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Bible Difficulties

Bible Difficulties. Justin W. Bass, Ph.D.

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Bible Difficulties

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  1. Bible Difficulties Justin W. Bass, Ph.D.

  2. “At the end of my paper he made a simple one line comment that for some reason went straight through me. He wrote: ‘Maybe Mark just made a mistake’…I finally concluded, ‘Hmm…maybe Mark did make a mistake.’ Once I made that admission, the floodgates opened.” Bart Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus, 9

  3. “If we are perplexed by an apparent contradiction in Scripture, it is not allowable to say, the author of this book is mistaken; but either the manuscript is faulty, or the translation is wrong, or you have not understood.” St. Augustine, Contra Faustus 11.5

  4. Scribal Errors • Problem: 1 Sam 17:50-51 says that David killed Goliath but 2 Sam 21:19 says: “Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite…” • Facts: 1 Chron 20:5 says, “In another battle with the Philistines, Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmithe brother of Goliath the Gittite.” • Solution: “Lahmi the brother of” has dropped out of our MSS because of a scribal mistake but God has preserved the true reading in 1 Chron 20:5.

  5. Contradictions with Science • Problem: Joshua saysthe sun stood still (Josh 10:12-13), but we know that the sun always stands still and the earth revolves around the sun. • Solution: The book of Joshua and the Bible in general is not speaking scientifically but from observation. Josh 1:16 says “and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory” (Josh 1:4). We still today say the sun rose and the sun set, but we are not speaking scientifically but from observation.

  6. Contradictions with History • The Book of Mormon and the Quran • In 1906, Hugo Winckler uncovered a huge library of 10,000 clay tablets, which completely documented the lost Hittite empire. • In 1993 in Israel a stone containing the inscriptions “House of David” and “King of Israel” dating to the 9th century BC. • In 1920 in Egypt Bernard Grenfell found a fragment from the Gospel of John that dates to AD 125.

  7. Contradictions with History • Problem: Luke 2:1-2 says Quirinius was governor and enacted a census around Jesus’ birth 4-6 BC, but Josephus (Ant. 18.1-2) says this census took place in AD 6. • Facts: Dr. Luke has been declared by some of the most well known historians of the NT and Greco-Roman history as an “historian of highest rank.” William Ramsay investigated Luke’s references in Luke-Acts and Luke names 32 countries, 54 cities and 9 islands without error! • Solution: We don’t have all the data. Luke is mentioning a census that Josephus does not reference and there could have been two Quirinius’ or the same Quirinius was governor for both censuses. • Why always side with Josephus against Luke?

  8. The Four Gospels • “The two genealogies in St. Matthew and St. Luke. What could demonstrate more clearly that they were not done in collaboration?” Blaise Pascal, Pensées no. 268 • Ipsissima Verba vs. Ipsissima Vox • “As for the speeches made by various persons either on the eve of the war or during its actual course, it was difficult for me to remember exactly the words which I myself heard, as also for those who reported other speeches to me. But I have recorded them in accordance with my opinion of what the various speakers would have had to say in view of the circumstances at the time, keeping as closely as possible to the general gist of what was really said” Thucydides, 1.22 (400 BC)

  9. How did Judas die? Problem: Matt 27:5-8 says Judas hung himself and Acts 1:18-19 says: “falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.” Solution: The rope broke and he fell on some sharp rocks where his intestines spilled out.

  10. To Take a Staff or Not? Problem: In Mark 6:8 Jesus says take only one staff, and Matt 10:9-10 and Luke 9:3 seem to say take no staff. Facts: Matthew and Luke also say not to take “sandals” and they clearly mean “extra” sandals. “take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff” (Matt 10:10). Jesus did not send the disciples out barefoot! Solution: Matthew and Luke both imply that they should not take an “extra” staff just like they shouldn’t take “extra” sandals.

