This is the Evangelist Podcast, and we're looking at some big questions that often crop up when talking to people about issues of faith. This week we're continuing to look at the accuracy of the Bible and particularly Bible contradictions.
SPEAKER_00The Evangelists Podcast from Revival. Find out what's new in telling people the good news about God, the world, and you. With Andy Brinkley and Glenn Scrivener.
SPEAKER_01Welcome back to the Evangelist Podcast. We've been going now about uh twelve, thirteen weeks, and uh we've had over eight thousand downloads. Is that right? Which is good. And uh this week we've gone through all these different questions, big questions that people ask us about issues of faith. And we're gonna look at Bible contradictions. And I was thinking I had a chap that came into the prayer centre here at Revival, uh, a young chap, and uh he said, Oh, you know, you believe in this Bible and it's all full of contradictions and everything. So I said uh well can you can you tell me some contradictions? Good comeback. So he said, uh oh yes, um there's uh where Judas bought a field, it says in one account. Uh and then later on it says that the chief priests bought a field.
SPEAKER_02That's quite detailed knowledge for someone to have, actually.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um I don't think he could tell me the reference. So I don't think I can tell you the reference either. Anyway, we we looked it up and uh said, Well I've got a Bible here, let's let's have a look. And uh we saw that it says in one account that Judas owned a field and the in the other one it says that the scribes or Pharisees had bought a field.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And so I said, Well it's possible, it's quite likely, that they didn't have a right to put their own name down on the field, or who who else's name would they put down? Yeah. Yeah. So they had to put Judas's name down as the one he threw the money into the temple, and they just collected it up and bought a field, put his name down. Yeah. And uh how did how did he respond to that? He sort of said, Oh well, maybe. Yeah. I said, Have you got any other things? He said, Well, I can't think of anything. Yeah. But it sadly it was it was um, you know, he had a very difficult background. Yeah. And uh he had a few bones to pick with the church, I think.
SPEAKER_02Sure. Because that question sort of betrays a lot of knowledge, actually. Yeah of of the Bible and Yeah, and it's clearly not that issue that's that's stopping him come to faith, is it? But it was the presenting issue.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um and yeah, that's that's exactly you know that's exactly what to do, you know. Which which contradictions are you thinking about? And and let's not be afraid of them and let's open up our Bibles and let's show how scripture interprets Scripture.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, even to the point of perhaps saying, Well, I don't know that exactly. Let me you know go and have a look and I'll I'll get back to you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I don't think I'd know how to answer the Judas question off the top of my head, but yeah. Um and that's that's brilliant in all kinds of evangelism, saying, I I don't know, but um let me go and check. And there is an answer, and you know, what you're communicating to the person is is yeah, these things are based in truth. This is truth that needs investigating and sorting through, and and it gives you a great opportunity to start another conversation next time you talk to them as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I don't know if uh anyone's seen it, but there's this thing called the reason. Project reason. Project reason, yeah. Yeah, where uh they've drawn up um a visualization of supposed contradictions in the Bible. Yes.
SPEAKER_02Four hundred and thirty-nine.
SPEAKER_01Four hundred and thirty-nine.
SPEAKER_02Count them. Yeah. Look it up online, it's um there's this massive sort of uh uh file that you can look at. And um you know, it's an it's an impressive looking infographic, and I think in in today's day and age where you can just sort of share it with each other and these sorts of uh infographics go viral and people Ah, there it is, just it's there on my iPhone, it must be true. 439 of them, and of course the uh the way they're represented is sort of that you've got the the books of the Bible along the the what's is the x-axis is the is the one on the left. Yes, the x. That's right. The one on the bottom, anyway. Um you can see I'm more humanities than science. But um so along the along the bottom you've got the the books of the Bible and then the contradictions are sort of represented by sort of hoops that go from um from one verse to another verse. It's kind of almost like a mortar that's being launched from one verse to another.
SPEAKER_01Like the old worms game on the computer. Oh yeah, worms.
