People often dismiss the Bible out of hand by saying that it is full of contradictions. I typically reply with, “Really. Do you know of any? Could you quote me one or two?” Usually, they come up short. What they think is a contradiction is not really a contradiction. Let me illustrate. Let’s say that you and I are across the street at an intersection. A black and a white car have a fender bender inside the intersection. We both saw what happened. The police interview us as witnesses. You tell the police that three people got out of the white car. I tell the police that two people got out of the white car. Is that a contradiction? No, it is not. It is not a contradiction because your statement and my statements are not mutually exclusive. If there were three people in the white car then there are also at least two people in the white car. However, if I were to say that only two people got out of the white car, then it could not also be that three people got out of the white car. Because “only two” means it is restricted to two, no more.  That would be a contradiction. Does that make sense?

Not having an exactly identical statement about an event from two different people does not mean there’s a contradiction. It simply means that there is a different perspective. Sometimes in the Bible, people will leave a comment out, insert a comment, review things from a perspective different from others. This is not a contradiction it simply a difference in perspective. Logically speaking, few people understand what a contradiction is and so they impose them on the Bible when it doesn’t exist.

So let’s say that someone cites what he believes to be a contradiction in the Bible. The first thing is you look at the context of both statements. If you cannot come up with a competent answer, simply tell the person that you will research it and get back to him. And, make sure you do.

There are areas of Scripture that are difficult to understand, but this does not mean that the Bible is “full of contradictions” and certainly doesn’t mean that the Bible is untrustworthy. A very good book to have is the Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties by Gleason Archer, Zondervan Publishing House, (Grand Rapids, Michigan).

Also, CARM has a section on Bible Difficulties