A guide to careful reading
Does the Bible
contradict itself?
Read the passages. Weigh the explanations.
Explore apparent contradictions, conflicting details, and questions about scriptural integrity—with the source passages, potential reconciliations, and an honest account of what each explanation does and does not resolve.
Explore the guideMany outside the Christian faith glibly pronounce as fact that the Bible is full of contradictions. The best immediate response is, “Name one, please.” You’ll be surprised at how often no example is offered. Because Jesus is the truth (John 14:6) and all truth belongs to Him, we have nothing to fear in facing any objections head on to the trustworthiness of His Word.
Here are some of the best examples of apparent “contradictions” listed for you a little further below.
The following concluding thoughts from our exploration of the Resurrection (Wrestling with the Resurrection) apply equally here:
Looking at all of the [below], … it’s clear that God has left more than enough rational evidence for anyone, whose mind and heart are open, to confidently believe in the Resurrection [or in this case, the Holy Scriptures]. All the clues He left us in the Word and in history are exactly how He wanted them left. But He did so in a way that would not make unbelief impossible for the one who is resolved and determined to disbelieve. Everything has been perfectly designed to flawlessly reveal our hearts.
Keeping the whole picture in view
God-breathed. Written through human hands.
We need to always remember that what we know about Jesus is equally true about the Bible, both called the Word of God in Scripture and both affirmed as fully divine and fully human. (See Jesus and the Word, 50 biblical comparisons and contrasts for more).
It’s the second part, the fully human, that so many have trouble with. Faith is messy, and if we hold to a version of the Bible that ignores the very real human component (under God’s watchful care), it can shipwreck our faith.
Christian apologists and scholars contend that there is not a single true logical biblical contradiction—which would require affirming and denying the same thing in the same sense and at the same time. Every tension can ultimately be reconciled. What might appear to be a contradiction is often complementary perspectives at work, with multiple eyewitnesses or authors highlighting different details based on their audience, theological emphasis, or literary style, as in the Gospel parallels.
Context and genre matter.
There is also the very important issue of what “literal” means. Does it mean wooden and hyper-factual, or should a literal reading consider precisely the kind of literature we are reading? This is where context and genre become so important to keep in mind. Much of the Bible is poetry, analogy, hyperbole, apocalyptic literature, or narrative history rather than a modern, detached, scientific police report.
We affirm the inerrancy (without true errors) and infallibility (completely trustworthy and unable to fail and lead us astray) of Scripture. Our concern is not with those convictions, but with a thoughtless, wooden understanding of them. Faithfulness to God’s Word requires attention to what its authors actually intend to communicate, including their context, genre, figures of speech, and literary styles. Poetry must be read as poetry, history as history, and an approximation must not be mistaken for a claim to modern technical precision.
It is spiritually very dangerous to reject the truth of God’s Word. It is also dangerous to confuse God’s truthfulness with our own assumptions about how He must communicate. While affirming the absolute truth of Scripture, we do not want to set people up for spiritual disaster when they become curious in our information-rich age. Discovering these tensions, textual discrepancies, and apparent contradictions can trigger a profound crisis of faith when people have been taught that every difference must be denied rather than carefully understood. Our aim is to strengthen confidence in Scripture through thoughtful, faithful reading.
Bart Ehrman’s experience illustrates an important distinction: his biblical studies undermined his belief in inerrancy, but he says he remained a Christian for years afterward and ultimately left the faith over the problem of suffering.
It’s important to remember that the Bible was not a dictation-style manual dropped from the sky and falling whole and intact into men’s hands, but rather a God-breathed, inspired library of ancient human texts written across centuries in diverse cultural contexts under the Lord’s watchful care.
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man:
2 Peter 1:21 · KJV ↗
but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Two thousand years later, not a single “contradiction” has yet been offered (and never will be) to justifiably invalidate the core message—the person, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and His saving Gospel.