SPEAKER_02I remember that. Um but these are bad worms, red worms. Um and of course the thing to do, just just like last week when we were thinking about uh can we trust the Bible in terms of do we have the originals and all that kind of thing? The the the best thing to do is just to go to the best example, the best exponent of the atheist position, the unbelieving position, and look at it. Yeah. Um, you know, we did that last week with Bart Ehrman, and and I think, you know, go to Project Reason and have a look at this thing, these four hundred and thirty-nine contradictions. I mean I was just looking this morning at uh at the top five of them. Number one, how many men did the chief of David's captains kill? Okay, so it's i this is not threatening creedal orthodoxy. Yeah. Um and then there's there's two verses listed, 2 Samuel 23 and 1 Chronicles eleven. And you know, just look em up. Look em up. And in 2 Samuel 23 we'll see that there's a guy that's named uh Josh Bashabeth, who is given one kind of title and he kills uh eight hundred people, and then you go to one chronicles eleven and there's a guy called Jashbeim who's given a different title and he kills three hundred people. I wonder how that contradiction's gonna be solved. You know. You know, number two, was Abraham justified by faith or by works? Yeah. Which is a theological issue that's a deep and rich one, and you know, but but if you're gonna start saying that's a contradiction, then you're gonna start pointing out contradictions in all kinds of literature.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um and that comes down to sort of understanding really of the deeper issues.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly. So like in Romans 4, Abraham is justified by faith, because Paul is talking about Genesis 15, where Abraham is justified by faith alone. And then in James 2, it's talking about Genesis 22, seven chapters later, where Abraham justifies his faith in that it flows into works. You know, he's justified by faith, you know by faith alone, but the faith that justifies is never alone. It always works out in in works. And this is why I say, you know, press into these so-called contradictions, and you actually find a deeper understanding of your own faith. Yeah, of course j Abraham was justified by faith, and his faith led to works. That actually gives you a deep understanding of the Christian faith. Um the project reason. Uh how many sons did Abraham have? Eight. Seriously, eight. But he had them at different times. Different times of reporting how many sons he's had. Uh one of the things they're pointing out there is that um in Hebrews eleven um and in Genesis twenty-two, it makes makes a thing out of take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love. Ah, but he's already got Ishmael. Is that a contradiction? Well, no, it's talking about Isaac is the son of the promise as opposed to Ishmael the son of works and Abraham trying to do it himself. Um and again, press into the contradiction, and and you see that actually what the Bible is trying to communicate is something very deep. Fascinatingly, on on number three, you only have to wait till number three of Project Reason and you get the first typo. It refers to Genesis 422, which has absolutely nothing to do with it. I think they meant to say 3422, but it's a typo. One of many, one of many in Project Reason. Um, was Abiatha the father or the son of Ahimelech? And the answer is yes.
SPEAKER_01Both.
SPEAKER_02Both. Just as actually my my grandfather was called Glen. So there you go. Number four. Well we'll only do five. I I'm not going to go through all four and three. But number five. Who was Abaijum's mother? Well, um in in 1 Kings 15 she's called Marcah, and in 2 Chronicles 13, she's called Micaiah. Um and you've got to understand that actually Hebrew, when translated into uh languages that don't don't use the same script, uh, will often do that with with names. You know, there are there are uh Korean members of our congregation and they tell me they're called one thing, and then they talk to their friend and they call themselves a different name, and it's the same name, but how do you anglicise it?
SPEAKER_01And you can have Betty and and Lily, you know, and they can both mean Elizabeth.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, exactly. And we we won't go through all of them, but I love that number fifteen is should adulterers be punished? One verse, Leviticus twenty, where they should be stoned, and then John eight, where Jesus stands up for the woman about to be stoned. Is that a contradiction or is that a beautiful explanation of the gospel? Ah, we could we could go on.
