If you’ve been a Christian for longer than a minute, you’ll no doubt have heard a few criticisms of the Bible; if you’ve read the Bible yourself, you’ll no doubt have some of your own. While it stands as the accepted canon of divine revelation—the “Word of God” for Christians—the contents of its pages are far from perfect, with discrepancies in historical accounts, lists of names, specific commands, and perspective on moral issues. It would take nothing at all to pick a passage, read it out of its context, and find a separate passage that seems to be in contradiction with it.
And opponents of Christianity do.
So, what do we do as believers? Do we just accept that our Sacred Scripture is flawed, that it falls short in being a source for life, and just relegate it to the category of ancient literature, something to be read out of fascination but having no bearing on our life?
Hardly.
In this week’s Catholicism in Focus video, I look at the many forms of contradiction in the Bible (yes, we need to accept the premise that there are contradictions right from the start) and share why it remains the “inerrant” book that we have always known it to be.