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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"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":25094,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-the-men-with-saul-hear-and-not-hear-the-voice\/","url_meta":{"origin":94965,"position":0},"title":"How could the men with Saul hear and not hear the voice?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you explain the seeming contradiction in these verses from Acts? Acts 9:7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man Acts 22:9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5128,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-conversion-of-saul\/","url_meta":{"origin":94965,"position":1},"title":"The Conversion of Saul (Hamilton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 1:12-17 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The path that Saul took from Judaism to Christianity can teach us a lot about what it takes to become a Christian \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is a lesson that many need to learn by people caught up in denominational teachings. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We will look\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19710,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-contradictions-about-jesus-burial\/","url_meta":{"origin":94965,"position":2},"title":"Are there Contradictions about Jesus’ Burial?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier At the end of Luke 23, we learned some women, having seen where Jesus was buried, prepared spices and ointments for His burial. Then in Luke 24:1, they were coming to the tomb early on the first day of the week with those prepared spices, presumably to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/top_34_bmp-275x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":90628,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sauls-conversion\/","url_meta":{"origin":94965,"position":3},"title":"Saul’s Conversion","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Keith Greer I watched a DVD that contained a religious debate between Brother Larry Hafley and his opponent, a man whose last name is Ross. The subject of the debate: \"Is baptism necessary for salvation?\" One of the passages considered deals with Saul's conversion. Brother Hafley presented a powerful\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34489,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-conversation-with-mormon-elders\/","url_meta":{"origin":94965,"position":4},"title":"A Conversation with Mormon Elders","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jimmy Ferguson Many of us have received a knock on the door from young men claiming to be \"elders\" in the Mormon Church. While we admire their enthusiasm, it saddens us that these young men have been led into error. Some time ago I had an opportunity to sit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45390,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-god-cause-saul-to-commit-suicide\/","url_meta":{"origin":94965,"position":5},"title":"Did God cause Saul to commit suicide?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: There are two accounts of Saul's death in the Old Testament. Both say he committed suicide (I Samuel 31:4-5 and I Chronicles 10:14) but the latter one also says that: \"the LORD killed Saul because ...\" Why the difference? Answer: \"So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}