SPEAKER_01So and in unfolding these, we get a d a deeper understanding ourselves of these as contradictions. To some people, they stand behind them as the reasons why they ought not to believe a word you say. Yeah. I suppose going through some of these things you can help them unravel them and perhaps get to a deeper reason why folks aren't coming to the Lord.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Yeah. So I so in one sense I I think engage at the level that you did with your with the guy that came into the office. Engage at that level. But I think you could get far too caught up uh in in these kinds of things because rarely, rarely is this the issue at heart. But it it points to something uh a lot deeper and and it points to actually w when we get into these issues of is the Bible contradictory, actually what I want to say back is it's incredibly consistent. Fascinatingly consistent. In fact, the the infographic that Project Reason came up with was a response to a Christian infographic that came earlier. The Christian infographic wanted to talk about the consistencies within the Bible. And how many there was more than four hundred and thirty-nine. Um sixty-three thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine. Wow. And that infographic is something to behold. In fact, we've got it in front of us here, and it absolutely puts the Project Reason one to shame. And what's amazing about this is here we've got a book written over fifteen hundred years by forty different authors, and yet bringing this incredible unity. Um, you know, if if I asked forty of my friends to write about life and the meaning of the world and all that sort of thing, and then study the, you know, the 66 books written by 40 different authors that were written by mates of mine today in the same culture, um, you wouldn't get anything like the same. I mean, the the scriptures are just symphonic in the way that they're put together, and and actually that that really is the Bible's own uh proof for itself. The Bible's proof for itself is itself and is its own internal consistency. So having looked at maybe one or two contradictions that they've wanted to bring up, far and away the thing I'd like to do with the non-Christian is is take them to the consistencies.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. So do you want to go through one or two of those?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, like what w what would I do? Maybe turn to um you know, if if they're familiar with the the story of the cross, or if they're not, just just have Mark fifteen open and then have a look at Psalm twenty two, written a thousand BC. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer by night, and am not silent. And then you go on to verse six of Psalm twenty two. I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me. They hurl insults, shaking their heads. He trusts in the Lord. Let the Lord rescue him, let him deliver him since he delights in him.
SPEAKER_01Which is almost word for word. What they said when Jesus was crucified.
SPEAKER_02A thousand years later, and that's his enemies. You know, how do you get your enemies to say the right thing? If Jesus is trying to fulfil Psalm twenty-two, is he saying, Oi, chief scribes, you know, chief priests and scribes? Oh, and it keeps going, keeps on going. Verse twenty verse twelve, many bulls surround me, strong bulls of bastion encircle me, roaring lions tearing their prey. Obviously in scriptural language that talks about you know the enemies of of the king. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint, my heart has turned to wax, it has melted away within me. My strength has dried up like a pot's herd, my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You know, I'm thirsty, says Jesus on the cross. Um dogs have surrounded me, a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. And then verse 18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. Which again it's his enemies. Exactly what happened. It's you know, it's y you would swear that this was written a thousand AD. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And it's written a thousand B C and it finishes with and he has done it, which you interpret it is finished.
SPEAKER_02It is finished, yeah.
SPEAKER_01The very last words that uh Jesus spoke.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Yeah, astonishing, astonishing. And you know, you can sort of say, and the next Psalm, Psalm twenty three, is a psalm of resurrection, and the next psalm, Psalm twenty four, is a psalm of ascension, and you're like, what's what's going on here? Yeah. What's going on here? Or even things like, you know, Leviticus twenty-three, what a what a place to go to. Leviticus twenty-three talks about the calendar of festivals in the Jewish calendar. And you have a look at this thing and and and the way that it's kind of uh fulfilled in the in the New Testament. And uh and the first festival in the year is Passover, which is fulfilled at the cross. Jesus dies at Passover. Uh the next festival happens three days later, on the third day after Passover is first fruits. Jesus is called the first fruits from among the dead. You know, the next thing happens fifty weeks later, uh f fifty days later, rather, seven weeks later, it's called Pentecost. And then there's a big gap uh while, you know, things uh while the harvest is gathered in, and then it's trumpets, the day of atonement when the whole land is cleansed, and then we dwell together in tabernacles. Um and you just think, well, here is this. And this is right back in the Old Testament. This is fifteen hundred years.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Fifteen hundred years ago. Way before it came to be in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_02Or or you go to sort of Isaiah fifty-three or something, we're talking about sort of seventh century BC. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering, like one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. I mean, you could read the whole the whole chapter, but again, we're we're we're talking about things that are fifteen hundred, a thousand, five hundred years before the cross. And um Josh McDowell, uh great sort of apologist who wrote evidence that demands a verdict and that kind of thing, he says, on Good Friday alone there are twenty-nine prophecies from the Old Testament that are fulfilled on Good Friday alone. And you just think the the symphony of of verses coming together and culminating in Christ. It's not the contradictions that that sort of scream to you from the Bible, it's the consistency.
