Page 129 - Doctrine and History of the Preservation of the Bible revised

Chapter 17: Supposed Errors in the Bible

Connect…

If you have ever shared your faith with an atheist or agnostic, quite often they will say to you, “The Bible
is full of errors and inconsistencies!” One of the best apologetic approaches is to ask them to show you
one. Most of the time, they will not be able to. But on occasion, you might find one who has done
some study and can articulate a supposed error in the Bible. For example, he might tell you that
Matthew, Luke, and John tell the story of Jesus healing a blind man as he passed through the town of
Jericho. But Mark tells of the healing of Bartimaeus as Jesus was leaving Jericho. They will point out
that the stories are in error with one another.

If someone does come up with some “errors” or contradictions in the Bible, what should you do? First,
we know that the Bible is God’s Word and God does not make mistakes. So, there probably is a simple
explanation to share with your friend. You just must be prepared to answer them. Today we are going
to look at some of the most taunted “errors” that have been suggested and explain how they can be
reconciled. Sound interesting?

Objectives…

1. The student should be able to explain what constitutes a contradiction and how to prove it exists.

2. The student should be able to describe the main contradictions skeptics reference and how to
demonstrate that they are not contradictions

3. The student should be able to list some of the other contradictions that atheists and skeptics declare
with the motivation to resolve them.

The Lesson ...

Are there errors in the Bible?

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 easy-to-understand book. Yes, there are difficult passages. Yes,
there are verses that appear to contradict each other. We must remember that the Bible was written by
approximately 40 different authors over a period of around 1,600 years. Each writer wrote with a
different style, from a different perspective to a different audience, for a different purpose. We should
expect some minor differences. However, a difference is not a contradiction. It is only an error if there is
absolutely no conceivable way the verses or passages can be reconciled. Even if an answer is not
available right now, that does not mean an answer does not exist. Many have found a supposed error in
the Bible in relation to history or geography only to find out that the Bible is correct once further
archaeological evidence is discovered.

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