The Big Questions About the BibleSample

Does the Bible Contradict Itself?

People who believe God inspired the Bible would say, “No, the Bible doesn’t contradict itself.” Meanwhile, people who try to discredit the Christian faith come up with lists of apparent contradictions. That kind of looks like hard evidence to me. So, who’s right?

I have two questions. First, what does a contradiction look like? Because I think many of the apparent inconsistencies people point out in the Bible aren’t contradictions. Second, what would it mean if we were to find a contradiction? I think a contradiction would depend on how you read the Bible.

Let’s look at what a contradiction might look like. You remember the guy named Judas, right? The one who betrayed Jesus. The Bible says two different things about how he died.

In Matthew’s account, it says Judas hung himself, while in Luke’s account in Acts, it says he fell to the ground and burst wide open. Just because Judas’ death is described in two different ways doesn’t mean we have a contradiction here. In the case of what the Bible says about how Judas died, it could be he hung himself, and the rope snapped, and he fell and burst open. Or it could be his attempt at hanging himself didn’t work, so he threw himself from a cliff. Maybe there are other options. A contradiction would be if one account said Judas hung himself, and the other said he didn’t hang himself.

What would it mean if we did find a contradiction?

Remember I said it depended on how you read the Bible? Some people think Christians are all the same, but they’re not. Many Christians see the Bible they hold in their hands as the very words God wanted written. If you were to find a blatant contradiction, not just a difference in perspective, that might be a significant problem for them.

However, many other Christians see the Bible as God’s message to humanity, expressed by inspired people in their own words and terms of their own cultures and circumstances. They can allow for immaterial errors that might have come through, perhaps even in the transmission process of thousands of years.

As for me, I’m not impressed by contradictions. I’m impressed a book written by over 35 people during a time of up to 1,500 years can be so consistent!

My bottom line is that the Bible never contradicts itself in its central message about the love of God for us and its offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

– Eliezer Gonzalez