by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
Many are those who think they see “contradictions” everywhere in the Bible, but my experience has been that after more careful consideration, these so-called contradictions are but an expansion of details, both of which can be true.<\/p>\n
For example, one common claim is that Luke says the men who journeyed with Saul to Damascus stood speechless when the Lord spoke to Saul (Acts 9:7). This text says the men with Saul were “hearing <\/b>a voice but seeing no one<\/em>.” But later in the book Luke records Saul (Paul) reviewing that very occasion and saying the men with him “did not hear<\/strong>\u00a0the voice of Him who spoke to me<\/em>” (Acts 22:9). So, one text says they heard the voice and the other text says they did not hear the voice.<\/p>\n Now, on the surface, you would get the impression of a real contradiction in the Bible, but upon further reflection, it might not be what it appears. Recently, this became clear to me when I reflected on how unfair it would be if I used the same language and was called a liar. I could tell my wife that I heard her saying something to me, but later I might say I did not hear what she said. Did I reveal a contradiction in my words? Or could this be one of those occasions where I used the word “hear” in two different ways, expanding the details so that I am now adding to that occasion? In truth, both statements were true. I did hear (audibly receive vibrations on my eardrums), telling me that I was hearing actual words come out of her mouth, but later I revealed that I did not hear (understand the words) she was saying. Jesus talked about people who have ears but do not hear. He meant that they do not “understand.” So, we hear sometimes, and though we hear audible sounds, we do not hear or rightly perceive and understand those words. A preacher sees people in a daze. He knows they hear him talking, but he also knows that they are not hearing what <\/b>he is trying to communicate to their minds. The audio receptors work fine, but the mental connectors are not tuned in, so they are not really hearing the voice.<\/p>\n So, instead of thinking “contradiction,” it would be better to explore the probability of different uses of words that merely expand on the details. Those men who came with Saul could indeed have both heard and not heard the voice that was speaking to Saul. They could hear the sound waves vibrating their eardrums, but they might not have heard (understood) the words being communicated to Saul. We should give the Bible the same consideration as we give ourselves. I do not lie or contradict myself when I say that I heard my wife, and later communicate that I did not hear what she said.<\/p>\n Be fair with people, and especially be fair with the words of God. They are true, and they will judge us in the last day (John 12:48).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton Many are those who think they see “contradictions” everywhere in the Bible, but my experience has been that after more careful consideration, these so-called contradictions are but an expansion of details, both of which can be true. For example, one common claim is that Luke says the men who journeyed with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[793],"class_list":["post-94965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-apparent-contradictions"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31874,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-support-conscientious-objection\/","url_meta":{"origin":94965,"position":0},"title":"Do you support conscientious objection?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you or your church support selective conscientious objection and conscientious objection? 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