The searchable reference guide
Take one question at a time. I think you’ll be surprised at how unimpressive the supposedly “faith-shattering contradictions” are.
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Part 01 / 14 entries
Historical, chronological, and genealogical differences
Differences involving dates, family lines, instructions, and the sequence or attribution of events.
01Substantial difficultyPassover and the date of Jesus’ deathSources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
John may refer to another meal during the Passover festival. Alternatively, different groups may have followed different calendars.
How to weigh it
The Gospels agree that Jesus gave His life at Passover, fulfilling God’s saving purpose. Festival terminology and calendar differences offer ways of understanding the timing; we can trust their testimony without claiming certainty about which explanation resolves every detail.
02Substantial difficultyThe hour of the crucifixionSources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Different methods of reckoning time, approximate times, or a copying error have been proposed.
How to weigh it
Different ways of reckoning and approximating time deserve consideration before these accounts are declared contradictory. The precise explanation remains debated, but an unresolved question about the hour is not sufficient reason to reject the evangelists’ truthful witness to Christ’s crucifixion.
03Substantial difficultyJesus’ genealogiesSources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Legal versus biological ancestry, a levirate-marriage arrangement, or Luke tracing Mary’s ancestry through Joseph.
How to weigh it
Both genealogies proclaim Jesus as the promised Son of David. Legal and biological relationships can produce different family lines; although the precise arrangement is not spelled out, we need not assume the writers intended identical kinds of genealogical records.
04Substantial difficultyAbiathar or Ahimelech?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
The expression may refer broadly to Abiathar’s lifetime, using his later title, or to a scriptural section associated with him.
How to weigh it
The wording about Abiathar deserves careful attention, including whether it identifies a broader period or a scriptural passage. We can acknowledge the difficulty without concluding that Jesus misrepresented Scripture; confidence in Him gives us reason to keep examining the expression patiently.
05Substantial difficultyWho purchased the burial ground at Shechem?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
An unrecorded purchase by Abraham, subsequently renewed by Jacob; or a compressed combination of ancestral transactions in Stephen’s speech.
How to weigh it
Stephen’s brief survey brings several generations and ancestral transactions together. The exact relationship between his wording and Genesis remains difficult, but the limits of our reconstruction do not establish that Scripture is false; an unrecorded purchase should remain a proposed explanation, not an invented certainty.
06Requires interpretationWhere were the ancestors buried?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
“They” may refer to the other ancestors rather than Jacob, with Stephen summarizing several burials.
How to weigh it
A collective summary need not assign every burial to the same place. Reading Stephen’s words alongside Genesis allows us to consider which ancestors the plural refers to, while receiving both accounts as truthful testimony to God’s dealings with His people.
07Requires interpretationHow did Judas die?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Judas hanged himself, and his body subsequently fell and ruptured.
How to weigh it
Hanging followed by a fall provides a coherent way to read both accounts together. Neither author claims to describe every stage, so their different details need not compete; we can affirm their compatibility without pretending to know the unreported circumstances.
08More readily reconciledWho bought the field associated with Judas?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
The purchase is attributed to Judas because his money funded it, although the priests completed the transaction.
How to weigh it
The priests could purchase the field with Judas’s money while the acquisition was attributed to him. This ordinary distinction between carrying out a transaction and being responsible for it removes the supposed contradiction.
09Substantial difficultyCould the disciples take a staff?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
They could carry an existing staff but were not to acquire a new one or extra equipment.
How to weigh it
All three accounts teach the disciples to depend on God rather than accumulated supplies. The distinction between carrying an existing staff and obtaining additional equipment offers a possible reconciliation, though Luke’s wording needs particular care; the remaining question calls for patient reading rather than a verdict against Scripture.
10Requires interpretationWhen did Jesus cleanse the temple?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
There were two separate cleansings, or one Gospel placed a single event thematically.
How to weigh it
Two cleansings provide a straightforward way to take the different settings seriously; a thematic arrangement is another proposed reading. Jesus could confront the same corruption more than once, and the Gospels do not say that He cleansed the temple only once.
11Requires interpretationWas Jairus’s daughter already dead?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Matthew compresses the initial request and subsequent developments into a shorter account.
How to weigh it
Matthew can summarize Jairus’s appeal in light of the death that Mark and Luke narrate in stages. Faithful reporting does not require every account to reproduce the same length or sequence of dialogue; all three testify to Christ’s authority over death.
12Requires interpretationEntering or leaving Jericho—and one blind man or two?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Separate healings, or travel between older and newer settlements of Jericho. Selective focus can explain mentioning one man rather than two.
How to weigh it
Mentioning one blind man does not exclude a second. The geographical question requires more reconstruction, with different locations or encounters offering possibilities; we can distinguish that remaining uncertainty from the clear agreement that Jesus mercifully restored sight.
13Requires interpretationWhen did the fig tree wither?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Matthew compresses the sequence; Mark distinguishes the withering from its discovery.
How to weigh it
The tree’s withering and the disciples’ later discovery of it are distinguishable moments. Matthew’s condensed account and Mark’s fuller sequence can truthfully communicate the same act of judgment and lesson in faith.
14Requires interpretationGalilee or Jerusalem after the resurrection?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
The Galilee visit occurred before the final instruction to remain in Jerusalem. Acts supplies a forty-day period for the appearances.
How to weigh it
Acts explicitly gives forty days for the risen Lord’s appearances, leaving room for meetings in both Jerusalem and Galilee. Luke’s compressed Gospel ending need not place every event on Easter day, and the final command to remain in Jerusalem need not precede the Galilee visit.
Part 02 / 12 entries
Names, numbers, and the transmitted text
Conflicting readings in surviving texts. A proposed copying error acknowledges a transmitted discrepancy while allowing that the original readings agreed.
15Textual discrepancyAhaziah’s age at accessionSources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
A numerical copying error in Chronicles. Other textual evidence is reflected in translations that read 22.
How to weigh it
A copied numeral should not be confused with an error in the Scripture God originally inspired. The parallel account and the family chronology help identify the difficulty; acknowledging a transmission error is consistent with affirming biblical inerrancy and God’s providential preservation of His Word.
16Textual discrepancyJehoiachin’s age at accessionSources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
A numerical copying error; alternatively, an earlier co-regency has been proposed.
How to weigh it
A numerical copying error offers a reasonable explanation for the difference between eight and eighteen. Our confidence rests in God’s inspired Word, without requiring every surviving copy to be free from a copyist’s mistake; an earlier co-regency remains a proposal rather than a stated event.
17Textual discrepancyBaasha’s attack after his apparent deathSources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
A corrupted numeral, or counting the thirty-six years from the kingdom’s division rather than Asa’s accession.
How to weigh it
This date deserves careful examination of both the transmitted numeral and the proposed starting point for the count. We need not force a solution: a difficulty in reconstructing the chronology does not demonstrate that the original inspired accounts contradicted one another.
18Textual discrepancyWho killed Goliath?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
A copying error in 2 Samuel. The KJV supplies “the brother of” in that verse to agree with Chronicles.
How to weigh it
Chronicles supplies the distinction between Goliath and his brother, and the KJV makes that relationship explicit in Samuel. Reading the parallel passages together points to a transmission difficulty rather than requiring us to deny the account of David’s victory.
19Textual discrepancyDid Michal have children?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Read Merab, her sister and Adriel’s wife, following other manuscript evidence. Alternatively, Michal raised her sister’s children—the interpretation reflected in the KJV’s “brought up.”
How to weigh it
The identification of Merab as Adriel’s wife supports the reading that these were her sons; the KJV reflects the alternative understanding that Michal brought them up. Either proposal should be considered on its merits, with the distinction between original inspiration and later transmission kept clear.