SPEAKER_01My wife, before she became a Christian, she had so many questions about the Bible and about this and about that, and she was really seeking all the answers for her questions. And when she became a Christian, even though her questions weren't answered, she was satisfied. Yes. You know, and uh I think even if we uh go through the whole list, it's still a matter of faith, isn't it? It's still you get to the end of all the the apparent contradictions, but still there's the step of faith.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well like, you know, so so what, even if you tick off all four four hundred and thirty-nine, you tick them all off, like, in a in a way, so what? The Pharisees in Jesus' day, they would have been really good at answering all four hundred and thirty-nine objections, and they would have thought about them a lot deeper than than we have. And yet in John chapter five, uh Jesus uh turns to the Pharisees uh and and he says, uh God's word does not dwell in you. Uh this is verse thirty eight. God's word does not dwell in you because you don't believe the one he has sent. You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. And I think that's that's really important on both sides of the debate. You could diligently study the scriptures, trying desperately to find contradictions, and you're not going to find life that way. But you could also diligently study the scriptures and and just try to correct all those, you know, apparent contradictions and not find life. The Bible is not it's not that kind of book. You know, it's not a puzzle to be solved in that way. It's a witness that's testifying to Jesus, and so you come to Jesus to have life. Not not just by solving these contradictions, but by seeing how the whole scriptures point beyond themselves to Christ.
SPEAKER_01So if someone comes and sort of asks all these questions, that's kind of where we should point them. Yeah. Is is not to asking all these questions until you get to the end of the questions. Yeah. But rather to seek him, to seek Christ. Yeah. Because he is the summing up, the ultimate answer. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02Like one of the contradictions, so-called contradictions of Project Reason is um, is there anyone righteous or not? Which is fascinating, like like pull on that thread. Pull on that is there anyone righteous or not? And you know, Psalm 14, Psalm 53 says, There is no one righteous, not even one, you know. And yet in the in the Psalms, there is this the righteous one in whom you take refuge. And you're like, y you just want to say this contradiction is not going to be resolved in a philosophical way, but it is going to be resolved when you look to Christ and you say, Ah, he is the one righteous one, in whom we the unrighteous can be righteous. And then suddenly you've pointed somebody to Christ. But you know, on these four hundred and thirty-nine contradictions, there'll be there'll be many I don't know the answer to. And there might be many that that will puzzle me till the day I die. There might be. I I haven't come across one that has, but there might there might be. But I I often say to people when they've got lots of questions, coming to Christ is is a bit like falling in love and getting married. On the day that you get married, you know, have you have you decided to trust that person because you've had uh a clipboard with four hundred and thirty-nine questions and you've ticked off all their answers and they've they've satisfied you on absolutely everything, you know. Do you know everything about your spouse when you marry them? No. Which is what makes the first year of marriage so very interesting. You know. But on that day when you when you marry them, you know enough to trust them.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And that's what you want to get someone to. You know, you might not tick off all their four hundred and thirty-nine contradictions, but can you get them to the point where they say, uh the scriptures, I don't understand them all by any means, but I see that they point to Christ and I see I can trust him. Yeah. And now I want to entrust to him all the things I don't know about. That's what we're trying to get people towards.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's a great point to leave it. We will just mention on the show notes of this episode we'll have the Project Reason contradictions infographic link. So you can look up that for yourself. And also the Chris Harrison one, which is the one of uh sixty something thousand. Sixty-three thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine. Okay. Consistencies. Uh consistencies. Also some books on answering questions and some links on there. And you get to that simply by going to revivalmedia.org slash TEP13. Thanks for listening to the Evangelist Podcast. I hope you like listening each week. If so, we'd really appreciate a rating and review on iTunes. We don't currently have any reviews yet, or at least they don't show up. There's one. Is there one? Mikey. Oh, thank you, Mikey.
SPEAKER_02On iTunes. Well done, Mikey.
SPEAKER_01Good. Thank you very much. Uh we've got a link that forwards to the podcast page on iTunes. Just go to revivalmedia.org slash iTunes. That takes you directly to the podcast page where you can leave us a review and rating. And if you go to this episode's web address, you can also leave us a comment, let us know what you think, and share it with others. Thanks very much for listening, and see you next time.
SPEAKER_02Bye.