Inerrant Bible, Part 1

MY BIBLE INTERPRETATION

Inerrant Bible, Part 1

McLean Bible Church has nine eternal values, the first of which says, "The Bible is inerrant and infallible". But how can I, in good conscience, believe that, when there are so many contradictions in the Good Book? (I have more to say about this on my inconsistent quotes web page.)


... God created man... Then God said, “I give you... every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food...” Genesis 1:27y, 29x,z
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... The LORD God commanded the man, “You... must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...” Genesis 2:16y, 17y
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You don’t have to read much of the Bible to find the first contradiction. The first two chapters of the Bible contradict one another. Or shall we believe that the fruit of the forbidden tree had no seeds? If so, then this is not contradictory, just misleading.

The sons of Reuben: Hanok, Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zerah (but Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub and Shimron. The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon and Jahleel. These were the sons Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, besides his daughter Dinah. These sons and daughters of his were thirty-three in all. Genesis 46:8
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Count them for yourself. There are 35. I found a book that explained this discrepency in the following way. (I won’t tell you the name of the book so as not to embarrass the authors.) “There are 34 names in vv. 8-15. To bring the number to 33 the name Ohad in v. 10 should probably be removed, since it does not appear in the parallel lists in Nu 26:12-13; 1Ch 4:24. The Hebrew form of ‘Ohad’ looks very much like the nearby ‘Zohar’ (see Ex 6:15), and a later scribe probably added Ohad to the text accidentally.”
There are multiple problems with this explanation:
  1. It really amuses me that they would use the word “probably” in the last sentence. I agree that the names do look similar, but the scribe would have to make three mistakes to confuse “Ohad (אהד)” with “Zohar (צחר)”. He would have to confuse Alef (א) with Tsadi (צ), He (ה) with Het (ח), and Dalet (ד) with Resh (ר). I’m willing to believe he made one mistake. Even two. But three?
  2. Even if it’s true that the scribe couldn’t decide whether the name was “Zohar” or “Ohad”, why would he write both of them? And why would he put “Jakin” between them?
  3. I guess those authors would claim that this name was poorly written in exactly the same way in Exodus 6:15, because the scribe made exactly the same decision there.
  4. The scribe was inconsistent, because in Numbers 26:12-13, he chose not to write “Zohar” nor “Ohad”, but instead he wrote “Zerah (זרח)”. And “Zerah” doesn’t look like the other names at all, because the first letter is Zayin (ז), rather than Tsadi (צ) or Alef (א) and the Het and Resh are in the opposite order. (I Chronicles 4:24 also says “Zerah”.)
  5. I don’t know how they came up with the number 34. Maybe they didn’t count Dinah. But verse 15 says “sons and daughters,” so Dinah must be counted. Actually, I think it’s strange that the word “daughters” is plural, when there is only one listed. It implies that there was at least one daughter that is not mentioned here.

Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king [David]: In Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand. I Chronicles 21:5
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Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah. II Samuel 24:9
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Clearly, these two books are reporting the same event. (If you have any doubt, then compare the surrounding verses. I Chronicles 21:2,9-10,13 and II Samuel 24:2,11-12,14 are practically identical!) I can accept 500k as an approximation of 470k, but how can you get 1100k from 800k and 500k? The best I can come up with is this: 715k might be rounded up to 800k, and then 715k + 470k = 1185k, which, rounded down, is 1100k. But it is extremely hard to believe that the author of I Chronicles would round 715k up and round 1185k down... Besides, this is before Israel was split into Israel and Judah, so Judah is still part of Israel, which means that the 800k must include the 500k.

David said to [Araunah], “Let me have the site of your threshing floor...” So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels of gold for the site. I Chronicles 21:22x, 25
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Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come... ?” “To buy your threshing floor,” David answered... Araunah said... “Let my lord the king take... oxen [too]...” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. II Samuel 24:21x,y, 22x,y,y, 24z
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Like the previous example, this compares I Chronicles 21 with II Samuel 24, and they are still telling the same story. It doesn’t matter what the exchange rate between gold and silver was, and the oxen are irrelevant. David paid for the threshing floor with one metal or the other, not both.

As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho..., two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and... they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped... “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” Matthew 20:29x, 30x,z-32x,z-33
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As Jesus and his disciples... were leaving [Jericho], a blind man... was sitting by the roadside... He began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and said,... “What do you want me to do for you?”... The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” Mark 10:46y,y,y, 47z-49x, 51x,z
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As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside... He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and... asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. Luke 18:35x, 38-40x,z-41
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Once again, we see different authors describing the same event but disagreeing on a couple of details. How many blind men were there? Was Jesus leaving Jericho or approaching Jericho? I have actually heard people claim that these are different events. Three different events with so many details in common? And each of the authors chose a different one? (If they each chose independently, the chances of them choosing different events is only 22%... Unless you want to believe that there were four events.)

