(This is an essay that I wrote almost a year ago -it can be found in the archives here- and recently revised quite a bit.)
If you are going to read a history book, you trust that everything in it is factual, right? When you read the Bible, which is made up of historical narratives as well as poetry, parables, teaching letters, and prophecies, can you trust that it, too, is factual? Hasn’t it been proven to have many contradictions? Some might say so. But if you were to take a closer look at the so-called discrepancies, you would see that they are not contradictions at all. My name is Deanna Leiber and I would like to show you why I believe the Bible is, in fact, the infallible Word of God.
Jim Meritt, an anti-creationist engineer with an MS in physiochemical oceanography, wrote a list of 70 supposed self-contradictions of the Bible. The first one will be examined here:
"Leviticus 11:13 And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey… (Leviticus 11:19) …and the lapwing, and the bat."
There is a rather simple explanation for this seeming error. The Hebrew word used here, owph, that was translated as "fowls" in the King James Version, has been translated as "birds" in others. Although "bird" is usually a suitable translation, owph literally translates to mean any creature that "has a wing." Owph is used in verse 20 to describe insects, so it would make sense that owph could describe a bat as well.
But aren’t there more than twenty-five translations of the Bible in the English language alone? How can they possibly be reliable after so many translations by imperfect people? We know that the Bible was written by at least forty writers over a span of around two thousand years. They were all inspired by God, who is perfect, and therefore His writings through His writers are perfect; and though there are so many different translations of the Bible, each translation came from the documents closest to the originals that were available.
The accepted versions of the Old Testament that we have today were all translated from the oldest and most significant Hebrew manuscripts, which are the Masoretic Text (on which Hebrew Old Testaments are based today) and the Dead Sea Scrolls (which actually confirmed the accuracy of the Masoretic Text). Another version of the Old Testament is the Septuagint, an early Greek translation of the Old Testament from the third century BC. But this translation is erroneous and self-contradictory as a result of the many different times it was revised, the sometimes literal and sometimes loosely paraphrastic translations of different sections, and the differing skill levels of the interpreters. It cannot be trusted over the Hebrew texts from which our modern Old Testament came. So, although there have been unreliable translations of the Bible, they aren’t the ones we use today. Thus, we can trust modern translations because we know that they didn’t come one after another or from poorly interpreted manuscripts.
Hasn’t it been found that many of the Bible’s narratives actually came from other cultures’ myths and traditions? Many cultures do have legends about a great flood; strikingly similar to that of the Genesis Flood. The Hawaiians, for example, have a legend that tells of Nu’u (a name strikingly similar to Noah) and his sons being instructed by the great god Kane to build a giant canoe that "looked like a house that floats" so that they might survive a global flood. There are countless other cultures with legends similar to this, leading one to think that rather than the Genesis account of the flood being borrowed, these other legends are simply faulty versions of the same story.
A better question though, might be: is the Flood of Noah is even scientifically probable? Paul N. Tobin, an avid atheist who claims to have once been a Christian, thought he had an answer to this question. In his article regarding so-called fallibility of the Bible, he states, "…we must note that the flood myth, which many believe were somehow geologically proven is demonstrably false." Some of his evidence for this argument is that "…there is simply not enough room for all the animals."
Tobin speaks of the 100,000 or more species of animals and insects we have today that would have had to fit on the ark. But God didn’t command Noah to take two of every species of animal, He commanded Noah to take two of every kind of animal. This would likely mean a pair of some sort of feline, a pair of some sort of canine, a pair of some sort of squirrel, etc. Not two tigers, two lions, two jaguars, two cougars, etc. Microevolution (or natural selection; which is the only observable form of evolution) would account for the many different species within each kind that inhabit the Earth today, approximately six thousand years after the flood.
The Bible is to be taken as historical fact: the inerrant Word of the only Living God. Though it would appear to be "riddled with contradictions," it is not; it was not translated twenty-five times, one after another, or from an erroneous manuscript; and though many would suppose the narratives of the Bible to be myths borrowed from other cultures, the myths actually came from the factual Biblical narratives. This essay has barely scratched the surface on many of these issues. There are many resources out there for you to gain a deeper understanding of this topic. So, the next time someone tells you that the Bible is just a random collection of ancient myths, you will know what to tell them; and as I Peter 3:15 tells us, "…always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."
by Rev
[Bibliograpy:]
* "A List of Biblical Contradictions", Jim Meritt, 1992, KJV Bible,
**Genesis 6:19-21, "19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them."
Genesis 7:2-3, "2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth."
Genesis 7:14, "They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings."
"The Rejection of Pascal’s Wager", Paul N. Tobin, 2000-2004, http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/index.html
"Answering a List of Biblical Contradictions", James Patrick Holding, KJV Bible, http://www.tektonics.org/lp/merrit01.html
"Archaeological Study Bible", NIV, Zondervan, 2005, articles on pages 1240, 1254, 1491, 1492
"Unwrapping the Pharaohs", John Ashton & David Down, Master Books, 2006, page 199
"Isn’t The Bible Full of Errors?", Paul Taylor, Answers Magazine, Vol. 2 No. 4, 2007
"The Bible", The Rejection of Pascal’s Wager, Paul N. Tobin, 2000, http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/bibleanalysis.html
"Thinking Outside the Box", Tim Lovett, Answers Magazine, Vol. 2 No. 2, 2007
"2 of Every Kind", Todd Charles Wood, Ph.D., Answers Magazine, Vol. 2 No. 2, 2007
Want to know what they really believe?
Watch them speak for themselves with these video interview clips.
What do you say to the people who oppose you answering these questions in a church?
Isn't it funny how we always think that we will have so much more time to do things during the summer? I know that I was planning to speed through the horde of Medieval history and ficiton books I've collected over the spring semester, as well as make a lot of progress on writing my book and numerous other things.
Alas, I forgot how I had planned so many trips this summer; family vacation, art camp, mission trip, apologetics conference, family reunion etc. The preparation for those trips takes more time than I had remembered. And I have yet to do as much reading on the way to and from said places as I had planned.
So though we haven't the schoolwork to fill our days, we still manage to find other things that seem to push back the projected goals. Friends that had busy schedules during the school year are more open for hanging out now, theme parks and pools are open, etc.
But, in all this big break from the monotony and pre-scheduled rest-of-the-year, when our days are long and spontanious events seem to suddenly fill them, we must remeber to make time for our Lord and Savior. It is not about finding time for Him, but making time. I must confess that I have subconsciously forgotten my habits of daily (or nearly, anyway) Bible study and quiet time.
Make time for the Creator who made you. Get to know the Awesome God who already knows all about you! (And enjoy the rest of your summer!)
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them" -Ecclesiastes 12:1 (NIV)
-by Rev
