Bible Contradictions | Dr. Deen Islam

Contradiction found in the Bible

Take or Not Take Staff? Who is right? Mark or Matthew?

Mark 6:8. King James Version

8 And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:

Matthew 10:9-15. King James Version

9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,

10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.

Matthew 10:9-15. New International Version

9 “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— 10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.

Jairus Daughter Dead or Alive? Who is right? Mark or Matthew?

Mark 5:21-43. New International Version

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him,

“My little daughter is dying (NOT DEAD YET). Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.

41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Matthew 9:18-26. New International Version

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

18 While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said,

“My daughter has just died (SO SHE DIED). But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Hebrews 5:6-8 (New International Version)

6 And he says in another place,

“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”[a]

7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered

“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.”

Matthew 28:16-17

That should be a red flag.

When I meet one of my buddies at Starbuck’s for coffee I have never paused to think, “Is that really, Jim? Is Jim really here? Am I imaging this? I don’t think I see Jim. Does everyone else see Jim?” The passage tells us that Jesus’ appearances to the disciples after the resurrection were of a type and quality that immediately provoked doubt in those who had known Jesus intimately.

The gospel accounts of Jesus’ death and resurrection are filled with contradiction and confusion. This is a problem because the death and resurrection of Jesus are foundational Christian dogma and a specific, theologically technical belief is required for eternal salvation. As the Apostle Paul says:

“And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

1 Corinthians 15:14

Of course when Paul wrote this Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John had not been written. The stories of Jesus were shared verbally from place to place. And like a game of Telephone, by the time the story got to the last person the story changed.

This is a problem for Christians for two reasons. First, this undermines the historical confidence we have in the biblical accounts. We can be certain errors have crept into the Jesus story. Second, this contradicts the belief of many Christians that the Bible is the perfect Word of God. I will demonstrate that the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection is full of discrepancies and contradictions. I will simply state the contradictions and then provide each scripture texts so that you can easily read and evaluate them for yourself.

(New Testament scholar & best selling author Bart Ehrman is the source of this list.)

What day did Jesus die on?

Jesus died the day after the Passover meal was eaten. Mark 14:12-16:

“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?” So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.”

Jesus died the day before the Passover meal John 19:14-16:

“It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.”

2. What time was Jesus crucified?

9:00 AM

Mark 15:25 “It was nine in the morning when they crucified him.”

12:00 Noon

John 19:14-16 “It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.”

3. Did Jesus carry his cross all the way to Golgotha or did Simon of Cyrene carry the cross?

Jesus carried his own cross.

John 19:17 “Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).”

Simon of Cyrene carried Jesus’ cross

Mark 15:21 “A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.”

Matthew 27:32 “As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.”

Luke 23:26 “As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.”

4. Did both criminals crucified with Jesus mock Jesus or did only one of them mock Jesus and the other defended Jesus?

Both criminals mocked Jesus

Mark 15:32 “Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.”

Matthew 27:44 “In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.”

Only one criminal mocked Jesus

Luke 23:40-43 “But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

5. Did the curtain in the temple rip in half before or after Jesus died?

The temple curtain was torn first and then Jesus died.

Luke 23:45-46 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Jesus died first and then the temple curtain was torn.

Mark 15:37-38 “With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”

Matthew 27:50-53 And 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 from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

6. Who went to the tomb on the third day? Mary alone or Mary with other women? If with other women, how many, which ones, and what were their names?

Only Mary Magdalene

John 20:1 “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.”

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome

Mark 16:1 “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.”

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary

Matthew 28:1 “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.”

The Women

Luke 24:1 “On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.”

7. Was the stone rolled away from Jesus tomb before the woman/women arrived or not?

The stone was already rolled away

Mark 16:4 “But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away..”

Luke 24:2 “They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.”

John 20:1 “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.”

The stone was rolled away after the women arrived

Matthew 28:2 “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.”

8. What did they see in the tomb: one man, two men, or one angel?

A young man in a white robe

Mark 16:5 “As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.”

Two men in gleaming white clothes

Luke 24:4 “While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.”

