Show Me Those Problem Passages, Pastor!

A Continuation of Information (click for Part 1 and Part 2)

Prepared for Members of Rock Falls Baptist Church (Excelsior Springs, MO)

Fall 2003 in preparation for a visit by the Heartland Baptist Association Credentials Committee

We are hesitant to examine or explore possible discrepancies between passages of scripture for fear that such examination might endanger our faith in God and the Bible.  However, the ongoing Southern Baptist conflict makes it necessary to give a brief summation of the kinds of issues that occasionally surface concerning problematic passages.

Even inerrantists will admit and acknowledge that the Bible, as we now have it, contains some passages that seem to give conflicting accounts of events and/or activities that happened during biblical times.  People who are agnostic (not certain as to the existence of God) and atheistic (certain that God does not exist) have latched on to such passages in an effort to discredit the Bible and the Christian faith.  Numerous sites on the internet prepared by atheistic groups highlight such passages.  Some of the material that follows has been gleaned from such internet sites.

Atheistic people are quick to identify such problematic passages as “errors,” “contradictions,” and “mistakes.”  If they can prove the Bible is riddled with such errors, they assume they can undermine the role of the Bible in the life of believers.

We as Baptists have not helped matters by our unwillingness to address the problematic passages being cited by such atheistic groups and individuals.  Intimidated by such challenges we often choose to be like the proverbial ostrich with our head deeply buried in the sand of our homogenized, and often harmless, Bible studies.

In the material that follows, my intention is to surface a selection of such passages in order to challenge the reader to reflect upon how such discrepancies could have entered into scripture and what it means and matters that such passages exist.  Rather than create my own list, I have opted to draw from a list of an atheistic website which calls their list “A List of Biblical Contradictions.”

The material selected  is representative, not comprehensive.  It is not my intention to be critical of scripture but to demonstrate the kinds of issues that lie embedded in our current conflict among Southern Baptists.  Biblical scholars have attempted to address such problematic passages.  They often have used tools of historical, literary, and biblical criticism to shape possible reasons for such passages.  Inerrantists have grudgingly acknowledged the existence of such passages and have been forced to theorize that the “original autographs” did not contain these discrepancies, hence the inerrant word of God is limited to those “original autographs” which have not been found and may no longer exist.

Ten Problematic Passages Examined

The ten passages selected for examination are examples of some of the difficulties facing those who seek to teach and interpret scripture.  Although the Bible has been scoured for such passages more extensively than any other written material, only such peripheral and superficial discrepancies as are represented here have ever been identified.  While we should acknowledge that such discrepancies exist we are able to find assurance that nothing of substance relating to faith and practice has been identified as problematic.

Because many Baptists hail the King James Version of the Bible as the most satisfying and perfect of translations I have elected to utilize the King James Version (KJV) of each of the passages cited.  The underlined portion of each passage indicates the area of discrepancy or conflict with the comparative passage.  Readers of the same passages in the New International Version (NIV) will note that the NIV has changed some of these problematic passages to bring more consistency.  Footnotes at each passage indicate the change that has been made and the manuscript evidence for such a change.

Matthew 1: 16    “and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”

Luke 3: 23      “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

II Samuel 6: 23      “Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.”

II Samuel 21: 8 “But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathtite:”

A translater’s note in the NIV indicates that most manuscripts use the name Michal, though a few use the name of Merab.

II  Kings 24: 8      “Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months.  And his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.”

II Chronicles 36:9      “Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem”

II Samuel 24:13 “So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? Or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee?”

I Chronicles 21:11 “So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee.”

II Samuel 24:1  “And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.”

I Chronicles 21:1  “And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.”

Acts 9:7      “And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.”

Acts 22:9      “And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.”

Matthew 5: 16    “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Matthew 6: 3-4   “But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

Matthew 27: 5     “And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”

Acts 1: 18      “Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.”

Matthew 27: 34    “They gave him vinegar to drink mixed with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.”

Mark 15:23      “And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.”

Matthew 28: 1     “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.”

Mark 16: 1      “And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.”

John 20:1      “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.”