20Textual discrepancyDavid’s census totalsSources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Different military categories, exclusions from the counts, or numerical corruption during transmission.
How to weigh it
Totals can differ when the categories or scope of a census differ, and copied numbers can also introduce difficulties. The surviving details do not let us reconstruct every figure confidently, but incomplete knowledge of the counting is not proof that God’s Word is untrustworthy.
21Requires interpretationThe price of David’s purchaseSources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
The smaller payment purchased the threshing floor and oxen; the larger purchased the whole surrounding site.
How to weigh it
The threshing floor and oxen need not have cost the same as the larger site. That distinction offers a coherent reading of both prices, even though the accounts do not itemize the entire transaction for us.
22Textual discrepancyThree or seven years of famine?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
A copying error in Samuel; its Greek textual tradition also supports three.
How to weigh it
The parallel account and the Greek reading of Samuel give a concrete basis for considering a copied numeral. Taking manuscript differences seriously serves our understanding of Scripture; it does not require surrendering confidence in what God inspired.
23Textual discrepancyAramean battle casualtiesSources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Textual corruption, or different military categories.
How to weigh it
Both the numbers and the military descriptions need attention, and transmission difficulties offer a reasonable explanation. Christian confidence does not require making unlike surviving readings say the same thing; it distinguishes the inspired text from mistakes that can arise in copying it.
24Textual discrepancySolomon’s horse stallsSources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
A numerical copying error.
How to weigh it
A copied numeral can account for the difference between four thousand and forty thousand. This is a question about the transmission of a number, not a reason to abandon the truthfulness of the original Scriptures.
25Textual discrepancyThe bronze basin’s capacitySources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Ordinary filling level versus maximum capacity, or a numerical copying error.
How to weigh it
Ordinary filling level and maximum capacity can differ, providing a possible explanation for the two figures; a copied numeral is another possibility. We can hold Scripture trustworthy while acknowledging that the passages do not specify which explanation applies.
26Textual discrepancySeventy or seventy-five in Jacob’s household?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Acts follows a Greek textual tradition with a different genealogical tally.
How to weigh it
Stephen’s figure belongs to a recognizable textual and genealogical tradition. Different ways of including family members need not contradict one another; the question is whom each tally counts, not whether seventy and seventy-five are the same number.
Part 03 / 14 entries
Resurrection and eyewitness details
Selective reporting and successive events often help. Numerical differences should be distinguished from questions about location and timing.
27More readily reconciledOne angel, two—or four?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Mentioning one does not assert that there was only one. Adding Luke’s two to John’s two would assume they were different angels, which the texts do not establish.
How to weigh it
An account that mentions one angel does not say there was only one. The evangelists can focus on the speaking messenger or describe both, and nothing requires adding the two accounts together to invent four angels.
28More readily reconciledAngels or men at the tomb?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Human appearance and angelic identity are compatible. Luke later describes the women’s experience as a vision of angels.
How to weigh it
An angel can appear in human form and be described according to that appearance. Luke himself later identifies the messengers as angels, so Scripture supplies the distinction that answers the objection.
29Requires interpretationWhere were the angels, and were they sitting or standing?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Different moments, movements, or encounters may be described. John places Mary’s sight of the angels after the disciples’ visit.
How to weigh it
The resurrection accounts describe encounters across a sequence of events, not a single frozen scene. Angels could move, stand, and sit; although a complete sequence involves reconstruction, differences in posture and location do not by themselves contradict the testimony.
30More readily reconciledWhich women visited the tomb?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Selective naming does not exclude additional companions. Mary’s subsequent “we” in John is compatible with companions.
How to weigh it
Naming particular women does not exclude companions whom another Gospel names. John’s focus on Mary and her subsequent use of “we” fit naturally with selective reporting; the witnesses’ different emphases can be received together.
31Requires interpretationDid the women tell anyone?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Initial fearful silence followed by a later report, or silence to people along the way.
