136
BIBLE “CONTRADICTIONS” … ANSWERED (Contradictions 31-35)
A Booklet by Brad McCoy, Th.M.
© Copyright 1985 Reprinted with
author’s permission. May be distributed freely but not sold.
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Note: I thought it would be
interesting for a few posts, to consider some alleged Biblical
contradictions. I hear this all the time, but no one who makes the
complaints will sit down with me and study them. Brad McCoy was my
Theology Professor in Seminary. He is an outstanding theological scholar
and teacher. At my request, he provided me with a booklet he
self-published in 1985. The booklet can be reproduced, but not sold. - dh
**
UPDATE ** Recently, I conversed with Dr. McCoy and he confirmed directly
with me that I can post from his booklet. In addition, he informed me
that the book was recently updated to – “150 Bible Contradictions Answered!” He sent me this self-published manuscript
which, by the way, is excellent. If you would like the new manuscript,
let me know and I will pass it on to Dr. McCoy. I see it cost him about
$5.00 to send it to me, so you should be willing to make a contribution to Dr.
McCoy's church to help defray the mailing cost and perhaps a bit more, maybe
$20.00 or so.
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(This
booklet is a response to the pamphlet “136 Bible Contradictions” printed by
Crusade Publications of Redmond, Washington.)
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“Contradictions”
31-35
#31
2 Samuel 24:1 “the anger of the LORD burned against Israel and it incited David
against them to say, ‘Go and number Judah.’” Is contrasted to 1 Chronicles 21:1
“then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.”
These
accounts are supplementary, describing two different aspects of the same event,
God being the ultimate cause and Satan being the immediate, active cause moving
David to take the census. God allowed
Satan to influence David. David then did
so willfully despite being warned against it (see 1 Chronicles 21:3). The census per se was not inherently sinful,
but David’s choice to rely more on large numbers of human resources rather than
to trust in the LORD was sinful.
#32 1 Kings 8:12
which states that God dwells in “darkness” (KJV) is contrasted to 1 Timothy
6:16 which indicates that God dwells in unapproachable “light”.
This
“contradiction” is based on a misleading rendering of the Hebrew text of 1
Kings 8:12. It is more accurately
translated “thick” describing a thick cloud (of glory) not a “dark” cloud. The Hebrew adjective . . . used here means
“heavy, thick, dense but bright, thick but luminous.
#33 2 Kings 16:5
which states that Ahaz was not conquered by the kings of Israel is contrasted
to 2 Chronicles 28:5 and 6 which states that Ahaz was conquered by the kings.
2
Kings 16:5 states that the kings of Israel did not overcome (Hebrew: “destroy/exterminate”) Ahaz. 2 Chronicles 28:5-6 states that the kings did
defeat (that is score a military victory over) Ahaz. In other words, while the kings did defeat
Ahaz militarily, they did not kill him personally/or cause the nation to
capitulate. In a similar way one could
say that the Japanese did defeat the United States at Pearl Harbor, but they
did not (finally) defeat the United States (in the war as a whole).
#34 The quote of
Psalm 22:1 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” is contrasted to Psalm
46:1 which says that God is the believer’s refuge, strength, and source of help
in times of struggle.
Psalm
22:1 is a predictive Messianic prophecy written by King David in approximately
1000 B.C. It was fulfilled literally by
the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross in 33 A.D. (Note that Psalm 22:16-18
accurately describe Christ’s crucifixion in detail centuries before crucifixion
was even known in Palestine). Psalm 22:1
is a rhetorical question in which the Messiah emotionally describes the
spiritual separation between God the Father and Himself as He was making
atonement for the sins of the world. . . Rather than a specific Messianic
prophecy, Psalm 46:1 is a general promise of God’s providential support of
believers as they encounter temporal problems in life.
#35 Contrasts Psalm
78:69 which states that God has founded the earth “forever” with 2 Peter 3:10
which indicates that God will destroy the earth sometime in the future.
The
issue here revolves around the meaning of the Hebrew word . . . which is
translated “forever” in Psalm 78:69.
Brown, Driver and Briggs in their authoritative Hebrew lexicon define
this word to mean “(of) long duration, antiquity, futurity”. It does not necessarily mean “forever” in the
sense of “never ending”. The Bible is
quite clear that while the earth is much more permanent than individual men, it
will not last forever (see Psalm 102:25-27).
Only God Himself is eternal. The
universe is His creation and is locked in the time and space continuum. It will ultimately be destroyed, at which
time God will usher in “The Eternal State” (2 Peter 3:10-13, Revelation
21:1-22:5).
Doug
Douglas
S. Holden, Douglas Holden, Doug Holden, Brad McCoy, Theology, Doctrine, Bible
contradictions
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