CONTENTS
STUDIES IN CONTRASTS
Resolving Alleged Double-talk . . . . . . . . . . 2 Contradictions What’s At Stake? . . . . . . 3 In The Bible Where Are The Contradictions? . . . . . . . 4 Why Aren’t There More? . . . . . . . . . 5 How Should We Approach This? . . . . . . . 7 What Are Studies In Contrasts? . . . 8 Does The Bible Contradict Itself . . . About God? . . . . . . . . . 10 About Salvation? . . . . . 16 About Christian Living? . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Do Contrasts Explain Everything?. . . . . . . . . . 28 Does The Bible Contradict Us?. . . . . . . 32
A
n old rumor has it that “the good book” is a library of contradictions. It is said by some that the real genius of this bestseller is that, like other successful “fortune tellers,” it covers its predictions with enough broad, obscure, and contradictory statements to be able to hide in the tangle. But is that really the truth about the Bible? Or is there some way to resolve its alleged contradictions? We offer the following pages to you with the confidence that the more of the Bible you understand, the less you will wonder about its overall unity, consistency, and reliability. Martin R. De Haan II
Managing Editor: David Sper Cover Photo: Michael Forrest Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. © 1987,1999,2002 RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan Printed in USA
© RBC Ministries. All rights reserved.