  11. This Generation will Not Pass Away Problem: Jesus says“Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” and “all these things” seems to include Christ’s second coming. Solution: It is the same generation Jesus is talking to and He, like the OT Prophets, is referring to the historical destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70 but there is a double fulfillment in this prophecy. Jesus Second Coming will exhaust this imagery

  12. Abiathar the High Priest Problem: In Mark 2:26 Jesus says that David at the showbread during the days of Abiathar the High Priest but Ahimelech not Abiathar was high priest at this time (1 Sam 21:1-7). Solution: It is the word that is translated “in the account of/days of” which has parallels with “in the account of the bush” (Mark 12:26) and “in the days of Elijah” (Luke 4:25) which references a certain section of OT Scripture. Abiathar was much more prominent than Ahimelech in the books of Samuel and the account this story falls in might have been known as “the account or days of Abiathar”

  13. Did Moses see God’s face or not? Problem: God says that Moses could not see His face (Exod 33:20), but just before that says Moses saw God “Face to face” (Exod 33:11). Solution: This is within 11 verses 33:11 and 33:20. Did this author contradict himself within 11 verses?! Clearly he means face in a different sense in each verse. Moses spoke to God face to face meaning he was in a close relationship with Him, but no one can see God’s face (His essence) and live.

  14. What day was Jesus Crucified? Problem: Mark 15:25 says Jesus was crucified on Friday at the third hour (9am) and John says on Friday at the sixth hour (12noon) Jesus was still on trial. Facts: Different nations in the ancient world used different calendars. “The day itself has been differently observed in different countries: by the Babylonians between two sunrises; by the Athenians between two sunsets; by the Umbrians from noon to noon; by the Roman priests and those who have defined the civil day, as the Egyptians also and Hipparchus, from midnight to midnight.” Pliny the Elder Natural History 2.77 Mark used a Jewish calendar (6pm-6am) and John a Roman (midnight to midnight) and so there is no discrepancy

  15. The Cursing of the Fig Tree • Problem: Mark says Jesus curses the fig tree, visits the temple and then later the disciples see it withered (Mark 11:12-14, 20-24). Matthew says the fig tree withered immediately (Matt 21:18-20). • Solution: Matthew is summarizing the event as he does in other places where Mark has much more detail. • Temple Mark 11:11 Fig tree Mark 11:12-14 Temple Mark 11:15-19 Fig tree Mark 11:20-21

  16. The Resurrection Accounts • All 5 accounts agree: • This took place early in the morning first day of the week on the third day after Jesus’ crucifixion • Mary Magdalene was first to go to the empty tomb • The stone was moved in some way • At least one angel spoke to the women • Other than Mark, the risen Jesus appeared to multiple people and individuals at various points in time.

  17. The Resurrection Accounts “The surface inconsistencies between Mark 16:1-8 and its parallels, of which so much is made by those eager to see the accounts as careless fiction, is in fact a strong point in favor of their early character. The later we imagine them being written up, let alone edited, the more likely it would be that inconsistencies would be ironed out. The stories exhibit exactly that surface tension which we associate, not with tales artfully told by people eager to sustain a fiction and therefore anxious to make everything look right, but with the hurried, puzzled accounts of those who have seen with their own eyes something which took them horribly by surprise and with which they have not yet fully come to terms. This strongly supports the idea that they were early, that they were not assimilated either to each other or to developed New Testament theology, and that the inconsistencies between them should not be allowed to stand in the way of taking them seriously as historical sources” NT Wright, Resurrection of the Son of God, 612-613

  18. The Resurrection Accounts 1.) There is an appearance to Peter not told in the Gospel accounts. “But go, tell his disciples and Peter…” (Mark 14:7) “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon” (Luke 24:34) “and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (1 Cor 15:5). 2.) Luke mentions only one when he knows there were more than one who went to the tomb. “But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened” (Luke 24:12). “So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb.” “Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see” (Luke 24:24).

  19. Justin W. Bass, Ph.D. Thank you. 1042 Lead Pastor 214-460-5872 justin@1042church.com

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