult Bible References

It is sometimes necessary to go outside the context of the Bible and research reference works to gain a better understanding of certain words and historical settings and customs. This may include original languages, culture, and sentence structure. We have a western mind-set making it difficult to understand middle eastern culture, such as, Jewish marriage rites, burial rites, family practices, farm practices, business practices, the monetary system, methods of warfare, slavery, the treatment of captives, and religious practices.

Apparently, some difficult passages require that help of someone else who is more knowledgeable. Philip asked the Ethiopian treasurer if he understood what he was reading in the prophecy of Isaiah. The Ethiopian said, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” So, Philip sat with him and explained everything to him (Acts 8:27-31).

  • Sometimes we need secular books to aid our studies (2 Tim. 4:13). Many of these can be found FREE on-line such as the Blue Letter Bible or Studylight.com.
  • There is also available for purchase Bible Computer Software, such as, Logos.
  • It is often of great benefit to consult more than one translation.  While reading the archaic language of the King James Version, one can find clarity by reading the same account in the English Standard Version.
  • Online Bible concordances are helpful.
  • Looking up places and things found in the Bible in a Bible dictionary or encyclopedia and give background information.
  • There are commentaries by scholars.
  • Timelines of historical events are helpful.
  • Bible Handbooks and various introductions to the books of the Bible can assist.
  • Hebrew and Greek terms can be better understood by word studies and lexicons.

Some scientists have claimed that the wings of a bumble bee are not sufficient to support the insect in flight. However, they fly and do it quite well. This difficulty does not keep them from investigating to find a scientific explanation. When faced with a Bible difficulty we need to begin with an open-mind and believe that it is possible that an adequate explanation exists and begin to search for it. This is a far more honest approach than to just assume the Bible must be wrong.

– Daniel R. Vess

 

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