Does the Bible Contradict Itself?

[spockrates]

This thread stinks of intellectual dishonestly. You're not talking about contradictions, you're making excuses for them.

I appreciate the constructive criticism, Annik, but your advice is too vague to be helpful. Please provide a specific post in which I was being intellectually dishonest and explain why my response was untrue.

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My apologies for offending you. Perhaps I misunderstood? Please provide the two verses you believe contradict one another so we may discuss them together.

I'm not your fucking secretary. Go back and find them. They are right in this thread.

Perhaps you will be kind enough to give me a post number to make the search easier?

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"And he cast down the pieces of silver into the temple and departed, and went out and hanged himself." (MAT 27:5)

"And falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all of his bowels gushed out." (ACT 1:18)

This is one of the best known biblical contradictions regarding the fate of Judas. Please don't say it's a mistranslation.

Regards

Grimesy

It is commonly thought that Judas impaled himself on his sword, since "hang" and "impale" are the same word. It was a common form of suicide. The word for "hang by the neck" did not come about until 1400 AD.

Interesting response, Undeceived. Are you saying that the Matthew 27:5 is a mistranslation? The explanation I've heard it that Matthew's account that Judas hanged himself was accurate, and Luke explains what happened to Judas' decaying corpse after he hung himself--it decayed to the point where it fell from the rope and burst when it hit the ground.

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So I'd like to ask: What does everyone now think of the idea that some biblical contradictions might be due to ambiguous texts? Interpret a text one possible way, and the contradiction with another text is apparent. Interpret the text another possible way, and the contradiction between texts vanishes like Spock's home planet vanished into a black hole when red matter was injected into its core. It seems to me that several of the suggested contradictions are those caused by such ambiguities of scripture, as I've suggested. For the texts lend themselves to different interpretations (or misinterpretations), and have effect of misleading many who read them.

The question I'd like to ask, then is, "Why? Why would God, if he was carefully leading others to write the books of the Bible, allow the authors to be so unclear and easily misinterpreted? Does this show God lacks knowledge of the effects the chosen words would have on people like us, or show he lacks the power to perfectly guide the writing of them, or show he lacks concern for those who are mislead by his words? Or does it show no God was involved in the writing of the Bible's books at all?" This, I think is a far more interesting inquiry than the common one proposed in the opening post.