The Bible is called the immutable, unchangeable, infallible word of God. Can I say that this is true and not true at the same time? What if I said it was human accounts of divine events, human hands scribbling down the words and actions of the Savior of mankind? Would you call me a heretic?
The battle cry of the Evangelical movement is that the Bible is perfect. Is it? Did Jesus cast Legion, that unholy group of demons, out of one man or two in the region of Decopolis? Did Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a colt or a donkey and a colt?
Does it matter?
Looking at the gospels, the part of the New Testament with the majority of Jesus’s quotes in it (which makes sense because it’s the portion of the New Testament dedicated to retelling his life), you’ll find a series of minor inconsistencies of the type I described above. Does that mean that we can throw out the Gospels as so much conflicting trash? After all, it’s not 100%, unequivocally consistent from book to book to book. If you’ve read this site at all before, I’m sure you know that my answer to that question is no. I believe the Bible is the Word of God handed down to men so that we can know him better and by knowing him, become more like him.
So how can I say that I believe the Bible if it’s not absolutely perfect? I’m glad you asked.* If you look hard enough, you’ll find inconsistencies in the background to Christ’s stories. What you won’t find is any inconsistency in Jesus’s character. What happens around him varies slightly from gospel to gospel, but what he says and who he is doesn’t change at all. That’s consistent with real eye witness testimony and, given the time passed between the life of Christ and when it was written down, the consistency between the different gospels is nothing less than miraculous. The small differences in the Gospels aren’t a reason to doubt that the accounts are accurate. Rather these differences highlight the fact that the majority of the text tells the same, amazing story.
By ignoring the fact that the New Testament was written down by men, we artificially make it a Holy Artifact, make it like Joseph Smith’s gold tablets. But the New Testament was written by men, men who saw God work in this world. This is not myth. This is history, full of all these little inconsistencies that real historical texts have.
I am eternally grateful to God for using men, real, flawed, imperfect but willing men to do his work in this world. I thank him for this because I am one, am imperfect. It’s the imperfections of his servants that make me think that I could be one.
*If you didn’t ask, then I’m glad I asked. It gave me a much smoother transition. Rhetorical questions are great for that.
The battle cry of the Evangelical movement is that the Bible is perfect. Is it? Did Jesus cast Legion, that unholy group of demons, out of one man or two in the region of Decopolis? Did Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a colt or a donkey and a colt?
Does it matter?
Looking at the gospels, the part of the New Testament with the majority of Jesus’s quotes in it (which makes sense because it’s the portion of the New Testament dedicated to retelling his life), you’ll find a series of minor inconsistencies of the type I described above. Does that mean that we can throw out the Gospels as so much conflicting trash? After all, it’s not 100%, unequivocally consistent from book to book to book. If you’ve read this site at all before, I’m sure you know that my answer to that question is no. I believe the Bible is the Word of God handed down to men so that we can know him better and by knowing him, become more like him.
So how can I say that I believe the Bible if it’s not absolutely perfect? I’m glad you asked.* If you look hard enough, you’ll find inconsistencies in the background to Christ’s stories. What you won’t find is any inconsistency in Jesus’s character. What happens around him varies slightly from gospel to gospel, but what he says and who he is doesn’t change at all. That’s consistent with real eye witness testimony and, given the time passed between the life of Christ and when it was written down, the consistency between the different gospels is nothing less than miraculous. The small differences in the Gospels aren’t a reason to doubt that the accounts are accurate. Rather these differences highlight the fact that the majority of the text tells the same, amazing story.
By ignoring the fact that the New Testament was written down by men, we artificially make it a Holy Artifact, make it like Joseph Smith’s gold tablets. But the New Testament was written by men, men who saw God work in this world. This is not myth. This is history, full of all these little inconsistencies that real historical texts have.
I am eternally grateful to God for using men, real, flawed, imperfect but willing men to do his work in this world. I thank him for this because I am one, am imperfect. It’s the imperfections of his servants that make me think that I could be one.
*If you didn’t ask, then I’m glad I asked. It gave me a much smoother transition. Rhetorical questions are great for that.
Comments
I also believe the inconsistencies are there on purpose. God loves throwing stuff in His book that keep us from being 100% sure on some things.
We all know most people are saved due to loving relationships with God's caring people, which is why God included Jonah. We all know God is self-centered and can't stop talking about Himself, which is why He included Esther, which makes no mention of Him. We all know bad things only happen to bad people, which is why He included Job.
It does matter that Jesus rode into town and how he did it because it was prophesied. It happened as Scripture said it would.
There has never been one inconsistency of Scripture that has shaken my faith. There have been some that have confused me and kept me from certain dogmatic, assumed points. Dogmatism is usually a cover-up for ignorance. It's easy to claim the Bible is totally consistent if you don't know what it says.
I think the fact that it's a human book with divine origins is crucial for us reading it as flawed human beings seeking for God's way of doing things. I also think that Scripture contains within it all that we need to understand it, so Paul's statement in Galatians that in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female is a key text in looking at this other stuff where he talks about social order and women not leading, the principle is equality, the working out sometimes needs to take note of the society and context in which we live and witness...
The Bible was written from Faith and for Faith, we need divine help to keep it together, and to 'hold fast to that which is good'....
Waffly response to a great post, thanks!
I'm with you on this. But your writing of it was wonderful. I'd have so overstated my point that I would have had to break the subject up into three or more posts.
Good stuff, and just what I needed today.