This essay, drawn from the investigating the bible email newsletter, addresses a tough question about the bibles reliability. Study of genesisgospel, word, truth, seed, doctrine. In fairness to those who believe in the bible, i make no assumptions that any of these contradictions are true. Its no different from any other human book with the usual errors and mistakes. Archer, alleged errors and discrepancies in the original manuscripts of the bible, in inerrancy, edited by norman geisler, zondervan, 1980. Do not be surprised, dear reader, by the size and profuse number of alleged contradictions here. Difficulties in the bible alleged errors and contradictions by r. Alleged discrepancies of the bible baker book house, reprinted 1977, originally 1874. Keep in mind, however, that what constitutes a valid problem is to some extent a matter of opinion.
Alleged discrepancies in the bible page 3 of 4 what do. Bible contradictions a barrier for many skeptics bible contradictions the alleged inaccuracies and errors that fill todays bible translations are a major intellectual barrier for many skeptics. Critics know well alleged discrepancies in their efforts to discredit the bible. All of the present copies of the hebrew text we have today are in remarkable agreement with this text. The earliest and most complete copy of the entire hebrew old testament dates from around 900 a. Alleged discrepancies of the bible ebook by john haley. As for justification, sin and substitutionary atonement are the subject of the entirety of the bible. The contradictions between the book of mormon and the bible constitute a most serious obstacle to accepting the book of mormon as latterday scripture supplemental to the bible.
This table compares various verses in the kjv, niv, nasb, and nwt. Discrepancies, biblical definition and meaning bible dictionary. You will find below the index to the contradictions but first i want to discuss some possible objections as to how the contradictions are being resolved. Among them are 400,000 variants of differences, while there are only 9,000 words in the nt. Of course the orthodox sought to repel all these claims. The new testament confirms the apocalypse revelation in greek of peter which claims that jesus never died on the cross. Bible difficulties, or apparent bible contradictions, exist. An examination of the alleged discrepancies of the bible by haley, john william, 1834. This table is a very small sampling of contradictory verses, not an exhaustive one. The opponents of christianity often use them in their attempts to discredit christianity. The four gospels present us with different emphases in the way that they present the life of christ.
Many times skeptics will present a list of socall contradictions such as whether god repents, the time of jesus death, and when peter denied him. Bible contradictions the alleged inaccuracies and errors that fill todays bible translations are a major intellectual barrier for many skeptics. Self contradictions of the bible william henry burr format. The answer to 70 apparent contradictions in the king james bible. Bible critics love the niv here because they claim christ to be a sinner due to his anger in overthrowing the money changers tables john 2. When people criticize the bible, they often point to contradictions. This list is about 10 of the most interesting books not included in the new testament. In a general introduction to the bible, geisler and nix write, the bible is written for the common men of every generation, and it therefore uses their common. Introduction to bible difficulties and bible contradictions.
A few years ago, computer science whiz chris harrison created a beautiful visualization linking up every cross reference in the bible. In that count how many fighting men were found in israel. The koran and the bible compared eternal productions. Dealing fairly with alleged bible contradictions part i. Number discrepancies in old testament history gospel way.
Study, on alleged discrepancies of the bible, in the. If the bible is inspired word for word, as you assert, how do you explain errors and contradictions found in the bible. Sep 11, 2015 how can there be discrepancies in the bible. Christian scholars recognize contradictions in the bible. God creates light and separates light from darkness, and day. Bruce metzger wrote that the nt is 95% reliable when compared to the original manuscript of the new testament. But the list of 27 books we know today as the new testament came together gradually through a series councils and general usage until the 27 books became the standard for most of christianity. An examination of the alleged discrepancies of the bible by haley, john william, 1834publication date 1874 topics bible, evidences, authority. The reference codes that i use refer to the page numbers of haleys book, not the page numbers of the pdf. Either the bible is right, no matter how apparent the contradiction, or the bible is wrong. Alleged discrepancies of the bible is essential for your personal library because it. The entire bible is rife with historical errors, its hard to just name a few major ones in such a short space. The answer to answering islam on bible contradictions.