How to weigh it
Fearful silence upon leaving the tomb need not mean permanent refusal to tell the disciples. Reading Mark’s immediate scene alongside the later reports gives a coherent sequence in which astonishment and fear give way to testimony.
32More readily reconciledWho carried Jesus’ cross?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Jesus carried it initially, and Simon was subsequently compelled to take over.
How to weigh it
Jesus could carry His cross before Simon was compelled to carry it for Him. The accounts describe complementary stages of the journey, with no need to set one evangelist against another.
33Requires interpretationDid both criminals mock Jesus?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Both may initially have mocked Him, with one subsequently repenting.
How to weigh it
A criminal who first mocked Jesus could later repent. That sequence is consistent with the accounts and with the transforming grace displayed in Luke; the writers need not narrate every change of heart in identical detail.
34More readily reconciledWhat did the inscription on the cross say?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Each may reproduce a different portion of a longer inscription; John also describes its presentation in multiple languages.
How to weigh it
Each evangelist can report a true portion of the inscription without reproducing every word. Their shared proclamation of Jesus as King is consistent, and John’s mention of multiple languages gives further reason not to demand identical wording.
35Requires interpretationDid the rooster crow once or twice?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
The others summarize the decisive crowing, while Mark supplies fuller detail.
How to weigh it
Mark supplies the fuller detail of two crowings, while the others can refer to the decisive crowing associated with Peter’s denial. We should read their wording carefully without assuming that a shorter prediction excludes every detail preserved in a longer account.
36More readily reconciledDid the centurion come personally?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Matthew attributes the authorized request to its principal, while Luke describes the representatives through whom he acted.
How to weigh it
A person can make a request through authorized representatives. Matthew names the centurion as the one appealing to Jesus, while Luke describes his messengers; these are compatible ways of reporting the same appeal of faith.
37More readily reconciledDid Paul’s companions stand or fall?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
They fell and subsequently stood.
How to weigh it
Falling to the ground and later standing speechless can both occur during the same encounter. Neither passage requires the companions to remain in one posture throughout, so the alleged contradiction depends on a restriction the text does not impose.
38Requires interpretationDid Paul’s companions hear the voice?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
They heard the sound but did not understand the spoken message.
How to weigh it
Hearing a sound and understanding the words spoken are different experiences. That distinction offers a coherent reading of the accounts without making the reconciliation depend entirely on a disputed grammatical argument.
39More readily reconciledWhen did Paul first visit Jerusalem?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Acts summarizes an extended period, mentioning “many days,” while Galatians supplies omitted events and timing.
How to weigh it
Acts’ reference to “many days” leaves room for the interval and travel described in Galatians. Paul supplies details Luke omits; omission is not denial, and the accounts can be read as complementary testimony.
40Requires interpretationDid John recognize Jesus before His baptism?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Preliminary recognition or personal acquaintance differed from divinely confirmed identification of Jesus as Messiah.
How to weigh it
Recognizing Jesus’ holiness or knowing Him personally need not be identical to receiving God’s promised sign identifying the Messiah. The Spirit’s descent supplies that confirmation, allowing the accounts to describe distinct stages of John’s recognition.
Part 04 / 18 entries
Theological and ethical tensions
Some distinctions follow clearly from context. Others remain substantive questions on which Christian traditions differ.
41Requires interpretationWho incited David’s census—God or Satan?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
God’s permission or judicial action is distinguished from Satan’s immediate agency.
How to weigh it
God’s righteous judgment and Satan’s evil activity are not morally equivalent, even when they concern the same event. Distinguishing divine permission or judicial action from the tempter’s immediate agency allows both accounts to stand without making God the author of evil.
42Requires interpretationHas anyone seen God?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Seeing a visible manifestation of God differs from seeing His unveiled being.
How to weigh it
God can truly reveal Himself in a form people can bear without exposing the fullness of His unveiled glory. The passages describe different kinds of encounter, and together proclaim both His gracious self-revelation and His surpassing majesty.
