Isn’t the Bible Full of Contradictions? How Can I Trust It?

No, it is not. And, yes, you can trust it.

Of course, there a skeptics who make an avocation of finding supposed contradictions in the Bible. Listening to them without hearing the other side, it would be easy for someone not very knowledgeable about the Bible to buy into that allegation. The truth is that many so-called ‘contradictions’ upon closer inspection turn out to be bogus, other just misinterpretations or misunderstandings that are easily resolved for any open minded person.

Are there some difficulties here and there where the biblical data are not easily harmonized? Yes, but those are not abundant, as the question above assumes. Besides, there is a big difference between apparent contradictions and real contradictions. Sometimes the problem may be that we are missing information or perhaps misconstruing something that might, if known, resolve the appearance of a contradiction.

Because the Scriptures so regularly over the centuries have withstood the challenges of the cleverest skeptics and proven them wrong when all the facts were at last on the table, we believe there is no need to concede the issue in any given case since the Scriptures has a way in the end of making fools of all its critics. When it comes to being correct, the Bible has a vastly better record for accuracy over the centuries than its enemies, so in case of doubt, the smart ‘bets’ are on the Scriptures.