Question
Are there contradictions in the Bible?
Analysis
Real examples, stated plainly
The Bible itself contains the cases people cite. It is better to know them:
- How many animals on the ark: two of every kind (Genesis 6:19), and seven pairs of clean animals (Genesis 7:2). Our answer on this sets out how the two relate.
- How Judas died: he hanged himself (Matthew 27:5); he fell headlong and burst open (Acts 1:18). Also covered in its own answer.
- Who was at the empty tomb: the four Gospels name different women and different numbers of angels (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10; John 20:1).
- The hour of the crucifixion: the third hour (Mark 15:25) against a scene still underway at about the sixth hour in John 19:14.
- The census figures in 2 Samuel 24:9 and 1 Chronicles 21:5 do not match.
- The order of the temptations differs between Matthew 4:5; Matthew 4:8 and Luke 4:5; Luke 4:9.
The main views
| View | Position | Held by |
|---|---|---|
| Inerrancy | The original manuscripts contain no errors. Apparent conflicts are resolvable through genre, translation, or partial reporting, and where a resolution is not yet known, one is presumed to exist. | Most evangelicals; the Chicago Statement |
| Infallibility | Scripture is wholly trustworthy in what it teaches for faith and salvation. Incidental details of history or numbers may reflect the writers' own limits without undermining that. | Many Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and mainline positions |
| Human and divine together | The differences are what you expect when real people write real testimony. Harmonising too hard flattens four distinct portraits into one and loses what each writer was saying. | Held across traditions, common in modern scholarship |
| Critical | Some conflicts are genuine and reflect different sources, communities and periods. | Much academic biblical studies |
What the different sides agree on
- Numbers in ancient manuscripts are the most frequently miscopied element, and the census discrepancy is usually explained this way by scholars across the spectrum.
- Ancient historical writing did not aim at the precision modern readers assume. Compression, thematic rather than chronological order, and rounding were normal and not regarded as error.
- The variations between the Gospels are small next to their agreement, and their independence is part of why the core account is taken seriously historically.
- Two disputed passages are marked in most modern Bibles: the longer ending of Mark (Mark 16:9) and the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1). These are absent from the earliest manuscripts, and nearly all traditions now flag them openly rather than quietly.
Why our answer does not simply "resolve" them
Harmonisations exist for most of these, and many are reasonable. Some are strained. Presenting only the tidiest resolution as the answer would make the page more comfortable and less trustworthy, and comfort is not what this product sells. Where a real difficulty exists, we show it, show how the traditions handle it, and let the reader look at the verses themselves.