Having thus far refuted 106 alleged Bible contradictions listed by the Skeptic Annotated Bible I noticed over time a pattern of repeated mistakes made when there’s an assertion of a contradiction from the Bible.
In dealing with alleged Bible contradictions its always important to keep the definition of what’s a contradiction front and center in one’s mind before dealing with specific examples. As given in many of my posts here’s the definition of a contradiction: “A contradiction occurs when two or more claims conflict with one another so that they cannot simultaneously be true in the same sense and at the same time. To put it another way, a Bible contradiction exists when there are claims within the Bible that are mutually exclusive in the same sense and at the same time.”
Below I list eight types of frequent mistakes made by the skeptics so that readers can be equipped in identifying frequent errors made when someone claimed two or more passages of Scripture are contradicting. Some of these types of errors are over-lapping.
Verses that do not support skeptic’s claims
How many blind men were healed near Jericho? The skeptic thinks that in asking this question a Bible contradiction can be seen. The skeptic on the website claimed that one of the Bible verses said “only one.” But that’s not true. The verse doesn’t say that. Other examples where the verse cited does not support the skeptic’s premise/claim can be seen in this post: “Who argued in favor of occupying Canaan during the Exodus?” and “Was Jesus the son of David?”
Claims that are not Mutually Exclusive
What was Sodom’s sin? Here the skeptics gives us a list of sins. But all the sins of Sodom listed by Scripture are not mutually exclusive. And if they are not mutually exclusive they are not a contradiction. Other examples include:
- What did the Centurion call Jesus when he died?
- Who buried Jesus?
- Did Judas identify Jesus with a kiss?
- What did the sign over Jesus’s head say?
- When did the women (or woman) arrive at the sepulchre?
Difference of Time
Did or did not the Samaritans receive Jesus? Remember in order to demonstrate a contradiction, it’s not merely enough to show two claims, A and B, are opposite of one another and are mutually exclusive. One need to further demonstrate claim A and B are in opposition to one another at the same time. Other examples include:
- How many were from the tribe of Simeon?
- Where did the women watching the crucifixion stand?
- Who put the robe on Jesus?
- Did both thieves revile Jesus?
- Where did Moses get water from a rock?
- When was Jesus rejected by the people in his hometown of Nazareth?
Different Sense of the same word being used
Did Jesus say he would always be with his disciples? This is an example of something we can see in the English where different sense of presence is being used. A notorious example of the skeptics making this mistake is with the Hebrew word בֵּן. The range of meaning for בֵּן include “son” but it can also be translate in English as “grandson.” This mistake can be seen when the skeptic asked “Were Naaman and Ard the sons or the grandsons of Benjamin?” This particular error frequently appear in the Skeptic Annotated Bible:
- Who Was Achan’s father?
- Who was Laban’s father?
- Was Zechariah Iddo’s son or grandson?
- Was Jehu the son or grandson of Nimshi?
- Who was Korah’s father?
Confusion of Names
Sometimes two individuals can have the same name. See “How long did Jehoash reign?” and “When was King Jabin killed?” Yet other times an individual can have more than one name. See “Who were the sons of David born in Hebron?,” “What was the name of the tax collector who was called by Jesus?” and “What is God’s name?”
Ignorance of Geography
A good example of this kind of mistake can be seen in “Did Jesus ascend from Bethany or Mount Olivet?” Here the error is the skeptic doesn’t even know the locations mentioned so they think its a contradiction. Sometimes its ignorance of the history of a geographical location, see “What tribe was Aijalon from?” and “Which tribe was Hyram from?” Other times knowledge of where the geographical location of an event takes place is a contribution factor in resolving an alleged contradiction, see “Burying and Saying Bye to Parents in Luke 9:59-62” and Did Joshua kill everyone in Gezer?
Ignorance of the Original Language
Was Mary (the mother of Jesus) blessed? This alleged Bible contradiction centers on the meaning of the Greek word Μενοῦν. We have seen above the issue with the skeptic not understanding the lexical range of the meaning of the Hebrew term בֵּן. Other examples of lexical mistakes and also verbal functions can be seen in the examples below:
- Was Jairus’ daughter alive when Jesus was approached?
- Where did the devils ask not to go?
- Did Jehoiakim die in Babylon or near Jerusalem?
- Was Jonah swallowed by a fish or a whale?
- How was Zedekiah related to Nebuchadnezzar?
Ignorance of Textual Criticism
Sometimes the skeptics aren’t skilled in the field of textual criticism of Scripture. For more on Textual Criticism check out our series “We can know the words of the Old Testament: Table of Contents”
TY for this.:) Even an old lady can see the truth.:))
Aww glad to hear that! I’m going to be teaching this tonight with our church’s Bible study tonight, pray for that if you can!
Always in prayer for you and yoursl.:)
Even as a younger Christian as myself I can see through the skeptics’ charade that is exposed here…
Amen.:)
[…] Frequent Mistakes Skeptics Make with Alleged Bible Contradictions […]
This is a very helpful list, brother, thank you so much!
