The Bible (from the Koine Greek Ta Biblia, or The Books) is a collection of Sacred texts or Scriptures that Jews and Christians consider to be a product of divine inspiration and the record of the relationship between God and His creation.
The Old and New Testament were incorporated into one cannon that consisted of 54 or 57 books of the Old Testament and a 27 book cannon of the New Testament. In 400 AD Jerome produced a definitive Latin Edition called: The Vulgate.
The Canon (Greek Kanon) first began to be used to denote the rule of Christian authoritative books in the late 1st Century AD. Athanasius of Alexandria used Canon as a list of books around 350 AD. These books were written mostly in Greek and Latin but also in Hebrew and Syriac.
The Protestant Old Testament of today contains 39 books and the New Testament consists of 27 books. Every book in the Old testament was written in Hebrew with the exception of Daniel which was written in Chaldean the language of Babylon. Every book in the New Testament was written in Greek with the exception of Mathew which was written in Aramaic, the language that Jesus and the disciples spoke.
The word BIBLE IS NOT found in the Scriptures so we need to look at what does the Bible say about itself and how to interpret it.
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. 2 Peter 1.10
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3.16-17
The ONLY place in the Old Testament that you find the term scripture is found in Daniel 10.21: “But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince”.
In most cases in the Old Testament you will find the term Word of the Lord:
Phrases like: The Word of the Lord came unto me saying, or The Word of the Lord came unto…., Let not thy Word depart from me……
So Jesus referring to the Word of the Lord referred to them as the Scriptures:
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. John7.38
This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. Luke 4.21
The New Testament writers refer to the prophetic word as the scriptures:
That the Scripture may and might be fulfilled….
Paul’s advice to Timothy was: Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2.15 a more correct translation is Study to show yourself approved.
Most Christians consider the New Testament to be an infallible source of doctrine others consider it an inerrant, and completely correct in its historical, factual and theological content.
The Bible IS the inspired WORD of God, but it contains the spoken words of humans and the devil therefore it is necessary to understand the text, by whom it was spoken, to whom it was spoken. We can NOT take scriptures out their context in order to satisfy our theology, doctrines or pretexts.
Most scriptures were written in a pluralistic form to either the people of God. Whether the CHURCH as a whole or the Nation of Israel or the heathen and unsaved. There are a few scriptures that are written for individuals but for the most part are written in a pluralistic form.
Because of our ignorance of the Scriptures the Evangelical Church of Today STILL preaches and teaches more than 35% of Roman Catholic Doctrines rather than the Word of God.
I believe The Bible DOES NOT contradict itself although it contains lots of apparent contradictions because it contains as I said words spoken by Satan and words spoken by man. Nevertheless, God by inspiration of the Holy Spirit has shown us in HIS Scriptures how man and the forces of darkness think and How God thinks. Also, there are many cases where the misinterpretation of Scriptures may occur and also many times we have been taught by religious tradition than by a study of the Scriptures and/or the original languages.
Examples;
What Happened in the Garden?
God Said:
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2.15-17
Eve said:
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’
The Serpent said:
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. Genesis 3.1-4
How did Judas die?
Our mindset has been influenced by the many Hollywood movies in which they show Judas hanging himself on a tree based on the apparent interpretation of the word hanged so our paradigm is already set based on what we have seen, however, a careful reading of Acts 1.16-18 clearly explains the way Judas died.
3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” 5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. Mathew 27.3-5
16 “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; 17 for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. Acts 1.16-18
Mathew was written in Aramaic and the Greek translators misinterpreted this word which should have said: impelled himself. Actually he jumped from a cliff fell upon a rock or a tree and as he landed he burst open and his guts spilled out.
Another notable example is what happened in the day of Pentecost.
We have been taught that On the Day of Pentecost The Holy Spirit descended on 120 disciples in the upper room. BUT is this what really happened? In chapter 2 you will read a full account of the events that transpired on that day.
The answer is NO! They were devout Jews in the Temple, there were only 12 disciples it was the 3rd hour which was the hour of prayer and there were only men present.
Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and[a] blessing God. Amen Luke 24.51-53
Acts 1.26 The lot fell on Mathias, And he was numbered with the ELEVEN
Acts 2.1 They were all in one place (the temple, at the inner court a place for MALES ONLY)
Acts 2.7 Look are not all these who speak GALILEANS.
Acts 2.14 But Peter standing up with the ELEVEN (included Mathias)
Acts 2.15 These men are not drunk as ye suppose (Aner: a male)
Acts 2.15 It is only the 3rd hour of the day (9.am it was the HOUR OF PRAYER)
When the Bible books were written they did NOT have Chapters NOR verses, There were NO capital letters NOR punctuations such as Commas or semi colons. The transcribers added all these in order to facilitate the reading and comprehension BUT in the process they divided into chapters in some cases BREAKING the thought and creating apparent contradictions.
As we carefully analyze the story of the two robbers that were crucified with Jesus we can see that Jesus DID NOT promise the robber that defended Him to see him in paradise on that same day because Jesus DID NOT go to paradise but to hell to spend three days and three nights and then resurrect.
Mathew 27.44 reads: Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him
Luke 23.39-43 says that one reviled him and the other one REBUKED the reviling thief and said to Jesus: Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom, and Jesus said to him: Assuredly (verily, verily) I say unto you, today you will be with me in Paradise.
The COMMA was placed INCORRECTLY there and should be placed AFTER the word today WHY? Because Jesus DID NOT go to paradise that day but Paul writes that Jesus descended into the lower parts of the Earth and He led captivity captive.
The correct translation should be: I say unto you today, you will be with me in Paradise. This changes the meaning entirely and therefore does NOT contradict the scriptures.
Chapter divisions can also cause misunderstandings For Example Genesis 12.1 relates the story about Abraham and his calling BUT the narrative about it begins on the previous verses Genesis 11.31-32
Words that have been added for clarification (in most cases the added word is in italics) have changed the meaning of the text and the narrative for example:
1 Corinthians 12.1 where the word gifts is added, the original text reads Now concerning spiritual matters, the Greek word there is pneumatikos NOT CHARISMA. Verse 2 clarifies the context because it explains the 1st verse saying: You know that you were gentiles carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.
There have been additions made in order to provide guidance or doctrine. In Mathew 28.19 reads: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. (baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit) This last portion is NOT found in any of the original texts and appears to have been added by the Roman Catholic scribes as it does not appear anywhere else in the New Testament. All other references refer to Baptizing refers to Baptizing in the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 8.16) or in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2.38).
It also helps to understand to know the target audience for whom specific letters were written, for example:
The Gospel of Mathew was written in Aramaic which was the language of the Jewish community in the time of Jesus. All the original converts to Christianity were Jews therefore the Holy Spirit inspired Mathew to write in order to explain and to the new converts how in Jesus the prophecies of the Messiah were fulfilled starting with HIS genealogy thru Mary and 17 times quotes past prophets usually saying “that it might be fulfilled”; Till all these things be fulfilled”; “the scriptures be fulfilled”.
The Gospel of Mark was written primarily for the Romans
The Gospel of Luke was written primarily for the Greeks
The Gospel of John for the new believers and for the Church to evangelize new converts.
In the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC there is a quotation of his writings of The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. This was a fictitious cut and paste of verses of the Bible that misquoted Jesus by replacing and removing different texts of the Bible yet he used thid comments to write to John Adams and William Short as if they were true and correct. These are frequently used as rebuttals by those that claim that the Bible contradicts itself.
It would be foolish to hold and view of God’s written word as fallible and contradictory because of ignorance and tradition.