“ ‘If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.’ ” Leviticus 20:21
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If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother... Deuteronomy 25:5-6x
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So then, if a man marries his brother’s wife, will they have any children? You might say that the second law is an exception to the first law. But there is nothing in the context of the Leviticus verse that suggests it only applies when the brother is alive.

... Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30z
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Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. Luke 23:46
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A dying person’s last words are generally considered to be pretty significant. So what were Jesus’s last words? Does anybody remember?

In the following example, the first two passages show God commanding people not to kill other people, while the next two passages show God commanding people to kill other people. The fifth passage shows somebody killing people without being commanding by God to do it, and yet, instead of punishing him, God rewards him.
“... from each human being, too, I [God] will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed...” Genesis 9:5z, 6x
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And God spoke all these words:... “You shall not murder.” Exodus 20:1, 13
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“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘... Attack the Amalekites... Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants...’ ” I Samuel 15:2x, 3y,y
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“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’ ” Exodus 32:27z
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Phinehas... drove the spear through both of them—through the Israelite and into the woman’s body... The LORD said to Moses, “Phinehas... was as zealous as I am for my honor... Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood...” Numbers 25:7y, 8y, 10-11x,y, 12-13x
So then what is Your command? Should I kill people or not? To resolve this, we could distinguish between “murder” and “execution”. The first two passages are talking about murder, and the last three are talking about execution. However this is not clear, as the first passage doesn’t use the word “murder”, and none of the passages use the word “execution”.

Will anybody ever be resurrected? Here are two passages that say no and three that say yes.
... He who goes down to the grave does not return. Job 7:9z
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The same destiny overtakes all... They join the dead... The dead... have no further reward... Never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun. Ecclesiastes 9:3y,z, 5y,y, 6z
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A time is coming when all who are in their graves will... come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. John 5:28y,29z
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... Moses showed that the dead rise... Luke 20:37y
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The dead will be raised imperishable... I Corinthians 15:52y
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Ecclesiastes 9 says that nobody will ever be resurrected and John 5 says that everybody will be resurrected. That’s the ultimate contradiction!

“... I the Lord your God... [visit] the iniquity of the fathers upon the children...” Exodus 20:5y,y
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“The son will not share the guilt of the father...” Ezekiel 18:20y
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This is an excellent example of the Bible talking out of both sides of its mouth. (I clipped the part of the Exodus verse that suggests it only applies to fathers who hate God. There is still a contradiction, because Ezekiel 18:20 applies to all fathers.)

... The curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. Luke 23:45z-46
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With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two... Mark 15:37-38x
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... When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two... Matthew 27:50z-51x
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So did Jesus die before or after the curtain was torn? Or were the two events simultaneous? Which gospels are incorrect (or at least misleading)?

Was Jesus arrested before or after the Passover seder (the meal traditionally eaten on the first day of Passover)? Let’s see what the Bible says...
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” Mark 14:12
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It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. John 19:14
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Some explanation may be necessary. Mark refers to “the Festival of Unleavened Bread”. This is another name for Passover. And the disciples are asking where Jesus wants to eat the Passover seder. This meal, which Jesus ate with his disciples, is often referred to as “the last supper”. After the meal, they went to the garden of Gethsemane, which is where Jesus was arrested. Thus, we can conclude that Jesus was arrested after the Passover seder.
Now, John refers to “the day of Preparation of the Passover”. That is the day before the first day of Passover, when the priests are sacrificing lambs at the temple in preparation for the Passover seder. At that time, John says that Jesus was with Pilate. Jesus was brought to Pilate after he was arrested and tried by the Jewish Sanhedrin. Thus, it should be clear that Jesus was arrested before the Passover seder.
So Mark says after, and John says before. One of them must be wrong. This is a clear contradiction.

So, in conclusion, the Bible is no more inerrant than any other books written by human beings. But don't get me wrong... I believe the Good Book has a lot of truth in it, too. I just feel that I have a responsibility, as a scientist, to question everything I read before accepting it as truth.
However... it would be quite unjust if I stopped here and let that conclusion stand unchallenged. And you would be misinformed if you accepted this conclusion and stopped reading now. So you must read my Inerrant Bible, Part 2 web page...


References

Notes
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Last updated: 12/24/21
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