Listing out common mistakes is helpful.
I second that mate.
Good work, Slim. 🙂
Nice job, brother! This is very helpful to see how Wells and other skeptics make the same interpretive mistakes repeatedly.
Thanks! I spent some time going through the lists of what I have refuted to see if there’s pattern and it took a while to write up this post but then I was glad the legwork of refuting them were already done; how is your leg doing?
RE: Leg.
Thanks, brother. I only had to ice it up once during the night last night so that’s an improvement! Amazing how a little bee sting is still working 5 days later!
Now this is really good. Thanks.
[…] Frequent Mistakes Skeptics Make with Alleged Bible Contradictions — Excellent resource! […]
Seems these mistakes are made repeatedly by the author of the Skeptic Annotated Bible.
Yet the skeptics never learn with their frequent mistakes!
And yet, they go on and on. Thanks for addressing these skeptic fails, Jim!
You’re welcome! I imagine there’s more other frequent mistakes they make as I refute more of them. Thank you for your comment. Going tangent, will you be doing more work to update your second edition of the game?
Yeah, I’m making some changes to correct a mistake in the first edition and adding some more information that I was wrestling with for awhile. Lots of work on the Game Master’s Guide as well.
Thanks for sharing SlimJim and teaching on this; very helpful ☺️.
[…] 4.) Frequent Mistakes Skeptics Make with Alleged Bible Contradictions […]
Thanks! This is good. 😊
If you ever teach this to your church you should record it
Wow this is good . Thank you.
You’re welcome, have a blessed Lord’s Day tomorrow! I’m glad you’ll be able to be near a sound church Crissy…
Yes, if the Lord wills maybe I continue attending my current one.
The Lord’s blessings pastor Jim
Helpful for me to deal with my co-workers.
Please forgive me for this late message. I had surgery earlier this week, and have been behind on all of my work, preparing for the surgery, and ever since then. I truly wish you rich blessings from God, as you bless others.
[…] This is an example of the skeptics’ ignorance of geography, a Frequent Mistakes Skeptics Make with Alleged Bible Contradictions. […]
I think these are the frequent types of mistakes and the skeptics aren’t as profound readers of the Word as they make themselves out to be.
Really neat to see you lay it all out!
Knowing these 8 types of misinterpretation of the Bible is helpful the next time some unbeliever says “The BIble has contradictions!”
[…] Are there other ways they are misinterpreting the text? For more possible ways one can twist the Scripture see our Frequent Mistakes Skeptics Make with Alleged Bible Contradictions. […]
[…] Frequent Mistakes Skeptics Make with Alleged Bible Contradictions […]
Going to save and review this before my evangelism
[…] https://veritasdomain.wordpress.com/2019/07/30/frequent-mistakes-skeptics-make-with-alleged-bible-co… […]
I’ve never thought about textual criticism before and I imagine must skeptic probably have never heard of it.
Every time a skeptic says there’s a contradiction they should consult this article first
Thanks for your exciting article. Seeing how frequent these bad reasoning happen we can conclude the atheist is trying to systematically twist God’s Word
[…] skeptic can look here for a primer on mistakes they make when claiming contradictions in the […]
Reblogged this on From The Darkness Into The Light and commented:
Great Christian writer for deep studies
This can easily be a Sunday School teaching outline to hand out or email
This is a helpful checklist to consult each time the skeptics tell you a contradiction
[…] Frequent Mistakes Skeptics Make with Alleged Bible Contradictions […]
Someone shared this on discord. it is often a context issue here. it is about parts that are missing in the atheist reading. it becomes a context issue when the part are their and are being ignored.
This is a good lesson to be equipped dealing with these so called contradictions. So many slanders online by skeptics, this goes against the tide of fake news about the Bible
[…] Frequent Mistakes Skeptics Make with Alleged Bible Contradictions MP3 ARTICLE […]
[…] Are there other ways they are misinterpreting the text? For more possible ways one can twist the Scripture see our Frequent Mistakes Skeptics Make with Alleged Bible Contradictions. […]
So true your article! Don’t know whether to laugh or mourn
Many skeptics don’t care if they accurately represents others. The author of the skeptic annotated Bible is the worst. He’s been repeating the same disproven junk for decades now. Then there’s Dan Barker of Freedom from Religion who have been debated and corrected, it doesn’t matter. I’m laughing that there are atheists who actually listen to these guys and take their handling of the Bible at their word by faith 😆
Atheists be like: Stop making sense. It’s confusing 🤦♂️
Again, and again, and again, the atheists take verses ripped out of context, are put up in order to stir an argument. Shame.
[…] that the Bible is “fuLL oF cOnTraDicTioNs!” by those who are unfamiliar with the common mistakes that skeptics make when they make such claims. In a recent online discussion, a God-denier claimed that that Bible was […]
Excellent summary of frequent tactics of those who are doing Satan’s work
[…] Frequent Mistakes Skeptics Make with Alleged Bible Contradictions […]