Who incited david to count the fighting men of israel. The lost books of the bible contain the same aerial anomalies, beings and people flying up into the sky, and enigmatic events as the king james bible. Does the bible contain errors, contradictions, or discrepancies. See, for example, haley, alleged discrepancies of the bible, p.
Alleged biblical contradictions in spite of all the bible s claim, and the innumerable evidences, of its divine inspiration, skeptics still continue to reject the bible as the authoritative word of god. Apologists have many criticisms about identifying contradictions, and in many cases they go out of their way to add things to the bible in order to explain them away. You stated that there are almost 6,000 greek nt manuscript around 5778 copies. Page 119 if there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them. Bible contradictions answered biblical errors mistakes. Haleys an examination of the alleged discrepancies of the bible. Apr 24, 2012 is it true that the bible contradicts itself. No, that is a pithy statement that is not only meaningless and unsubstantiated, but it is demonstrably incorrect. These books can take me from 2 to 10 hours to create. I am also going to show you that it is not unique to origen, the author of this marvelous, insightful discussion on bible contradictions and literal bible interpretation. His explanation, which i am about to give you, is full, logical and powerful. In alleged discrepancies of the bible, john haley directly addresses questions surrounding common misunderstandings of scripture.
What should we make of the discrepancies found in the bible. The trio of bible students, miss rysen, fred leges and george argent came to the pastors study for a fifth meeting, to get explanation of still further alleged bible discrepancies. With 6 billion people on this planet, we need to disobey god on this one. The differences in quotations from the old testament in. The alleged time discrepancies in the bible depends largely on who is doing the computing and what method they are using, was a particular writer writing from the perspective of a civil year or a sacred year, or depending on the circumstances and ones. Does the church produce the bible or does the bible produce the church. Oct 22, 2012 if god wrote the bible for our benefit, why are there so many discrepancies within it. The reference codes that i use refer to the page numbers of haleys book. In the mind of the critic, a discrepancy is all the evidence needed to deny the inspiration of the bible.
What follows is a reply to a list of 143 purported bible contradictions, along with a suggestion for more contradictions not found in this list. Of course, if the bible does contain inaccuracies, it. Contradictions in the bible identified verse by verse. Haleys book, an examination of the alleged discrepancies of the bible. Here, lenny responds to several objecions and shows why the approach of these skeptics fails. Its remarkable how many critics refer to their list of contradictions when they reject the bible, but have never read the bible itself. Number discrepancies in old testament history the bible is often attacked by critics, especially regarding books of old testament history, because of obvious discrepancies between numbers given in some bible accounts as compared to parallel passages in other accounts. If we read the bible at face value, without a preconceived bias for finding errors, we will find it to be a coherent, consistent, and relatively easytounderstand book. A plethora of books and web sites dedicated to trumpeting bible contradictions have been published in recent years. Whatever may be the real underlying reasons for this attitude, the expressed excuses often center on the socalled contradictions of the bible.
Some apparent discrepancies can be resolved, and the resolution gives us added riches. H, 339 or, t he midianites sold joseph to the ishmeelites potiphar. Alleged discrepancies of the bible by john haley nook book. Bible contradictions answered biblical errors mistakes difficulties discrepancies countered. How can you base your faith in a book with discrepancies. Why does the bible contradict itself by saying in one place that god is the judge of all. The complaints many of us, who wholeheartedly support the king james bible kjb, continue to read or hear comments or complaints that there are many to mistakes or errors in the kjb. Various contradictions and omissions in bible translations. See also a complete harmony of the four gospels see also. Sometimes these attacks undermine the faith of christians who either dont understand the issues or dont have the resources to deal. It is alleged that the bible writers made numerous mistakes in their writings, often contradicting either what another biblical penmen wrote or some known historical, geographical, or scientific fact. Bible contradictions explained come reason ministries.
