Lesson #20

Lesson #20

“But the Bible’s Full of Contradictions!”

It is no use pretending that there are no difficulties with the Bible. Some of the apparent contradictions are solved when we know more about the Bible; others may not be resolved in our lifetime.

The main purpose of the Bible is to teach us about God’s love for us in his plan of salvation. It is not to satisfy other questions that we may have in our minds. The best way to cope with supposed contradictions in the Bible, is for us to know how to interpret them correctly in the first place.

Interpreting the Bible

What is the Natural Sense of the Passage?

Christians believe that, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5 .) So God reveals himself in the Bible in ways we can understand.

Sometimes this means that the correct way to interpret a Bible passage is in a figurative way, not in a literal way. This applies to certain types of literature, such as apocalyptic literature which reveals hidden truths, for example the Book of Revelation. There we read, “These … have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14.) It is impossible for robes which have been washed in “blood” to come out “white.” John did not expect his readers to visualize this image, but to see it as a symbol.

When deciding how to interpret a passage in the Bible, ask yourself what the natural sense of the passage is – is it literal or figurative?

What is the General Sense of the Passage?

The Bible is in harmony with itself. When reading a verse or passage, we have to ask:

• How does it fit in with other teachings on the same subject in the Bible?

• What is its immediate context? (What is the subject matter of the paragraph, chapter and Bible book it is in?)

Do we have to believe that God literally wrote the Ten Commandments with his finger? Exodus 31:18 says, “When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.”

What is the general teaching in the Bible about the finger of God?

From these examples, we can conclude that the expression “the finger of God” is used in a special way in the Bible. It is a figure of speech meaning God’s direct intervention.

Four Interventions

• Intervention in creation: the heavens. Psalm 8:3

• Intervention in judgment: the plagues. Exodus 8:19

• Intervention in salvation: the exorcism of the demons. Luke 11:20

• Intervention in revelation: the giving of the law. Exodus 31:18

Source: Water, M. (1998). Bible Study made easy. The Made Easy Series (30). Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd.