Looking for Loopholes in All the Wrong Places – Part 6

Looking for Loopholes in All the Wrong Places – Part 6

Biblical Contradictions

Welcome back to our Loopholes series! In this series, we are looking at a variety of supposed “loopholes” within the Christian faith and how they ultimately impact our mental and physical health. So far, we have covered the following topics. (You can click on the links if you missed any of them.)

Through this entire series, we have stressed the fact that God loves us desperately! Since he created all things, he knows exactly what things will benefit us and what things will hurt us. He told us all of this in his written word – the Bible.

God knew when he created humans that we would rebel against him, and he had a plan for our redemption from the beginning. We need to understand, though, that our redemption did not come cheap. Jesus gave up his divinity to come to a hate-filled world, live in poverty, be mocked and scorned, be tortured, and ultimately die a most gruesome death. We are all sinners in need of a savior. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin in a very graphic manner so that we would understand how ugly and painful sin really is. He paid the price for our rebellion in full. If we accept that gift and give our lives over to him, we will live together with him forever in heaven.

But the gospel message does not just apply to our afterlife, it also applies to our lives right now. Jesus told us in John 10:10 that he came to give us a life abundant in joy, peace, and love. He came to impact our lives today.

Mental illness is a growing problem in our world today. I believe that much of this is due to a falling away from sound Biblical principles and the damage that has happened to humans through years of accumulated sin. The latter manifests itself in chemical imbalances, disease, and other mental illnesses.

God laid out the formula for a healthy mind, body and spirit in the Bible, but can we really trust it? That brings us to Loophole number 6.

“The Bible has so many contradictions that we cannot consider it as a reliable document.”

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this and how many times I said this before truly giving my life to Christ. Why did I say it? There were parts of the Bible I simply didn’t want to obey. I wanted to live life the way I wanted to live it, and there were parts that simply didn’t fit with my chosen lifestyle. Had I actually gone in and found contradictions? No. I never actually took the time to do this, but I had heard others say it and thought it sounded like a great way to condone my poor decisions. As I’ve noted in previous articles, this didn’t work out so well for me, and my mental and physical health suffered greatly.

The truth is that this argument simply doesn’t hold water. There are things that appear to be contradictions, but in the vast majority of cases they have explanations. For example, there are two different genealogies of Jesus in Matthew and Luke. One is the genealogy of Mary, and the other of Joseph. Joseph was only the stepfather of Jesus, as Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Both Luke and Matthew had different audiences, which is why they gave the accounts that they did. And in each case, it could be shown that both Mary and Joseph — and hence Jesus — descended from King David as prophesied in the Old Testament.

There are some cases where the meaning of something has gotten changed in translation, but these are rare and they do not impact the overall message or the formula for a healthy life and a real relationship with our Lord and Savior. The painstaking process of Biblical translation is not taken lightly, and the goal is always to remain as close to the original meaning as possible while making it readable to us today.

I urge you to not simply use this argument as a way to avoid reading the Bible. The Bible is our handbook for life and for our eternity! Yes, there are things that may seem contradictory. If that seems to be the case, I urge you first to pray about it and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Second, I urge you to look at multiple translations of the passage or passages. If you use one of the online bibles such as Bible.com or Biblegateway.com, you can easily compare multiple translations. Finally, I have provided several sites in the “Resources” section below that provide answers to the supposed contradictions.

This life is a small blip on the timeline of eternity. You owe it to yourself to listen to what God is telling you. In 2 Peter 3, we are told that God does not want anyone to perish! He desperately wants you to turn to him for forgiveness and salvation. I plead with you to accept that gift if you have not already done so and then commit yourself to reading and studying the Bible. It is God’s love letter to you!

Through it, you can come to know your Savior!

Through it, you can learn how a life in Christ allows you to break the bondage of sin.

Through it, you can learn to live a life that is abundant in peace, joy, love, healthy relationships, and improved mental health, regardless of your situation.