T
traillius
Guest
if and when apparent contradictions arise within the bible, between different versions, or between the bible and tradional teachings, how are we to proceed?
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.
D
davidv
Guest
Consult Catholic Church teaching.if and when apparent contradictions arise within the bible, between different versions, or between the bible and tradional teachings, how are we to proceed?
E
Edmundus1581
Guest
Whatever the apparent “contradiction” you can be sure that you, or whoever has pointed it out to you, are not the first person to have observed it! Each of these issues (and there is only a small number of them) have been answered by the Catholic Church, or theologians, many years ago, and answered conclusively.
So, just google the text, and find the Catholic teaching. eg. catholic “call no man on earth your father” or catholic Matt 23:9 (the second form is better, as it will find all translations), and find, for instance, Call No Man “Father”? in Catholic Answers.
When you find a good Catholic exposition of the apparent “contradiction” you will find that in getting to the heart of the issue the Catholic teaching is 100% biblical.
So, just google the text, and find the Catholic teaching. eg. catholic “call no man on earth your father” or catholic Matt 23:9 (the second form is better, as it will find all translations), and find, for instance, Call No Man “Father”? in Catholic Answers.
When you find a good Catholic exposition of the apparent “contradiction” you will find that in getting to the heart of the issue the Catholic teaching is 100% biblical.
S
Scoobyshme
Guest
The Bible was never intended to be a “stand alone” thing.
The “Word of God” is not a thing, but a Person, Jesus Christ. This Word of God was transmitted to us in two main ways: 1) Orally, what we call Holy Tradition. 2) In writing. SOME of what was taught orally by Jesus was written down. (Not all. See John 21:25)
Jesus taught orally. He never wrote anything down, as far as we know, with the possible exception of writing in the dust when they brought the woman caught in adultery to Him.
Read the Church’s document: Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation: Dei Verbum. It’s not very long, but shows how the Church approaches the Word of God.
The Word of God has been transmitted to us in a trinitarian manner, just like God is trinitarian. There are three principles we should apply when reading Scripture:
In order to supercharge your efforts, I recommend praying to the Holy Spirit before you open the Bible and begin reading. If we do not interpret the Bible through the same Spirit that wrote it, we’ll sooner or later have problems and go astray.
If you are interested in much more in-depth info on this, please download and listen to the first six .mp3 files from the following link:
alabamacatholicresources.com/Fr_John_Corapi.html
The “Word of God” is not a thing, but a Person, Jesus Christ. This Word of God was transmitted to us in two main ways: 1) Orally, what we call Holy Tradition. 2) In writing. SOME of what was taught orally by Jesus was written down. (Not all. See John 21:25)
Jesus taught orally. He never wrote anything down, as far as we know, with the possible exception of writing in the dust when they brought the woman caught in adultery to Him.
Read the Church’s document: Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation: Dei Verbum. It’s not very long, but shows how the Church approaches the Word of God.
The Word of God has been transmitted to us in a trinitarian manner, just like God is trinitarian. There are three principles we should apply when reading Scripture:
- The Bible should be read as a whole, in context of the whole, not in snippets.
- The Bible must be read in light of Holy Tradition.
- The Bible must be read through the analogy of the faith. The Church received the deposit of faith from Jesus Christ. We cannot change anything that was given to us, nor do we claim the authority to do so. So, if you read something in the Bible that seems to contradict anything that the Church teaches, you can rest assured that your interpretation is in error.
In order to supercharge your efforts, I recommend praying to the Holy Spirit before you open the Bible and begin reading. If we do not interpret the Bible through the same Spirit that wrote it, we’ll sooner or later have problems and go astray.
If you are interested in much more in-depth info on this, please download and listen to the first six .mp3 files from the following link:
alabamacatholicresources.com/Fr_John_Corapi.html
S
simspt
Guest
One way to proceed would be to gain a good understanding of the different theories of inspiration and what the Church teaches on the subject. You will find differences of opinion among Catholics as far as what the official position of the Church is on this subject. This IMO should be done prior to trying to understand possible contradictions simply because how one understands inspiration will influence their presuppositions when interpreting scripture and dealing with possible contradictions.if and when apparent contradictions arise within the bible, between different versions, or between the bible and tradional teachings, how are we to proceed?
E
edwest2
Guest
Type a few key words into the search box in the upper left on this page:
catholic.com/
Try to avoid opinions. You can google various Church documents by typing in key words followed by vatican.
Example: Adam Eve Vatican.
Either way, you should get some answer. Granted, some may be long but the Church does not like to leave out the details.
Peace,
Ed
catholic.com/
Try to avoid opinions. You can google various Church documents by typing in key words followed by vatican.
Example: Adam Eve Vatican.
Either way, you should get some answer. Granted, some may be long but the Church does not like to leave out the details.
Peace,
Ed
C
COPLAND_3
Guest
I took on some so-called contradictions given by Jim Merrit, and found that the biggest part of the time they are petty attempts to put forth two verses that appear to contradict, and the context of the passages are totally ignored. But there are places where the Hebrew Masoretic text will have contradictions ( such as New Testament citiations of the OT, or two OT passages from Chronicles and Samuel or Kings), but that is because that Hebrew text is quite flawed, and those places are easily set straight by the Greek Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
There are no contradictions in the Bible or the Catholic Faith. Here are my answers to some so-called contradictions litteralchristianlibrary.wetpaint.com/page/Answers+to+the+so-called+%22Bible+contradictions%22
There are no contradictions in the Bible or the Catholic Faith. Here are my answers to some so-called contradictions litteralchristianlibrary.wetpaint.com/page/Answers+to+the+so-called+%22Bible+contradictions%22
A
Anthony_V
Guest
Another thing to remember is that we are not fundamentalists as Catholics, and don’t interpret the Bible in a fundamental manner. Not all things written down were meant literally. They were generally meant to pertain to the era in which they were written. The only exception to this is the Gospel. As Catholics, we believe that the Gospel is directly inspired by the Holy Spirit and is completely infallible.
