The Bible Skeptic: What Accounts for the Alleged Errors in the Bible? The Denier

What Accounts for the Alleged Errors in the Bible?

The Denier

Regardless of the level of belief in the inerrancy of Scripture that Christians (in particular) may hold, skeptics of such a belief argue that textual problems do exist in the stories of the Old and New Testaments. Even those Christians who profess a literal reading of Scripture sometimes concede that certain obvious problems exist in the text.[1] How they handle these problems, however, differ from believer to believer.

Generally, I have found that believers will deal with these issues through two main courses: denial or compromise. Denial is obvious but can take many forms. For instance, if a problem with the text is pointed out to a believer in biblical inerrancy, they may claim that the error only exists in the minds of those who are not "filled with the Holy Spirit". They may claim that the Bible makes perfect sense to those who read it while instilled with the Spirit of God and that such issues as those pointed out by the skeptic simply don't exist when read with this particular eye.[2]

But such an explanation is of little help for a broader and more universal understanding of the text. If the Bible is really the word of a divine being whose sole intent is on rescuing humankind from its own sin (as Christians maintain is the reason for the Scriptures), one would naturally assume this deity's text would be more accessible and comprehensible to a larger number of people than merely those lucky enough (or chosen) to be filled with the Holy Spirit. How can one prove the objective existence of this Holy Spirit by which others, not so imbued with it, may discover its secrets and be blessed with reading the Bible error-free? If such defenders of biblical inerrancy use this argument, there is little to stop a Buddhist from asserting that Christians, lacking Enlightenment and the awareness of their own Buddha Nature, are unable to see the truth of the Buddhist Sutras because they are being deceived by an illusion. The Buddhist, using this same course of argumentation, could try to persuade the Christian that if only the Christian would abandon their faith in the illusion of "salvation" and meditate on the truths of Buddhism then the Christian would be freed from the shackles of this illusory world and attain Enlightenment, freeing themselves from suffering and the cycle of rebirth. Such an argument would likely not be very convincing to the devout Christian who denies any problems in the Bible by simply asserting an emotional appeal of reading beyond biblical discrepancies and contradictions only when filled with the unverifiable "Holy Spirit". Such reasoning is very rarely, if ever, convincing to a skeptic.

Others who deny any errors in the Bible may try to harmonize troubling texts. For instance, the New Testament records two different ways in which the character Judas dies following his betrayal of Jesus. The gospel of Matthew (27:1-5) reports that Judas finds a tree and from it hangs himself. In the book of Acts (1:15-18), there is the story that Judas falls (from where, from what cause we are not told) and his bowels burst forth from his "middle." Harmonizers of the text may explain this apparent discrepancy by asserting that Judas did indeed hang himself as is reported in Matthew's gospel. They will then insert a joining narrative that is not found in either Matthew's gospel or the book of Acts. They will claim that the branch upon which Judas tied his rope hung out over a cliff. They will then claim that this branch broke under the weight of the dying Judas, plunging the man to some rocks below the precipice. At this point they will allow the narrative in Acts to return and state that it was upon these rocks that Judas split open his abdomen and died [3] . Such harmonization, of course, requires reading into the text additional narrative that is not supplied by the original authors of the alleged contradictions and discrepancies. In effect, harmonizers of discrepant texts write their own narratives which do not exist in the original scriptures. Nowhere in the gospel of Matthew (or any of the other gospels) or the book of Acts does it state that the tree upon which Judas hanged himself overlooked a cliff. Nowhere in the New Testament does it state that the branch broke upon which Judas was hanging. In fact, simply reading the texts as they are given presents a clear discrepancy between the ways in which the respective authors intended their readers to view Judas' death. If the stories are indeed simply "part one" and "part two" of a larger narrative of how Judas historically died, why did neither of these authors simply write out the entire event?

Denying problems in the text by either ignoring them, stating that they don't exist when read under supernatural influence, or by trying to harmonize discrepancies by introducing material not supplied by the original narratives, does not make such problems magically go away. It is impossible to convince some believers in biblical inerrancy that certain textual, historical and scientific errors exist in the Bible. Other believers, however, have recognized that there are apparent errors in the text and instead create elaborate explanations to smooth over these problems. They do so by compromising with the text and offering "solutions" that they feel make the apparent errors go away.

NOTES

1. As was explained in an online forum by a professing Christian: "I am appealing to biblical authority - the accuracy and truthfulness of what the Bible records. Is it perfectly accurate and perfectly truthful? I know of several places where I know it isn't. Errors by scribes could account for some of the problems. There's also the problem of translation. A translation is certainly going to be less accurate than the original. Translators can be swayed by their biases. There is also a cultural barrier and the use of ancient idioms in the Bible which are difficult for we modern westerners to understand. It seems to me that there are many things in the Bible which are intentionally written in a mysterious or puzzling way. This doesn't seem at all inconsistent with God's nature as He is revealed in the Bible. Overall, I am impressed with the Bible on my nightstand and 'believe' it is largely truthful and largely accurate. I don't read Hebrew or Greek. Furthermore even if I could I would not be able to read any of the original manuscripts from the pen of the writer - they don't exist. Did they write by some mysterious processes of revelation/inspiration? I believe they did, even though I'm at a loss to prove it. My faith was not born of a head full of the Bible, but just a few scriptures which the Holy Spirit used to convince me of my sinful nature and to introduce me to Jesus." Link. Return to text

2. Such believers may point to I Corinthians 2:9-14 which reads, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him, but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." Return to text

3. "Probably the circumstances are much as follows: Judas suspended himself from a tree on the brink of the precipice overhanging the valley of Himmon, and the limb or the rope gave way; and he fell and was mangled as described in Acts." (p. 349) Haley, John W. (1974), Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible (Nashville,TN: Gospel Advocate). Return to text