Why is the Bible full of errors and contradictions?

Why is the Bible full of errors and contradictions?

Q. Why is the Bible full of contradictions and errors?

A. I would strongly disagree with the premise of your questions. Even the most severe critics of the Bible do not say that the Bible is "full" of contradictions. There are, however, some legitimate questions about Bible accuracy that can be raised.

For instance, in Matthew, we read that Jesus met two blind men. In Mark and Luke, we only read about one blind man meeting Jesus. In Matthew and Mark, we read that Jesus went to pray alone three times in the Garden of Gethsemane, whereas, in Luke, we read that Jesus went alone to pray on one occasion.

In both of these instances, the apparent inaccuracies can be explained because the events in one account could be contained in the other, which gives a more complete description of events.

There are sites on the Web that list Bible contradictions like these and offer an explanation of them. It might be worth your while to peruse this link: www.bible-contradictions.net. Here is a short quotation from that link to pique your interest:

"Some Bible contradictions appear contradictory solely because of the intricacies of Bible translation. Analysis of the original languages of the Bible (Hebrew for the Old Testament and Greek for the New Testament) can solve many apparent issues. It's no different than any other textual review of translated material. All languages (including especially Hebrew and Greek) have special limitations and nuances that cause difficulty in translation. The historical context of the translation can also cause some misunderstanding.

"For instance, the Book of Acts has two accounts of Paul's conversion on the Road to Damascus.

In Acts 9:7: "…the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man."

In Acts 22:9: "…they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me" (King James Version).

"At first glance, these accounts seem contradictory -- one says that Paul's companions heard a voice, while the other says that no voice was heard. However, the Greek text solves the matter.

"The construction of the verb 'to hear' (Greek: akouw, akouo, Strong's Concordance #191 ) is not the same in both accounts. In Acts 9:7 it is used with the genitive, in Acts 22:9 with the accusative. The construction with the genitive simply expresses that something is being heard or that certain sounds reach the ear; nothing is indicated as to whether a person understands what he hears or not. The construction with the accusative, however, describes a hearing, which includes mental apprehension of the message spoken. From this it becomes evident that the two passages are not contradictory." (W.F. Arndt, Does the Bible Contradict Itself? , pp. 13,14.)

Therefore, Acts 22:9 doesn't deny that Paul's companions heard certain sounds; it simply says that they didn't understand the sounds that they heard.

I've been studying the Bible for many years and have never found a real Bible contradiction.

Answer Given By: Clay Willis