How can we trust the Bible when so many people claim it is full of contradictions, has been repeatedly changed, or is historically inaccurate?
The Christian faith is not blind faith.
The Bible has been textually scrutinized for over 2,000 years by professors, archeologists, theologians and scientists. And time and again, its ancient manuscripts, historical records, archaeological discoveries, eyewitness testimony, and fulfilled prophecies produce strong evidence concluding the Bible is indeed trustworthy.
Is the Bible Really Full of Contradictions?
The Bible is not one book written by one person (like the Qu’ran). The Bible consists of 66 books written by 40 different authors—authors who did not live at the same time, let alone on the same continent, ranging from fishermen to royal kings—written over a 1,500 year span, in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek), covering every major topic known to mankind, all without contradiction. This astounding unity presents one account of God’s plan to redeem humanity through Jesus Christ. This remarkable unity supports its credibility!
Alleged Biblical contradictions disappear when passages are read in their proper historical, literary, and cultural context. A contradiction occurs when two statements make mutually exclusive claims about the same thing in the same context. However, differing details regarding an event are not necessarily contradictory.
Consider the resurrection of Jesus. Matthew describes an angel at the tomb (Matt. 28:2–7), while Luke describes two men in shining garments (Lk. 24:4). Is this a contradiction?
No! First, Matthew describes a great earthquake and an angel descending from heaven, rolling away the stone and terrifying the guards. Mark tells us that when the women arrived after sunrise, they discovered that the stone had already been rolled away (Mk. 16:1-4).
Luke subsequently describes two heavenly messengers announcing Christ’s resurrection to the women.
Furthermore, John’s Gospel explicitly describes Mary Magdalene returning to the tomb after Peter and John had investigated it. During this subsequent encounter, Mary sees two angels sitting where Jesus’ body had lain before encountering the risen Christ Himself (Jn. 20:11–18).
The Gospel accounts therefore establish that multiple visits and encounters occurred that morning. Moreover, Matthew never declares that there was only one angel, and Luke’s description of two does not exclude the possibility that Matthew concentrated on the particular angel who spoke.
Rather than immediately declaring a contradiction, we should carefully examine what each writer actually says, including the circumstances and context.
Has the Bible Been Changed Over Time?
The Bible is supported by an extraordinary number of ancient manuscripts so we can test this claim scientifically. The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts provides an opportunity to examine such evidence. The New Testament alone has 24,000 reliable existing copies that have been scrutinized against earlier documents and found to be unchanged and accurate with a time-span of 50 to 150 years between the earliest copies.
Contrast this with 7 documents for Plato with a time-span of 1,200 years between copies.
While there are minor textual differences between Bible manuscripts—spelling, punctuation, or word order—such differences don’t affect any Christian doctrine.
Further, the Dead Sea scrolls contain over 970 scrolls with 10,000 fragments making up the collection. The Great Isaiah scroll was dated 1,000 years older than any previous Hebrew copy of that book before, verifying Isaiah was the singular author!
When compared with the traditional Hebrew text, it reveals substantial continuity across the centuries. You can examine the scroll yourself through the Israel Museum.
Furthermore, our English Bibles are translated from reliable Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek manuscripts available, not translations of earlier English Bibles. Although wording may differ between translations, the meaning and message remain consistent.
Does History Support the Bible?
The Bible describes real people, nations, kingdoms, and geographical locations which have been scrutinized and questioned by skeptics. However, continued archaeological discoveries repeatedly confirm what was once questioned is now fact. Consider just three archaeological examples:
The Tel Dan Stele
Discovered in the 1990s, this ninth-century BC inscription contains a reference to the House of David, providing evidence outside the Bible for David’s royal dynasty.
The Pilate Stone
Discovered at Caesarea in 1961, this ancient inscription names Pontius Pilate and identifies him as prefect of Judea, corroborating the existence and official position of the Roman governor who sentenced Jesus to crucifixion, with the Biblical account.
Sodom and Gomorrah
Long believed to be fiction, recently there’s evidence of subterranean deposits of a petroleum-based substance called bitumen, similar to asphalt, in the region south of the Dead Sea, with ruins evidenced with the fire of destruction of a great city.[1] Biblical archaeologist Bryant G. Wood has proposed identifying Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira with Sodom and Gomorrah.
The Bible’s Remarkable Fulfilled Prophecy
The Bible prophesies events and circumstances long before they occur which are later corroborated by history.
Prophecies about the Messiah written from 600 to 1,200 years before He came to earth
Prophecies including Christ’s virgin birth (Is. 7:14), His birth location (Mic. 5:2), the manner He would be tortured (Ps. 22:16)—prophesied before the invention of Roman crucifixion—how His clothes would be gambled over (Ps. 22:18), where He would be buried (Is. 53:9) and why He would go through such horrific suffering (Is. 53) provide numerous details of Christ long before He entered the world.
Alexander the Great
The Bible accurately describes Alexander’s meteoric rise to power, conquest of the Medo-Persian Empire, his sudden death, and the division of his empire and the siege of Tyre in Dan. 8:20-21, Dan. 10:20-11:4 and Ezekiel 26.
The Nation of Israel
The Destruction
Jesus prophesied the temple would be dismantled stone by stone (Matt. 24:2) which was an unbelievable feat since some weighed over 100 tons each! Yet this was historically confirmed in AD 70 when Titus sacked Jerusalem, burning the Temple by which gold melted and then hardened between the cracks of the stone foundations. In The Jewish War, Josephus writes the Roman army “demolished the entire city and level[ed] its buildings to the ground, (Book 7.1.1). The Romans dismantled every stone to get to the melted gold thus causing the destruction Jesus said would occur.
The Rebirth
Scripture specifically prophesied Israel would be gathered again to their own land (Ez. 36:24, Jer. 16:15) and that Israel would no longer be two nations but one (Ez. 37:22), birthing as a nation in one day (Is. 66:8). On May 14, 1948 the Jews declared independence for Israel as a united and sovereign nation and during that same day, the United States issued a statement recognizing Israel’s sovereignty. Further, only hours beforehand, a League of Nations mandate expired, ending British control of the land. Thus, during a 24-hour span of time, modern Israel was literally born in a single day as Scripture prophesied—and was no longer divided but one nation!
Examine the Evidence for Yourself
When someone presents an alleged biblical contradiction, read both passages in context, examine the surrounding chapters, the historical circumstances, the original-language, and the purpose of each writer.
Consult serious scholarship rather than relying exclusively on biased arguments.
The abundance of surviving manuscripts, historical corroboration, the biblical writings’ remarkable unity and awesome Biblical prophesies provide confidence to take Scripture seriously.
We invite you to open the Bible, investigate its claims, and discover for yourself the Savior to whom it points.
Sources
- “The Discovery of the Sin Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah,” by Bryant G. Wood, Bible and Spade, Summer 1999, pp. 67-80.
