Hello
Yes. There are contradictions in our Bibles. There are many passages in our Bibles which contradict other passages. Let’s start with one clear example:
- According to the gospel of Matthew, both the thieves crucified with Jesus abused him (Matthew 27:44). However, according to the gospel of Luke, only one of the thieves abused Jesus. The other one rebuked his fellow criminal and asked Jesus to remember him (Luke 23:39-43).
Clearly these two versions of the account of the crucifixion are inconsistent. One of these accounts may be true, but it is not possible that both are true. If one is true then someone, at some time, must have made an error in reporting the other one.
Here’s another example:
- What did Judas do with the money he was paid to betray Jesus ? The account in the gospel of Matthew says that he threw the money down in the temple and then went and hung himself (Matthew 27:5). The account in Acts says that Judas bought a field with the money (Acts 1:18).
Again, both accounts cannot be true.
So, there are, unquestionably, contradictions in our Bibles. In truth, there are lots of them; not just the two shown above.
Are these contradictions important? No, not really. If we focus on things that are truly important (like obeying Jesus’ commands) then the contradictions in our Bibles are not important. These contradictions only become important if someone is teaching others that there are no contradictions in our Bibles. Any teaching that there are no contradictions in our Bibles is a human teaching and it is incorrect. Anyone who teaches human teachings as if they were the truth should consider the words of Jesus when he was speaking to the religious teachers of his day.
“You charlatans! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.'” (Matthew 15:7-9)
Interestingly, it’s only in the last few hundred years that some churches have started teaching that our Bibles don’t have contradictions. Of course, this means they have had to find explanations for contradictions such as the ones shown above. Many explanations for these contradictions have been developed, some reasonable and some far-fetched, but the important thing is these explanations are not found in our Bibles. In our Bibles, we only have the contradictions.
So, there are contradictions in our Bibles and we don’t need to worry about them. We need to focus on the important things. What are the important things? Loving our loving heavenly Father and loving each other. Jesus said so.
May our loving, heavenly Father bless us, keep us safe, and guide us into his truth.
Jesus is Lord.
Peter O
Related Articles
“What did Jesus say about the Bible?”
“Who decided which writings would be included in our Bibles?”
“Why do people believe the Bible is inspired by God?”
This post is also available in:
Español (Spanish) 
العربية (Arabic) 
বাংলাদেশ (Bengali) 
हिन्दी (Hindi) 
Indonesia (Indonesian) 
日本語 (Japanese) 
اردو (Urdu) 
Русский (Russian) 
한국어 (Korean) 
繁體中文 (Chinese (Traditional))
There are a few passages where God corrects some of what we read from Moses. Jeremiah 7 comes to mind:
Jeremiah 7:21-27 NKJV
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat. [22] For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. [23] But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’ [24] Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. [25] Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. [26] Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. [27] “Therefore you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you.
I find this very interesting. Jesus references Daniel, Psalms, and the prophets, Abraham, Lot, days of Noah and so on. So Jesus came to fulfill and to bring the Truth. Yes there are men that wrote their experiences, but the example above speaks to burnt offerings and sacrifices. Men took what they heard and made the focus they deemed important (burnt offerings, sacrifices). I find this very interesting.
Hi there, I have just found your website after searching on Google the question “did Jesus ask people to read the bible?” I feel the same way, that a lot of the bible is just commentary and unnecessary. Funnily enough, I actually live 20 minutes away in Ocean Reef Perth. I have a question: when you refer to God as a He do you see him as a male figure? How do you see God? I’m curious to know. Thank you, Ale
Hello Ale
Thanks for your comment.
No. I don’t see God as a male figure. I think God is above, beyond, outside of, gender. (In the same way, I think God is above, beyond, outside of, religion.) I use masculine pronouns like “he” and “him” and “his” because the language flows better when I do, not because I regard God as male.
It’s not a simple issue. Following the commands of Jesus is very important for me, and Jesus consistently referred to God as “Father” and instructed his followers to do the same. So, this is how I address God when I pray. If Jesus tells me to address God as Father then that’s good enough for me. Also, unfortunately, the English language doesn’t have a gender-neutral, affectionate word that carries the same level of intimacy and love that “Father” (or “Mother”) does.
So, it’s a bit complicated. The good news is that God is a good and loving parent who doesn’t expect us, their children, to get everything right. He/she/they look at our hearts, where gender is, and the words we use are, unimportant. (See what I mean about language flowing?)
Thanks again.
God bless you.
Peter O
Thanks very much Peter for this perspective.
A