An angel of the Lord

Matthew 28:2 “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.”

9. What were the women told to tell the disciples?

Stay in Jerusalem

Luke 24:49 “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Go to Galilee

Mark 16:7 “But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

Matthew 28:7 “Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

10. Did the women tell people about Jesus’ resurrection or were they silent?

The women tell the disciples.

Matthew 28:8 “So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples”.

John 20:18 “Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.”

The women tell the disciples and others.

Luke 24:9 “When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.”

The women told no one.

Mark 16:8 “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”

11. Did the disciples stay in Jerusalem or did they immediately go to Galilee?

The disciples stayed in Jerusalem.

Luke 24:49-53 “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Acts 1:14 “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk (almost 2 miles) from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”

The disciples went to Galilee.

Matthew 28:16 “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.”

Possible Explanations for the Contradictions in the gospels

Corroboration without Collaboration

Some would say it is normal for witnesses to remember an event differently. What is important is that the core story and the essential facts are correct. But Christians do not claim that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are merely subjective human reports which submit to critical analysis in order to determine what is actually true. No, Christians believe these are the perfect, inspired Words of God. It is clear that the gospels fail the test of perfection with at least 11 clear contradictions.

All of these apparent contradictions can be harmonized.

Harmonization is when people speculate on ways that contradictions might be resolved. For example someone will assert that although John only mentions that Mary went to Jesus’ tomb it doesn’t actually say Mary and no one else. The other women were probably there but just not mentioned by John. Of course you can do that type of ‘harmonization’ with many of these examples. But these ‘harmonizations’ would be better labeled, at best, ‘speculative rationalizations’.

The Gospels provide portraits rather than photographs.

John Piper waxes eloquent as he describes the gospels as interpretive portraits like the Mona Lisa and her enigmatic smile. Each gospel presents a portrait of Jesus that brings out different qualities and characteristics of Jesus and Jesus’ message. But the portrait would fail if the artist gave the subject two noses, reversed the gender, or put someone else’s face on the subject. While the portrait metaphor may address some of the stylistic and thematic differences between the 4 gospels it does not explain discrepancies in objective facts. When we cannot trust the author’s presentation of objective facts the text fails as a historical text.

Maybe is was a scribal error.

raig speculates that it was a scribal error. Along the way someone copied it incorrectly. That incorrect copy was copied into so many subsequent texts that it became accepted as fact rather than error. It could be. But the entire biblical canon is vulnerable to those kind of errors. Especially when you realize that many of the Old Testament texts circulated orally for centuries before they were written down. In the New Testament the stories of Jesus circulated orally for decades before they were recorded. While it is likely that there are many historical truths in the Gospels these were likely changed and embellished with each retelling. It is much more likely that the Gospels are engaging, audience friendly legends than careful historical accounts.

The Gospels are not the perfect, inspired Word of God

The Gospels and the Bible certainly have great value in their representation of Judaism and Christianity. But are the gospels objective historical texts by modern standards? No. Are they perfect oracles representing the Word of God? No. The Gospels are a mixture of history, legend, authorial bias, and organizational agenda. Of course you are a free agent and you are entitled to believe whatever you want to believe. But those who choose to believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus cannot present the perfect, inerrant Word of God as the authority for their belief with rationale integrity.

Christian Fallacies

▶ Appeal to emotion (fear or happy reward): “Believe that god is real--or go to hell.” >< “If you believe what I believe you will have everlasting life and will never die. Isn’t that nifty?”

▶ False analogy (comparing two things that are not equivalent): “Faith in god is just as reasonable as having faith that a chair will not collapse when you sit in it.” (this is analogous ONLY when the chair is invisible)

▶ False cause (correlation does not equal causation): “The universe is complex. We know complex things are caused by a designer. The universe is clearly designed by a designer.” (FYI -- Simplicity is the hallmark of design. NOT complexity)

▶ Special pleading (an unjustified exception): “Everything that exists had a beginning—except God, he didn’t—and he is eternal. Everything else, though, for sure. But God is the exception!”

