Chapter 5:

What is a Contradiction?
Are there contradictions within the Bible?

Footnotes

[1] See “Laws of thought,” Encyclopedia Britannica Online, http:// members.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=74149&sctn=1.

[2] This example, and other parts of this chapter, is from Evidence That Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 1993).

[3] “Paul the Apostle,” Encyclopedia Britannica Online, http:// members.eb.com/bol/topic?artcl=108605&seq_nbr=1&page=n&isctn=2. Emphasis added.

[4] “Ancient Rome,” Encyclopedia Britannica Online, http:// members.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=109199&sctn=6. Emphasis added.

[5] The explanations given may or may not be correct; what is important is that the solutions only show a plausible explanation. If a logical explanation can be found, then the critic’s assertion that “x and y are contradictory” becomes negligible.

[6] Between the creation of Adam and the creation of Eve in Genesis chapter 2, the KJV Bible says “Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air” (Gen. 2:19). On the surface, this seems to say that the land creatures and birds were created between the creation of Adam and Eve. However, ancient Hebrew scholars apparently did not recognize any conflict with the account in chapter 1, where Adam and Eve were both created after the creatures and birds (Gen. 1:23–25). Why is this? Because in Hebrew the precise tense of a verb is determined by the context. It is clear from chapter 1 that the beasts and birds were created before Adam, so Hebrew scholars would have understood the verb “formed” in Genesis 2:19 to mean “had formed” or “having formed.” If verse 19 is translated as follows (as in the NIV), “Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field,” the apparent disagreement with Genesis 1 disappears completely. Many people wrongly assume that Genesis 2 is just a different account of creation to that in Genesis 1. However, it should be evident that Genesis 2 is not meant as another account of creation because it says nothing about the creation of the heavens and the earth, the atmosphere, the seas, the land, the sun, the stars, the moon, the sea creatures, etc. Genesis 2 mentions only things directly relevant to the creation of Adam and Eve and their life in the Garden that God prepared specially for them. Genesis 1 may be understood as creation from God’s perspective; it is “the big picture,” an overview of the whole. Genesis 2 views the more important aspects from man’s perspective. (This footnote is largely derived from the article “Genesis Contradictions?” by Don Batten, Answers in Genesis, http://www.answersingenesis.org/ docs/1272.asp.)

[7] Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998).

[8] Sir Norman Anderson, Jesus Christ: The Witness of History (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1985), p.139.

[9] All the quotes in this paragraph are from The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.

[10] Ibid.

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