43Requires interpretationDoes God change His mind?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Unchanging character and faithfulness alongside responsive dealings with people; conditional warnings; or language accommodated to human understanding.
How to weigh it
God’s character and faithfulness remain constant while His dealings with people genuinely respond to repentance and prayer. A warning that leads sinners to turn and receive mercy fulfills His righteous purpose; it need not imply that God was mistaken or unfaithful.
44Requires interpretationDo children bear their parents’ sins?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Intergenerational consequences and corporate judgment differ from personal guilt and human judicial punishment.
How to weigh it
The consequences of sin can reach later generations without making a child personally guilty of a parent’s act. These passages together teach the seriousness of sin, the reality of communal consequences, and God’s just judgment of each person.
45Requires interpretationJustification by faith or by works?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
The authors address different errors and may use “faith,” “works,” or “justify” differently: living trust versus bare assent, or receiving righteousness versus demonstrating it.
How to weigh it
Paul rejects reliance on works as the ground of acceptance with God; James rejects a claimed faith that bears no fruit. Read together, they direct us to living trust in Christ: good works do not purchase salvation, but a merely verbal profession must not be mistaken for faithful obedience.
46Requires interpretationWhen was Abraham justified?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Later obedience fulfills, completes, or demonstrates the earlier faith.
How to weigh it
James explicitly connects Abraham’s offering of Isaac with the earlier statement that he believed God. His later obedience brought that faith to expression and maturity; the two passages present a developing life of faith rather than competing dates for an unrelated event.
47Requires interpretationCan someone born of God sin?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
A settled practice of sin is distinguished from individual sinful acts; identity and allegiance are distinguished from sinless performance.
How to weigh it
John calls believers to confess their sins while insisting that the new birth changes their allegiance and way of life. Read together, these truths rule out both claims of present sinlessness and complacent acceptance of sin as the Christian’s settled practice.
48More readily reconciledDoes God tempt people?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
In Genesis, the older English “tempt” means test. James concerns enticement to evil.
How to weigh it
God tested Abraham’s faith; He did not entice him to evil. The older English use of “tempt” can mean test, so the distinction concerns the meaning of the action, not a conflict in God’s character.
49Requires interpretationDoes the Law endure, or was it abolished?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Fulfillment, covenant transition, and distinctions among the Law’s functions explain the differing statements.
How to weigh it
Jesus fulfills the Law and brings the new covenant to which it points. The ending of the old covenant’s governing arrangements does not mean God’s earlier revelation was false or worthless; its authority and purpose are understood through their fulfillment in Christ.
50Requires interpretationIs Jesus’ testimony about Himself true?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
John 5 concerns legally sufficient testimony without corroboration; John 8 concerns actual truth and Jesus’ knowledge of His origin.
How to weigh it
Jesus is not confessing falsehood in John 5. He addresses the standing of testimony considered without corroboration, while John 8 affirms His true knowledge and identity; the surrounding discussion supplies the distinction.
51More readily reconciledWas John the Baptist Elijah?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
John was not literally Elijah returned; he fulfilled an Elijah-like prophetic role in Elijah’s spirit and power.
How to weigh it
Luke explains that John comes in Elijah’s spirit and power. John can deny being Elijah personally while Jesus affirms his fulfillment of the promised prophetic role; both statements are true in their intended senses.
52More readily reconciledDid Jesus bring peace or division?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Peace given to believers differs from the social conflict caused by allegiance to Jesus.
How to weigh it
Christ gives peace with God and peace to His people, yet allegiance to Him can provoke opposition even within families. The gift of peace and the cost of discipleship concern different relationships and can both be real.
53More readily reconciledShould we answer a fool?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Different situations pose different dangers: becoming foolish yourself or allowing folly to appear wise.
How to weigh it
God places these sayings side by side to teach discernment. We must neither imitate a fool’s folly nor leave it appearing wise; the circumstances determine how faithful wisdom answers.