C
Crumpy
Guest
I think it’s great that you’re reading scripture in the first place.
I’ve been reading some Jewish commentaries on the first five books of the Bible. There are a lot of problems pointed out by these writers, and they do their best to give an explanation for the problems.
One thing that most bible experts will agree on is that these books were written by multiple authors, often describing similar events, but from different points of view. It may take some work to fill in the gap between two verses that seem to contradict each other in some way. They are relieved sometimes to find a third verse which resolves the problem with the first two verses.
For example, in these books, there seems to be two traditions about the location of the Tabernacle which is also called the Tent of Meeting. This is the tent which has the Holy of Holies room where was housed the Ark of the Covenant.
In some places, the Tent of Meeting is depicted as being in the center of the Israelite camp (surrounded by the 12 tribes of Israel). And, in other places, the Tent is depicted as being outside the camp.
So, after discussing that at some length, they just have to walk away from it, as a problem that cannot be resolved.
Another such problem that seems to center on different traditions alongside each other on the pages of scripture is in the book of Numbers. Moses sends out some scouts to spy on the land of Canaan, in preparation for the invasion and conquest of the Promised Land. Well, in one place, you get the idea that the scounts only spied in the southern part of this territory. In another place, you get the idea that they only spied in the norther part of Canaan.
In this case, there are several logical explanations, that they’re both right, but neither tradition tells the entire story. But, it’s hard to decide conclusively.
I’ll continue briefly in another post.
I’ve been reading some Jewish commentaries on the first five books of the Bible. There are a lot of problems pointed out by these writers, and they do their best to give an explanation for the problems.
One thing that most bible experts will agree on is that these books were written by multiple authors, often describing similar events, but from different points of view. It may take some work to fill in the gap between two verses that seem to contradict each other in some way. They are relieved sometimes to find a third verse which resolves the problem with the first two verses.
For example, in these books, there seems to be two traditions about the location of the Tabernacle which is also called the Tent of Meeting. This is the tent which has the Holy of Holies room where was housed the Ark of the Covenant.
In some places, the Tent of Meeting is depicted as being in the center of the Israelite camp (surrounded by the 12 tribes of Israel). And, in other places, the Tent is depicted as being outside the camp.
So, after discussing that at some length, they just have to walk away from it, as a problem that cannot be resolved.
Another such problem that seems to center on different traditions alongside each other on the pages of scripture is in the book of Numbers. Moses sends out some scouts to spy on the land of Canaan, in preparation for the invasion and conquest of the Promised Land. Well, in one place, you get the idea that the scounts only spied in the southern part of this territory. In another place, you get the idea that they only spied in the norther part of Canaan.
In this case, there are several logical explanations, that they’re both right, but neither tradition tells the entire story. But, it’s hard to decide conclusively.
I’ll continue briefly in another post.
C
Crumpy
Guest
OK, so another problem is a very fundamental one in the New Testament. And, that has to do whether Jesus is really present in the consecrated bread at Mass. Now, Catholics and Orthodox believe in the Real Presence. Protestants don’t, even if they celebrate a version of “The Lord’s Supper.”
So, that is a very high level sort of disagreement, and it is based on the history of Catholic and Protestant beliefs, what we call Sacred Tradition.
There are many levels of apparent contradictions and disagreements.
To put it one way, I like the explanation of EWTN’s Fr. Corapi, that a thousand difficulties don’t add up to one doubt about scripture or the faith, in general.
For you and me, according to the Catholic Church, this comes down to a matter of conscience – a well-informed conscience. If you start saying to yourself “Well, I feel such” or “I feel this way” you may be on the wrong track. We need to stay connected to the Tradition and Magisterium (teaching authority) of the Catholic Church.
There are plenty of other threads on these subjects.
One thing I do is just to mentally make note of the apparent contradition. You may not be able to come to a conclusion all at once, without prayer or study. I’ve mulled over questions literally for years until I find an explanation that I was looking for. Don’t give up.
So, that is a very high level sort of disagreement, and it is based on the history of Catholic and Protestant beliefs, what we call Sacred Tradition.
There are many levels of apparent contradictions and disagreements.
To put it one way, I like the explanation of EWTN’s Fr. Corapi, that a thousand difficulties don’t add up to one doubt about scripture or the faith, in general.
For you and me, according to the Catholic Church, this comes down to a matter of conscience – a well-informed conscience. If you start saying to yourself “Well, I feel such” or “I feel this way” you may be on the wrong track. We need to stay connected to the Tradition and Magisterium (teaching authority) of the Catholic Church.
There are plenty of other threads on these subjects.
One thing I do is just to mentally make note of the apparent contradition. You may not be able to come to a conclusion all at once, without prayer or study. I’ve mulled over questions literally for years until I find an explanation that I was looking for. Don’t give up.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.