Does the Bible Contradict Itself?

[spockrates]

So let's say we disagree about a painting we see. Who would be most qualified to settle the disagreement and tell us whose interpretation of the work of art is more accurate?

Why, the painter themselves of course. This is why it's absolutely critical to my p.o.v. to understand firstly that none of the Gospels were written by the people tradition likes to say wrote them and secondly the sort of people living at the time i.e. Jewish philosophers in a Hellenistic world e.g. Philo of Alexandria whose allegorical interpretation of the OT foreshadows Christian thought. Yes, knowing the type of person who wrote the Gospels is key to understanding what I believe to be an allegory.

Well said! I have to say you've caught onto that symbolism quicker than anyone I've ever asked that question, before. Perhaps you are already familiar with the words of Socrates on the subject?

I cannot help feeling, Phaedrus, that writing unfortunately suffers from the same flaw as painting. For the creations of the painter have the appearance of life, and yet if you ask them a question they preserve a solemn silence. And the same may be said of the written word. You would imagine that it had intelligence, but if you want to know anything and put a question to what you are reading, it always gives one unvarying answer over and over again. And once written down in books the word travels promiscuously about the world, among those who may or may not understand it, and it knows not to whom it should speak or to whom not to speak. And if the written word is slandered or abused, it needs the author of its being to come to its aid. For the written word cannot protect or defend itself.

(Phaedrus)


So then, when someone tells me not to ask her about any biblical contradictions, but to leave her out of it and go read them myself, what good will it do me if I have questions to ask the authors of these criticisms? Like silent paintings, their written commentaries on scripture will not be able to answer my questions! Moreover should I have no questions and think I comprehend them, how do I know that they themselves have not misunderstood the intented meanings of the biblical authors they criticize?

My thought, then is this: The best way to discover the truth is to ask as many thoughtful people who will answer (like yourself) what they think the author's written words mean, and to rule out every impossible interpretation until whatever remains (no matter how improbable) is the truth. Once we determine the true intended meaning of each text, only then will we be in a sound position to make a rational and reliable judgment as to whether any contradictions really exist between them. Don't you agree?