Alleged discrepancies in the bible what do the scriptures say. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Alleged discrepancies of the bible international college of the bible. Top 20 most damning bible contradictions bob seidensticker. In one place the bible says no man shall see me and live and yet jacob said that he saw the face of god. Explains questionable passages helps answer skeptics questions contains. Torrey contents chapter introduction 1 a general statement of the case 2 classes of difficulties 3 how shall we deal with the difficulties of the bible. Nor think that this amount proves that the bible needs defending and twisting. While some passages might seem to show the bible contradicting itself, they can usually be understood correctly by applying one or more of the following principles. Please n ote that the page numbers of the pdf file differ from the page numbers of haleys book. Aug 12, 2010 unless otherwise stated, bible passages quoted in this chapter are from the new king james version nkjv. The truth is that there are no errors in the bible, only difficulties, but the sad reality is that many christians are not always ready to give an answer, and therefore they are not ready to refute critics. This book is essential for your personal library because it explains questionable passages, helps answer skeptics questions, and contains valuable resource material.
Over against such a body of presuppositions, criticism, some generations later, began to allege certain errors and discrepancies in the bible. A list of over 700 inconsistencies in the bible umd department of. Given to changegod has spoken, but gods authority from the. You may disagree that these are, in fact, genuine biblical problems, but it is the authors opinion that a perfect and omnipotent god. God did not introduce our modern technological or cultural considerations into the minds of the bibles authors. This writer begins with two presuppositions 1 god exists 2 god reveals. These lists are meant to identify possible problems in the bible, especially those that are inherent in a literalist or fundamentalist interpretation. Why did this young christians faith crumble so easily. The term omitted is used when either the phrase or the verse in question is omitted. Contradictions between the book of mormon and the bible. So, for example, if a verse in the new testament referred back to a verse in the old testament, there was an arc drawn between the two chapters they were in the vertical lines at the bottom represent the number of verses in that chapter.
Jan 21, 2009 if there were discrepancies, the copy was destroyed. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything mark 4. Skeptics often charge that the bibles historical books hopelessly contradict each other. Contradictions in the new testament that have no good answer. The whole book is gods message for man, and no part of the bible is useless. Overview stories the whole bible in 10 stories, 20 stories, 30 stories, and 40 stories. Supposed contradictions in gods word are widely advertised by mormons, muslims, modernists, bible skeptics and atheists in an attempt to trash the bible as gods word. An incredible interactive chart of biblical contradictions. Contradictions, absurdities, and more kindle edition by conner, jonah david. I propose that such alleged discrepancies in the numbers reported in the bible can be resolved with diligent study and illumination by the holy spirit. This edition was created and published by global grey globalgrey 2018.
Global grey free pdf, epub, kindle ebook pages pdf. This book was in turn replying to the 144 biblical contradictions found in the following book and many of these same ones are answered below. The book of mormon teaches that little children are not capable of sin because they do not have a. Encyclopedia of alleged bible contradictions answered and. For example, one book says judas hung himself, another that he fell in a field and split open. Selfcontradictions of the bible, free ebook global grey.
Self contradictions of the bible by william henry burr. Other translations are indicated by standard letters, such as kjv king james version, niv new international version, and tyndale william tyndales translation. Literal bible interpretation and bible contradictions. Last week, around 30,000 people downloaded books from my site 8 people gave donations. About 90% of these are due to a not so great ability to read. This booklet is a response to the pamphlet 6 bible contradictions printed by crusade publications of redmond, washington. Audio audio download options are there contradictions in the bible. If the bible is inspired word for word, as you assert, how do you explain errors and. Matthew emphasizes that jesus is the king of the jews.
Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading all thats wrong with the bible. God has revealed himself and his truth through his creation general revelation and through his writing, in the written word of god, the bible. Some critics of the bible say there are discrepancies in the numbers found in the bible, therefore the bible is unreliable and not accurate. For almost 55 years, we have fought to protect the absolute separation of religion from government and elevate atheists and atheism in our nations public and political discourse. Identified verse by verse and explained using the most uptodate scholarly information about the bible, its texts, and the men who wrote them by dr.
There are some parts of the bible which are more difficult than others. The truth is that there are no errors in the bible, only. Other false contradictions 1 here is another popular contradiction found in the lists of many skeptics. It all began with his in ability to handle the factual discrepancies thathisnewlyfoundfriendshadconvinced. It must be entirely pure just like it says, regardless of any frightening and frustrating discrepancies, even between number figures. An examination of the alleged discrepancies of the bible.