54More readily reconciledShould good works be public or private?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Works that lead others to glorify God differ from religious performances intended to win personal admiration.
How to weigh it
Jesus directs us to seek the Father’s glory rather than our own applause. Good works may be visible, while self-promoting religious performance is condemned; the distinction is stated in the passages themselves.
55More readily reconciledShould Christians judge others?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Hypocritical or presumptuous condemnation differs from responsible discernment and community accountability.
How to weigh it
Jesus forbids hypocritical condemnation, not all moral discernment. His call to examine ourselves prepares us to help others rightly, while righteous judgment and loving church accountability remain part of faithful obedience.
56More readily reconciledBear others’ burdens or our own?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Mutual help and personal accountability are complementary. The Greek also uses different terms for burden and load.
How to weigh it
Christian love helps carry another person’s burdens without canceling personal responsibility before God. Paul gives complementary duties within the same passage, teaching us both generosity toward others and faithfulness in our own conduct.
57More readily reconciledWas the land promise fulfilled while enemies remained?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
National possession and decisive victory differ from complete local occupation.
How to weigh it
God faithfully gave Israel the land and decisive victory, while Israel still faced the responsibility of possessing the remaining territory. Joshua itself holds these truths together; the people’s unfinished obedience does not make God’s fulfilled promise a failure.
58More readily reconciledWas Hezekiah or Josiah the unequaled king?Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Compare these passages in KJV & NKJV ↗Potential reconciliation
Hezekiah is singled out for trust; Josiah for wholehearted return to God according to the Law.
How to weigh it
Hezekiah is praised for his trust, and Josiah for his wholehearted return to the Lord according to the Law. The stated qualities differ, so both commendations can be true without forcing them into a single ranking.
Part 05 / 14 entries
Other questions about scriptural integrity
These are broader objections, not all contradictions between passages. Some have straightforward responses; others require their own historical or moral examination.
B01More readily reconciled“The Bible contains false statements.”Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
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Accurately reporting a lie does not endorse it. Distinguish a speaker’s claim from the narrator’s assertion.
How to weigh it
God’s truthful Word exposes falsehood by recording it accurately. A lie spoken by the serpent or a false witness is not a lie affirmed by Scripture; faithful reading attends to who speaks and how the passage evaluates the words.
B02More readily reconciled“Job’s friends teach things God rejects.”Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
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Their speeches form part of a debate rather than a collection of uniformly approved propositions.
How to weigh it
God’s rebuke is part of the inspired book and teaches us how to evaluate the friends’ speeches. Job warns against confident religious explanations that misrepresent God and wound the sufferer; we must receive the whole book rather than isolate a speaker’s claim.
B03Requires interpretation“Ecclesiastes contains conflicting or despairing claims.”Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
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Read the observations within the book’s sustained exploration rather than treating each line as an isolated doctrinal summary.
How to weigh it
Ecclesiastes gives us God-given wisdom about life’s frustrations, mortality, and the limits of human understanding. Its searching observations belong within the book’s call to fear God and keep His commandments; honest lament and difficult questions do not make Scripture faithless or false.
B04More readily reconciled“Sunrise language is scientifically false.”Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
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Ordinary language describes appearances from an observer’s standpoint. “Sunrise” need not assert a scientific model.
How to weigh it
The Bible speaks truthfully in the ordinary language of human observation, just as we still speak of sunrise. Inerrancy does not require replacing familiar descriptions with technical astronomical explanations that the passage never intended to give.
B05More readily reconciled“Trees clapping and mountains singing are factual errors.”Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
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Personification and metaphor communicate meaning without asserting literal botanical or geological events.
How to weigh it
Poetry is one of the ways God communicates truth. Trees clapping and mountains singing portray creation’s rejoicing in His salvation; recognizing the image honors the inspired words rather than weakening their authority.
