Apparent Contradictions in the Bible - Part 1

The statement is indeed true. There are ”apparent” contradictions in the Bible; but these apparent contradictions are “genuine” as far skeptics and critics are concerned. That is why they do not trust the 

Bible. If there are indeed contradictions in the Bible, then we have to conclude God is not the author and we as Christians are without hope; we have believed a lie because man would be its author and that would make the whole document flawed because man is flawed due to sin.

While the writer has not discovered every alleged contradictory scripture reference, we will examine a couple to see if the critics have a leg to stand on.                                                                    

           

Apparent contradiction #1 – The skeptic says, “In James 1:13 it says that God cannot be tempted with evil, but you Christians who claim Jesus is God was tempted in all points according to Hebrews 4:15.  These two verses contradict one another. For one says God cannot be tempted, and the other says He was.”

In Mark 1:12 the Bible says after Jesus was baptized the Spirit drove (italics mine) Him into the wilderness for forty days to be tempted by the devil. This verse does appear to contradict James 1:13 but it does not. Keep in mind when Jesus was attempted by the devil He was tempted in His humanity not in His deity for God cannot be tempted with evil, but Jesus the man can and was tempted; not just by the devil, but also by the religious leaders who wanted to have him killed (Matthew 22:17-18).

Hebrews 4:15 along with Mark 1:12 prove that Jesus was fully human for had He been only spirit He could not have been tempted at all.

These two verses do not contradict one another; rather they complement each other.

Apparent contradiction #2 – The critic says, “In Matthew 5:44 Jesus commands that we love our enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to those who hate you and spitefully use you and persecute you. But, in Luke 19:27 Jesus (the skeptic and critic say) is commanding that his enemies be brought before Him so that he can kill them. The skeptic says this is a clear contradiction which is why they cannot trust the Bible. Jesus in one verse is commanding us to love, and in another verse He is advocating murder.”

So, what is going on between these two verses?

In order to clear up this apparent problem, we have to go back to verse 11 in Luke 19. The whole account reads: ¹¹ Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, and because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. ¹² Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. ¹³ So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ ¹⁴ But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’

¹⁵ “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. ¹⁶ Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’¹⁷ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’ ¹⁸ And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’¹⁹ Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’

²⁰ “Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. ²¹ For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow’ ²² And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. ²³ Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’

²⁴ “And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’ ²⁵ (But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’) ²⁶ ‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ²⁷ But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’”

Jesus was not commanding His disciples to gather His enemies together to kill them. Jesus was giving a parable of nobleman who gave money to his servants to conduct business while he went away on a journey. Jesus mentioning of slaughtering of enemies in the parable was in reference to the nobleman’s enemies who did not want him to rule over them because they hated him. Once the nobleman returned to settle accounts with his servants, he subsequently commanded his servants to kill those rebel citizens.

Those skeptics and critics who insist that Matthew 5:44 and Luke 19:27 contradict one another did a terrible job by isolating this verse in Luke instead of reading the entire context starting with verse 11. Jesus is teaching a parable of the TEN MINAS. He is not advocating murder or hate.

This display of poor scholarship, the mishandling of God’s word is what causes a lot of these mistakes to occur. Isolating one verse severing it from the verses preceding and succeeding it does violence to the text of scripture. When people mishandle God’s word by isolating verses, you can make the text say anything you want it to say. Twisting of scripture are for the ignorant and unstable who are headed for destruction according to the apostle Peter (2 Peter 3:16).

It amazes me the lengths that critics and skeptics will go to point out apparent contradictions in scripture. To me it shows their disdain for the word of God and God himself; to search so diligently to attempt to discredit the reliability of divine truth.

There are more apparent contradictions in scripture, but we will cover those in another article or two.