Are there many errors in the Bible?

[polonius]

Christians are supposed to believe that the entire Bible was inspired by God.

If this is true, than, in spite of his infinite knowledge, God made a number of mistakes.

Lets start with this one:

How did Simon Peter find out that Jesus was the Christ?

By a revelation from heaven (Matthew 16:17)

His brother Andrew told him (John 1:41) (This was before Peter was an apostle or even had begun to follow Christ.)

Matthew copying from Mark's, has Jesus tell the Apostles that Jesus was Christ. However, Matthew (who was not the Apostle Matthew) contradicts John's gospel.

There are many errors in the Bible which is supposed to have been inspired by God but obviously isn't.

I think that Fundamentalist are in a difficult position trying to claim that the Bible is inerrant.

[JehovahsWitness]

Here's a few minor inconsistencies:

The book of Deuteronomy was supposed to have been written by Moses. Here he reports on his own funeral:

Hi there (welcome)

The bible itself doesn't say Moses wrote the account of his own funeral so it can hardly be counted as an inconsistency. If he wrote the bulk of the book, its conclusion could have been penned by someone else, probably Joshua.



JEHOVAHS WITNESS

[polonius]

Here's a few minor inconsistencies:

The book of Deuteronomy was supposed to have been written by Moses. Here he reports on his own funeral:

Hi there (welcome)

The bible itself doesn't say Moses wrote the account of his own funeral so it can hardly be counted as an inconsistency. If he wrote the bulk of the book, its conclusion could have been penned by someone else, probably Joshua.



JEHOVAHS WITNESS

QUESTION: Did Moses ever even exist or is he a character in the now bebunked Exodus story. Why don't you check with Tel Aviv University?

[Yahwehismywitness]

QUESTION: Did Moses ever even exist or is he a character in the now bebunked Exodus story. Why don't you check with Tel Aviv University?

The books were so important they hid scrolls in cave at Qua ram including the books referring to Moses that was a very long time ago and they thought he existed however had Hebrew name. Bronze coins found at the same sites form a series beginning with John Hyrcanus (in office 135–104 BCE) and continuing until the period of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), supporting the radiocarbon and paleographic dating of the scrolls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls

[Difflugia]

QUESTION: Did Moses ever even exist or is he a character in the now bebunked Exodus story. Why don't you check with Tel Aviv University?

The books were so important they hid scrolls in cave at Qua ram including the books referring to Moses that was a very long time ago and they thought he existed however had Hebrew name. Bronze coins found at the same sites form a series beginning with John Hyrcanus (in office 135–104 BCE) and continuing until the period of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), supporting the radiocarbon and paleographic dating of the scrolls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls

So, whenever I buy a new Bible for my collection, it increases the odds that Moses was a real guy? Especially if I have coins in my pocket that date to the same year that my new Bible was published?

[Yahwehismywitness]

So, whenever I buy a new Bible for my collection, it increases the odds that Moses was a real guy? Especially if I have coins in my pocket that date to the same year that my new Bible was published?

If you have some of the same bronze coins imagine they would be worth a few books, ancient artifacts. Your coins may be worth the same in a few thousand years.

[Difflugia]

[onewithhim]

I may have said this before.....The Bible is not errant, it is the various renditions of it that cause us to pause. Men have taken the original languages and tweeked here and there what the Hebrew and Greek are saying, according to the men's own ideas. John 1:1 is a perfect example. Someone could say that the Bible contradicts itself because in many places the verses are in evidence of Jesus being subordinate to the Father, even in heaven, and yet there SEEM to be verses saying that he is God. BIG contradiction. What has happened? Translators have constructed verses in English from the Hebrew and Greek according to their own opinions and their own agenda. It's easy to fool people because most of us do not read Hebrew or Greek. The Bible never indicates that Jesus is God, but corruption has taken place.

Conclusion: It's not the Bible that makes mistakes, it is the translation and manipulation by certain men that have caused confusion. There ARE versions of the Scriptures that have been translated much more accurately than others. It is up to us to find them. There is one version that is recommended by one Bible scholar above all others, and a person can read about this in the book Truth in Translation by Jason BeDuhn. Very much worth the cost.

.

[onewithhim]

[Replying to post 4 by Elijah John]

I hold that the Bible is inspired by God, and not dictated. Anything that involves humans will often be error-prone. The Bible has, thankfully, harmony throughout. The main theme is identifiable. The coming of the Savior and the reality of God's own government is evident from Genesis to Revelation. With many centuries involved, and dozens of writers, through 66 books.....to have such harmony is beyond coincidence.


.

[brunumb]

[Replying to post 17 by onewithhim]

I hold that the Bible is inspired by God, and not dictated. Anything that involves humans will often be error-prone. The Bible has, thankfully, harmony throughout. The main theme is identifiable.

Please explain exactly what is involved in the process of being inspired by God that distinguishes it from dictation. If humans have written it down, introduced errors, added to or removed anything, then it hardly qualifies as the word of God. As it is, what you have said effectively puts the Bible into the domain of historical fiction even allowing for the so-called harmony throughout and an identifiable theme.

[Diagoras]

I hold that the Bible is inspired by God, and not dictated. Anything that involves humans will often be error-prone. The Bible has, thankfully, harmony throughout. The main theme is identifiable. The coming of the Savior and the reality of God's own government is evident from Genesis to Revelation. With many centuries involved, and dozens of writers, through 66 books.....to have such harmony is beyond coincidence.

<Bolding mine>

I'm interested in why you're claiming the Bible to be (according to a common definition of 'harmony') a single continuous narrative text. If that were the case, there would surely be more agreement between different denominations over whether certain books were deuterocanonical or not? There wouldn't have been the need for debate about whether Revelation was canon or not, either.

Furthermore, there are examples of passages and whole books in the bible which don't appear to address the coming of a saviour or the 'reality of God's own government'. I'm thinking of the Song of Solomon, which has been variously interpreted as being an allegory of God’s love for Israel, Jesus' love for the Church, or just the joy and goodness of human love in marriage. Not to take away the quality of the writing, but it's essentially just a love poem, not related to the theme you're claiming. It doesn't even mention God.