▶ Equivocation fallacy (confusing different meanings of a word): “Faith in god is trusting that he’s real--just like the trust you have that your spouse isn’t cheating on you.”

▶ False dichotomy (falsely limiting options to only 2--when there may be more): “If a god didn’t create the universe then it must have popped out of nothing.” >< “If evolution isn’t real, then divine creationism wins by default.”

▶ Personal incredulity (argument from ignorance): “I can’t see how the universe could exist naturally, without a magical god to create it. So, obviously, a magical creator god created the universe.”

▶ Strawman fallacy (presenting a cartoon version of an opposing argument): “Atheists think that the universe popped out of nothing! Which is why they believe in nothing!”

▶ Shifting the burden of proof (avoiding their claim): “I say Big Foot is real--you say you don’t believe me! Show me proof that Big Foot isn’t real!”

▶ Guilt by association (Hitler, Stalin, etc): “Hitler was an atheist! Don’t be like Hitler.” (FYI -- Hitler claimed -- many, many times -- to be a Christian)

What Defines Modalism?

Like Christians, adherents to modalism believe that God is one in essence. However, modalists differ in how they view God’s personality. Christians believe God is three separate, eternal Persons with unique roles. Modalists believe God is one entity who changes modes as He sees fit. Hence, He was God the Father in the Old Testament, shifted into God the Son (Jesus Christ) in the New Testament, and now operates as the Holy Spirit.

Sabellianism

In Christian theology, God is believed to exist as three ''persons'' known as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Sabellianism is the belief that instead of being three persons, these are actually three ''modes'' or ''aspects'' of the same god.

The idea of modalism is simple enough - God has different "modes" of being, kind of like an actor who simply appears with different masks in different situations [1]. If the same person is merely appearing in multiple forms simultaneously, there are some weird situations in Scripture that result, and have implications that are dicey.

When Jesus is Baptised, a voice from heaven declares, "This is my son, with whom I am well pleased". If Jesus is just a different view of the same God, why would he say something like this, to himself? It makes God seem a bit arrogant, frankly.
When Jesus is on the cross, he cries out "Father, Why have you forsaken me?" How could he forsake himself if he is the same person forsaking and forsaken. Note - specifically in relation to the cross, the view that the Father was on the cross is a heresy known as Patripassianism - from "the Father suffering"
In Hebrews 9:14, "the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offer[s] himself unblemished to God". How can Christ offer his own blood to himself if he is the same person? Unless that were somehow possible, Substitutionary Atonement is also invalid.(See Note 2)

By maintaining the distinct personalities (and personhood) of each part of the Trinity, you avoid all of these ridiculous to downright bad implications.

Unitarians charge that the Trinity, unlike Unitarianism, fails to adhere to strict monotheism. Unitarians maintain that Jesus was a great man and a prophet of God, perhaps even a supernatural being, but not God himself.

Different forms of belief

There are many different forms of belief.

Immanent – This is the belief that God is nearby and we can feel His presence. This might help a religious believer as they feel God hears them and cares for them.

Transcendent – This is the belief that God is completely different to us and outside our world. This might help a religious believer when they pray because God is outside the situation and can provide that outside help.

Omnipotent – This is the belief that God is all-powerful. This might help a religious believer because it means God is more powerful than the difficult circumstances we face and God can rescue us.

Omniscient – This is the belief that God is all-knowing. This might help a religious believer because it means God knows more than we do and we have to trust Him to know what is right for us.

Omnipresent – This is the belief that God is everywhere. This might help a religious believer when they pray because they know God hears them wherever they might be.

Omnibenevolent – This is the belief that God is absolutely good. This might help a religious believer because they know that God is completely pure and nothing He does is ever bad or evil.

Knowable – This is the belief that although He is God, we can know Him. This can best be seen through prayer when humans can speak to God. For Christians, Jesus is the perfect example of how God is knowable because people spent time with God in human flesh.

Unknowable – This is the belief that because God is completely different to us we can never really know Him.

Monotheism – This is the belief in one God. For example, Christianity and Islam are monotheistic.

Polytheism – This is the belief that there are many gods.

Click Below!