For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Did Saul inquire of the Lord?
Here are the two answers which the skeptic believes indicate a Bible contradiction:
Saul inquired of the Lord.
“When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.” (1 Samuel 28:6)
Saul did not inquire of the Lord.
“So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, 14 and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore He killed him and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.” (1 Chronicles 10:13-14)
(All Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)
Here’s a closer look at whether or not there is a contradiction:
- When dealing with skeptics’ claim of Bible contradictions it seems one can never be reminded enough of what exactly is 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.
- One should be skeptical of whether this is a Bible contradiction given the Skeptic Annotated Bible’s track record of inaccurately handling the Bible. See the many examples of their error which we have responded to in this post: Collection of Posts Responding to Bible Contradictions. Of course that does not take away the need to respond to this claim of a contradiction, which is what the remainder of this post will do. But this observation should caution us to slow down and look more closely at the passages cited by the Skeptic Annotated Bible to see if they interpreted the passages properly to support their conclusion that it is a Bible contradiction.
- The skeptic tries to pit 1 Samuel 28:6 as affirming the claim “Saul inquired of the Lord.” against 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 as affirming “Saul did not inquire of the Lord.”
- Both verses were cited correctly by the skeptics. That is, 1 Samuel 28:6 does mention “Saul inquired of the Lord” and 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 does mentioned Saul did not inquire of the Lord.
- Still there is not a Bible contradiction here when we consider the timing of the chapter of our passage. Remember if one passage state Saul inquired of the Lord one moment that doesn’t contradict another passage that states he did not inquire of the Lord another moment. When we look at 1 Samuel 28:6 when Saul inquire of the Lord the context of that chapter took place when Saul sought a spirit medium to try to bring back the dead prophet Samuel. 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 on the other hand took place in a chapter in which Saul experience defeat and death. So seeing two different time when the verses said Saul inquired and not inquired of the Lord should make us doubt the skeptic’s claim that there is a contradiction.
- Furthermore when we look more closely at 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 which affirmed “Saul did not inquire of the Lord” we see this is an overall summary of Saul’s life.
- Turning again to 1 Samuel 28:6 we should understand “Saul inquired of the Lord” in the context of the rest of the book. All along Saul has disobeyed God and not seeking the Lord and His will. He only sought the Lord only after God finally stop revealing His will to Him. So when Saul “inquired of the Lord” it might seem at first glance a good sign but notice how the next verse in 1 Samuel 28:7 Saul went about inquiring of the Lord in an unbiblical manner. He sought a medium. This is prohibited in Scripture. Now Saul was sinning in the manner of how he inquired of God which should lead readers to question whether or not Saul seeking the Lord is genuine. The prophet Samuel appeared supernaturally and that rebuke certainly show Saul seeking the Lord as dubious. Thus we should understand “Saul inquired of the Lord” in 1 Samuel 28:6 as ironic instead of a genuine spiritual seeking of the Lord. So it does not contradict with 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 which affirmed “Saul did not inquire of the Lord” we see this is an overall summary of Saul’s life.
- The Hebrew verbs used for “inquired” in 1 Samuel 28:6 and 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 are also different. The verb in 1 Samuel 28:6 is שָׁאַל. This verb has the general idea of “ask.” Of course one can ask something insincerely. Our above discussion already made it clear that’s the case with Saul in 1 Samuel 28:6 contextually. On the other hand the verb in 1 Chronicles 10:14 is דָּרַשׁ. This verb has a dimension of worship, see the third definition here. Thus when 1 Chronicles 10:14 is saying that Saul did not inquire of the Lord it is in the sense of worshipping God. This does not contradict with 1 Samuel 28:6 of Saul superficially inquire of the Lord but not in a sense of sincere religious worship.
- Thus there is no contradiction here. Seems like the skeptics need to learn from our post How to Handle Bible Contradictions.
- We shouldn’t miss that worldviews are at play even with the skeptic’s objection to Christianity. The worldview of the author of the Skeptic Annotated Bible actually doesn’t even allow for such a thing as the law of non-contradiction to be meaningful and intelligible. In other words for him to try to disprove the Bible by pointing out that there’s a Bible contradiction doesn’t even make sense within his own worldview. Check out our post “Skeptic Annotated Bible Author’s Self-Defeating Worldview.”
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I told a college group once that it was as if Saul was that child wanting something, so he went to mom saying dad said it was okay if you did. It was about manipulation more than real answers. Today is a lot like the Name-it-and-claim-it Prosperity Gospel. (The New Apostolic Reformation stuff was not really on most people’s radar at the time, over 15 years ago.)
Good point brother. Have a blessed day today!
You, as well!
Very well done. Always appreciate this series.
Blessings.
Matter and anti-matter meet with the annottated bible.
The skeptic annotated Bible is so inaccurate and really just twist Scripture! I’m glad you read this and I hope you have a good Thursday Maw Maw
Have good Friday, My Grand.:)
Scuse me… Being from the south we use pasta and anti-pasta 🙂
I agree.:)
Good post love this!
I love this too
Thanks for this thorough rebuttal of another one of Steve/Stephen Wells’ irresponsible, cherry picking, pseudo-contradictions.
You’re welcome! It always takes time for me to read it in context, make relevant observation and then present it in what I hope is a systematic fashion. How was your day yesterday?
Yesterday and today are OK. Just plodding along in my job search activities. The insurance company sent me another request for medical information this morning as part of the application process. Four months of this. I should have started with another insurance company months ago, but if I did that now it would be another long process. How’s your day going?
Tom, there is so much difference between the skeptic who has an agenda, and what I call the honest skeptic. The latter is skeptical, but his aim is the discovery of truth. Thanks for doing these posts.
You’re welcome Jerry. That’s a helpful distinction. Grateful you read this and commented. Anything I can pray for you for?
Yes, Jim We’re praying for neighbors who went with us this week to Hamilton. Jack and Barb. She is taking chemo for cancer. Jack needs to find the Lord. Pray that something we shared with him will allow the Holy Spirit to speak to his inner man. Lord bless you man.
Seems most of those who go around saying there’s Bible contradictions aren’t the sincere type of skeptics
Man I love that answer, because they are really not looking for truth. If they were God would reveal it to them.
Living in the UK many are not Christians today and even Christians would say there’s a Bible contradiction. So glad you looked into these assertions from the atheists and expose how flawed their claims are.
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A job well done.
Seems the skeptics didn’t inquire the Bible carefully
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You put some thought into this.
A well written reply
Seeing the atheist attack here is laughable
The Skeptic Annotated Bible is a book of jokes
[…] Did Saul inquire of the Lord? […]
What a lesson for us to really seek the Lord and not come with ulterior motive
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