The claim that the Bible is confusing and contradictory is often raised by many believers and nonbelievers alike. This claim is true for them and for most of us. But most significant and complex documents are confusing and seemingly, or in fact, contradictory. On the one hand, the Bible says one should not lie; then Jesus tells his disciples and believers to agree with our adversaries immediately while before them--that seems to indicate that one can lie, even when on the other hand the Scriptures expressly prohibit lying. Then there is the admonition not to steal--thou shalt not steal. But when the Jews were to leave Egypt, they were told to borrow jewels from the Egyptians knowing they did not intend to return those items--is this not deliberate and intentional theft?

These are just two of many such examples that are cited by many to indicate the contradictory nature of the Bible. And, indeed, these examples do show some contradictions. But God is not the author of confusion, so why is there this confusion and contradiction in God's word--the Bible? This is a good and fair question.

Life is not simple. This is understood the longer one lives and experiences the contradictions and twists of life. A child is born with the needed energy to make it through life, but as that child becomes an adult and the complexities of life confront and/or overtake him/her, that energy comes into play and is dissipated by life's complexities. Those are not always physical complexities--indeed, the physical are the least stressful and consuming.

In life, things are not always clear, regardless of one's educational attainment, age, or experience. Barbara Walters, the TV journalist, was interviewed and asked about truth and her experiences dealing with world leaders and personalities. Her answer was instructive: she said that she had once thought that truth could be understood and would become clear through a Socratic process that massaged the facts until all agreed and/or saw the truth. She continued, saying that she had interviewed the leader of the Israeli nation and the leader of Egypt. Both were honest men and eloquently spoke the truth about the same subject. They spoke fervently and with the conviction that is peculiar to one who knows and holds the truth in righteousness. Both, however, spoke contradictory truths. Her conclusion was that she did not know what the truth was, even after listening to both parties. This is because the truth isn't always clear or simple.

Issues in life are bewildering and complex. And if God's word deals with those complexities, and it does, it, too, will seem as life seems--bewildering, confusing and contradictory. And if it is not, it is because it does not adequately address the issues of life. Situations and occasions require strategies that vary because there are gradations of differences.

To some of those who rightly claim the Bible is contradictory, they look at such Scriptures as, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free," and see no contradiction when they quote it to say, "...the truth shall set you free." Make you free, set you free is all the same to me, they say. Yet with God, they are not the same. There is more than a mere gradation of difference--they are worlds apart in meaning to the keen observer and to God. And the distinction is meant by him to be understood by us, the believer, even as the contradictions are meant to be understood by the careful student of the Scriptures.

In literature, we call these meaningful deviations. That is, a departure from the stated rule in order to express a meaningful purpose. In Ezekiel 4: 12, God tells the Prophet Ezekiel to do the unthinkable--to prepare bread to be eaten by him in the presence of all the congregation of Israel; Ezekiel is expressly told to mix this bread with human dung (feces). The prophet protested, saying that he had never eaten anything that was unclean--as eating human feces is an unclean act. He got God to allow him to mix his bread with animal feces. This command of God was a total contradiction to everything God had said to his people. But an exigent situation was on hand and God wanted to have a meaningful deviation to express a harsh reality to his people. Yes, these are the strange works of God (Isa 28:23).

The Bible is ripe with these types of ostensible contradictions--from female preachers, to marriage and divorce, to eating certain types of food, etc., one can find things that seem to, and do, contradict each other. So for those readers, the Bible is confusing, but so is life. And we do not stop living life because of that confusion.

The challenge of a student and an honest heart, once he/she sees a contradiction, is to try to understand the lesson and the message God would have him/her see through such Scriptures. The lessons and the messages He intends by giving these seeming and real contradictions are the harmonizing and uniting factor of those Scriptures. It is up to you to understand the greatest of our God. For He knows and has declared the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. And since this is His greatness, His words comport with that greatness; therefore, contradiction and confusion are understood by the greatness of this GOD. []

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