APR 15

1 John 2:18-21
Memorise John 17:17
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

There was once a craftsman during the Era of the Warring States in China who sold spears and shields. To promote the sale of his wares, he proclaimed that his shield could withstand the blow of any weapon, and that his spear could penetrate anything. A person in the crowd he was hawking to then asked him what would happen if he were to use his spear against his shield, to which he was dumbfounded. This is how the Chinese idiom of the spear and shield came to be used to describe self-contradiction.

A contradiction is an error. Since the Bible comes from God who is perfect, it cannot contradict itself since that would mean that it has errors. When there are two contradictory statements, at least one of the statements must be untrue and is therefore a lie. 1 John 2:21 says that no lie is of the truth, meaning that the truth cannot contradict itself and those who teach anything contrary to this are false teachers. Since all of God’s Word is perfect and true, it therefore follows that it cannot have contradictions. Furthermore, even though the Bible was written by 40 or so human authors over 1500 years, they were all inspired by the same Holy Spirit who is God Himself. God cannot lie (Titus 1:2) any more than He can contradict Himself.

Many who attack the Bible and say that it has contradictions have never bothered to read and study the Bible for themselves. A Bible-answers website puts it this way: “a difference is not a contradiction. It is only an error if there is absolutely no conceivable way the verses or passages can be reconciled. Even if an answer is not available right now, that does not mean an answer does not exist. Many have found a supposed error in the Bible in relation to history or geography only to find out that the Bible is correct once further archaeological evidence is discovered.” Let us not be hasty in concluding that the Bible has contradictions when we encounter difficult passages. Know that God cannot be the contradictory spear and shield craftsman that the rest of us are from time to time. Rather, He is the infinitely wise and infallible Ancient of Days whose Word can be completely trusted for it is perfect as He is perfect. If we seem to see contradictions in the Bible, they are only apparent differences, and it is our fallible understanding that is lacking, not God’s infallible words.

Thought: The Bible would contradict itself only if it had errors, but we know that this is not so for we have a perfect Bible.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, sanctify us through Thy truth, for Thy Word is truth.