B06Requires interpretation“Proverbs promises outcomes that do not always happen.”Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
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Many proverbs express characteristic patterns of wise living rather than unconditional guarantees for every individual circumstance.
How to weigh it
God gives Proverbs as wisdom to shape faithful living, not as a formula by which we can control every outcome. Reading each saying according to its purpose lets us receive its instruction fully without turning every proverb into an unconditional promise about every circumstance.
B07Requires interpretation“Different quotations prove inaccurate reporting.”Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
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Translation, paraphrase, abbreviation, adaptation, separate occasions, or use of a Greek Old Testament tradition can explain verbal differences.
How to weigh it
Truthful quotation does not always require identical wording across languages, summaries, or repeated occasions of teaching. We can trust the biblical writers while examining each example in context, asking how its words faithfully convey and apply the source’s meaning.
B08More readily reconciled“Different event selections or arrangements prove contradiction.”Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
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Authors select material for their purposes and may organize it thematically. An omitted event is not a denied event.
How to weigh it
The evangelists openly select material to lead us to faith in Christ. Different selections and thematic arrangements can serve that truthful purpose; we should honor genuine chronological statements without imposing a modern exhaustive timeline on every narrative.
B09More readily reconciled“Reporting atrocities means approving them.”Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
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Description is not endorsement. Narratives can expose wrongdoing without inserting a moral verdict after every action.
How to weigh it
Scripture’s unflinching record of human evil reveals our need for judgment, mercy, and redemption. Describing an atrocity does not endorse it; the horrors in Judges belong to its exposure of a people turning away from God.
B10More readily reconciled“Different translations mean the source text cannot be known.”Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Translation prefaces and textual notes
Potential reconciliation
Many differences concern vocabulary, grammar, idiom, and translation method rather than manuscript disagreement.
How to weigh it
Different translations often express the same source wording through different English choices. Comparing them can deepen understanding of God’s Word; a translation difference should be examined, not treated as evidence that the underlying message has been lost.
B11Requires interpretation“Manuscript variants make the entire Bible unreliable.”Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Manuscript apparatuses and translation footnotes
Potential reconciliation
A local uncertainty does not automatically create uncertainty in every other passage or teaching.
How to weigh it
Our confidence in God’s Word does not depend on every copyist having worked without a mistake. Particular variants deserve honest attention, but uncertainty about a limited reading does not erase the extensive shared text or overturn the Gospel proclaimed throughout Scripture.
B12Substantial difficulty“Footnoted passages were secretly removed.”Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
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Editorial notes often disclose manuscript disagreements rather than conceal them.
How to weigh it
A visible footnote is disclosure, not secret removal. Christians who favor traditional readings and Christians who favor other manuscript judgments can both seek fidelity to God’s Word; these passages deserve careful examination without assuming that every editorial decision betrays the faith.
B13Substantial difficulty“Different biblical canons undermine scriptural integrity.”Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox contents lists
Potential reconciliation
Distinguish the boundaries and reception of Scripture from the accurate copying of an individual book.
How to weigh it
The Church recognizes Scripture’s authority rather than creating it. Disagreement about the boundaries of the canon deserves serious attention, but it does not turn the shared books into contradictions or erase their witness to Christ; confidence in Scripture and careful consideration of its reception belong together.
B14Substantial difficulty“Conquest commands and slavery regulations conflict with divine goodness.”Sources & possible reconciliation
Source passages & evidence
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Proposed responses appeal to historical context, divine judgment, accommodation, and progressive revelation.
How to weigh it
We begin with the goodness and justice of the God revealed in Jesus Christ, while taking the suffering described in these passages seriously. Divine judgment must be distinguished from human hatred, and regulating an existing practice does not by itself commend everything about it; neither distinction excuses cruelty or makes every difficult detail simple. These texts give Christians no license for racial violence, human trafficking, or abuse. Where questions remain, we continue to study in the light of the whole of Scripture, holding fast to Christ with Peter’s confession: “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68, KJV).