Back to: God’s Answers to Questions (Full)
Does the Bible Have Mistakes in It?
There are some who claim that the Bible has errors, but when asked to show us them, they become very embarrassed because they cannot. In fact, most who believe this have never picked up a Bible and read it! There are some critics of the Bible that thought they have discovered contradictions. But when challenged with their observation, we simply see their error. We are about to see a few of them. As we view them, how would you explain to them that these are NOT contradictions at all?
What was created first, the animals or man? (Genesis 1:25-27 suggests that animals were created before man and Genesis 2:18-19 seem to suggest that man was created before the animals)
Genesis 1 is a CHRONOLOGICAL overview of creation, whereas Genesis 2 provides a more detailed explanation focusing specifically on the creation of humans
(Genesis 22:1) says that God tempted Abraham. (James 1:13) says that God tempts no one
Hebrew word of Genesis is “nacah” – “test” (CONTEXT refers to a trial or proving Abraham’s faith)
Greek word of James is “peirazo” – “entice or tempt” (CONTEXT refers to temptation to sin)
God does not tempt anyone to do evil but He does test people to strengthen and reveal their faith (Hebrews 11:17-19) (Hebrews 11 is “The Great Faith Chapter”)
Is salvation by faith alone or by faith plus works? (Ephesians 2:8-9) (James 2:24)
Salvation is by faith alone, but it is to be a faith that is genuine which will show by good works. Salvation is not by faith PLUS works, but rather by faith THAT works.
(Mathew 27:5) says Judas went and hanged himself. (Acts 1:18) says Judas fell headlong and burst opened.
Matthew focusses on Judas’s suicide while it leaves out all the details of the aftermath. It is possible Judas hanged himself and the rope later broke or his decomposed body caused such results. The two descriptions reflect different aspects of the same event and are not a contradiction.
(John 19:17) says that it was Jesus that carried His cross. (Matthew 27:32) says that Simon carried Jesus’ cross.
Jesus began to carry His cross and later, Simon wound up carrying it.
How many men did David’s captains kill? (2 Samuel 23:8) says 800, but (1 Chronicles 11:11) says 300.
(2 Samuel 23:8), These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-Basshebeth the Tachmonite, chief among the captains. He was called Adino the Eznite, because he had killed eight hundred men at one time.
(1 Chronicles 11:11), And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam the son of a Hachmonite, chief of the captains; he had lifted up his spear against three hundred, killed by him at one time.
Eight hundred total, but three hundred by his spear
OR – These could be two different events
Is Timna the name of a man or a woman?
(Genesis 36:12), Now Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz
((1 Chronicles 1:36), And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, and Kenaz; and by Timna, Amalek.
How can the Bible say that Timna is a name for a woman in one verse, and then say it is a man in another verse?
Men and women’s name are spelled the same (Jamie, Bobby, Marion, Francis, Mickey)
Is Bashemath the daughter of Ishmael or Elon the Hittite?
(Genesis 36:2-3) Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite; Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth.
(Genesis 26:34) When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
With five wives, why is it that anyone would think that two out of the five could not have the same first name
Judith of Beeri
Bashemath of Elon
Adah of Elon
Aholibamah of Anah
Bashemath of Ishmael
The “terrible problem” here is, in one passage we have “Canaanite” (indicating a man), and in another, the “Canaanitess” (indicating a woman).
(Genesis 38:2), And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shuah, and he married her and went in to her.
(1 Chronicle 2:3), The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him by the daughter of Shua, the Canaanitess….
One explanation – Shuah is the father and Shua is the mother (Like Tony and Toni or Jack Kenedy and Jackie Kenedy or Bob and Bobby)
Also, the “Canaanites” could refer to “the daughter” – which she was
How many died – 24,000 or 23,000?
(Numbers 25:9), And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.
(1 Corinthians 10:8), Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell;
23,000 died “in one day”.
24,000 in total, died of the plaque.
During the time of the fall of Jericho (which most commentaries say was about 4 acres in size), it is claimed that the total population of the Israelites was around 2,000,000. This many Israelites marching around the city seven times would have taken at least three days, and the tail column would have overlapped the leaders by at least 2 miles.
(Joshua 6:1-3, Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days.
Answer: It was ONLY “all you men of war”
About 40.000 (Joshua 4:13)
(Job 12:6), The tents of robbers prosper, And those who provoke God are secure– In what God provides by His hand.
The problem is, how could God bless robbers and prosper them?
Answer: He does not. Job is just miserable and mad. When a man gets mad at God, he is able to say a lot of things he doesn’t mean and wouldn’t have said if he stayed tunned to God.
(Matthew 27:9), Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced,
The “problem” is, we find this verse in Zechariah 11:12-13.
Answer: Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, made this statement that Jeremiah did speak this prophecy during his time. Even though it is not recorded in the book of Jeremiah, the Holy Spirit knew, and thus making the statement in Matthew true. For example, in Matthew 2:23 it says, “And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” But there is no Old Testament passage that says Jesus will be called a Nazarene.
Another possibility could be found in the structure of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew Bible is divided into three sections called the Law, Writings, and Prophets. Jesus refers to these divisions in Luke 24:44. The collection of the Prophets began with the book of Jeremiah. The scrolls were sometimes referred to by the name of the first book, which in the case of the Prophets would be Jeremiah. So, when Matthew says that “Jeremiah says,” he means that the prophecy was found in the “Jeremiah Scroll.”
Did the men that were with Saul (Paul) hear, or not hear the voice of God?
(Acts 9:7), And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.
(Acts 22:9), And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.
For your answer, see John 12:28-29).
Answer: You can hear A VOICE without hearing THE VOICE
The Bible stands as a solid mountain, unmovable. Those who have tried to prove that the Bible has errors, have come and gone, and God’s Word, the Holy Bible, is still here!
Psalm 12:6 says; “The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”
Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”