Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible
Lesson 3
The Design of the Alleged Discrepancies
Rationale: In this lesson, the student will be
compelled to consider why God, who is Holy,
omnipotent, and omniscient, would even
allow alleged discrepancies in the Bible, and
by allowing these, what benefits did God have
in mind for his people. Thus it is intended that
the student will conclude that it is apparent
that the alleged discrepancies are by divine
design.
1. To Stimulate the Intellect: The Christian and
students of the Bible are engaged in a truth
war, and perhaps God did indeed design
the alleged discrepancies to stimulate the
intellect of His people. Consider; what book
ever caused the writing of so many other
books? There have been thousands of
books written by opponents of the Bible,
and even more books written by
proponents of the sacred literature.
Perhaps God has allowed these alleged
discrepancies to awaken the intellect
and skill of His students to examine
deeply two or more passages which
appear to contradict each other for
example consider two passages from
John, and other passages:
John 15:15 (NASB) “No longer do I call
you slaves, for the slave does not know
what his master is doing; but I have
called you friends, for all things that I
have heard from My Father I have made
known to you.
John 16:12 (NASB) “I have many more
things to say to you, but you cannot bear
them now.
•The Bible stimulates the intellect from
its stagnant state by making other
statements that only appear to be
contradictory:
John 11:25-26 (NASB) Jesus said to her,
“I am the resurrection and the life; he
who believes in Me will live even if he
dies, and everyone who lives and
believes in Me will never die. Do you
•Psalm 22:6 (NASB) But I am a worm and not a
man, A reproach of men and despised by the
people.
•Hebrews 2:6-7 (NASB) 6 But one has testified
somewhere, saying, “WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU
REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT
YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? 7 “YOU
HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER
THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM
WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE
APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR
HANDS;
•Matthew 5:44 (NASB) “But I say to you, love
your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you,
•Luke 14:26 (NASB) “If anyone comes to Me,
and does not hate his own father and mother
and wife and children and brothers and
sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot
be My disciple.
•Matthew 27:32 (NASB) As they were coming
out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon,
whom they pressed into service to bear His
cross.
•John 19:17 (NASB) They took Jesus, therefore,
and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the
place called the Place of a Skull, which is called
in Hebrew, Golgotha.
•Matthew 27:32 (NASB) As they were coming
out, they found a man of Cyrene named
Simon, whom they pressed into service to
bear His cross.
•Hebrews 1:3 (NASB) And He is the radiance
of His glory and the exact representation of
His nature, and upholds all things by the word
of His power. When He had made purification
of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty on high,
•Theologian Richard Whately states: “The
seeming contradictions in scripture are too
numerous not to be the result of design; and
doubtless were designed, not as mere
difficulties to try our faith and patience, but as
furnishing the most suitable mode of
instruction that could be devised, by mutually
explaining and modifying or limiting or
extending one another’s meaning.”
•One unnamed theologian states: “Not
only do these “hard” things induce men
to investigate the sacred volume; but
meanwhile resolving themselves before
the steady and patient eye of the
student, they unfold deep and rich
meanings which amply reward his toil.”
•Disprove Collusion among the Biblical
Authors: What appears to be a
disagreement in scripture were beyond
question designed to be a strong proof
that there was no collusion among the
Biblical authors. The differences
between the Biblical writers establish
their credibility, not their dishonesty.
•Greek Scholar Christopher Wordsworth
stated, “these discrepancies being such
as they are found to be, are of
inestimable value. They show that there
has been no collusion among our
witnesses, and that our manuscript
copies of the Gospels, brought to us
from all parts of the world have not been
corrupted with any sinister design.
•The Design of Discrepancies lead us to
value the Spirit of the Bible rather than
the letter of the Bible.
•Suppose a completed collection of the
original autographs were miraculously
found. And it could be determined that
these were indeed the handwriting of
John, Peter, and Paul, and the rest of the
sacred writers. Men would have
worshiped the letter in flagrant
opposition to the spirit of the sacred
book.
The Result of the Alleged Discrepancies
1. The Text of the Bible Is Not Unsettled.
•The alleged discrepancies do not
unsettle the text, nor do they impair the
doctrinal integrity of the Bible. The
alleged discrepancies fail to prove the
Bible as a faulty, untrue document.
2. The Moral Influence of the Bible is not
impaired.
•Thousands upon thousands of cases have
been historically verified as to positive moral
affect of the Bible. The content of the Bible
has led countless people to Christ, and has
transformed the vilest sinners into Christ
honoring saints. This fact cannot be
successfully refuted.
•The contents of the Bible still convicts
mankind to the core of his being, like no
other book. The reason? It is the living
word of God. The reaction of both
Christians and non-Christians alike to
the contents of the Bible, prove that the
alleged discrepancies do not impair the
Bible’s moral influence on those created
in the image of God.