Brainwash: A Glimpse on Bible Verses’ Alleged Contradictions (Part 4)

The more we study from the heart everything that speaks about the narratives in the Bible, the more we are challenged to share it for everyone to appreciate the goodness of what has been written in the Scriptures.

Last topic taken was the Sermon on the Mount.  Now, let’s proceed for more Biblical passages which are seemingly contradictory to each other but are not,[1] that would lead to us to re-discoveries and enlightenment.

Alleged Contradiction No. 43
The "Lord's Prayer" was taught to many at the "Sermon on the Mount". (Matthew 6:9)	The "Lord's Prayer" was taught only to the disciples at another time. (Luke11:1)
Interpretation:
In all probability, the Lord gave this teaching more in than just one single occasion.

Alleged Contradiction No. 44
Jesus has His own house. (Mark 2:15)	Jesus does not have His own house. (Luke 9:58)
Interpretation:
The house referred to in Mark 2:15 is Levi’s house, the tax collector, not Jesus’ house.

     

Alleged Contradiction No. 45
Good works should be seen. (Matthew 5:16)	Good works should not be seen. (Matthew 6:1-4)
Interpretation:
Good works are commendable when witnessed and people extol God because of them.  On the other hand, it is condemned when they are performed “to gain attention” (Matthew 6:1) and men’s praises.

Alleged Contradiction No. 46
Jesus says that salvation is only for the Jews. (Matthew15:24; Matthew10:5,6; John 4:22; Romans 11:26-27)	Paul says that salvation is also for the Gentiles. Acts 13:47-48.
Interpretation:
Both passages do not suggest that salvation is only for the Jews; the passages from the Gospel note that Jesus’ ministry was confined to the Jews (Matthew) and that salvation would come from the Jews (John). The passage from Romans states "all Israel will be saved" and says nothing about salvation belonging exclusively to the Jews. God willed Jesus to preach at first only to the House of Israel, but after the Ascension, through the message granted to Peter and Paul’s ministry, the message was to spread to the Gentiles. There’s no contradiction here but a chronology: God desired the message proclaimed to the Jews first, then to the Gentiles afterwards. Jesus Himself mentions that many who are not of the House of Israel will inherit eternal life (Luke 13:29, John 10:16).

Alleged Contradiction No. 47
Repentance is essential. (Acts 3:19; Luke 3:3)	Repentance is not essential. (Romans11:29)
Interpretation:
The passage from Romans says, "the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance", which refers not to the repentance by which human repents of her/his sins but to the fact that God does not go back to the good gifts He gives. It is stated with reference to God, not man, which is entirely different in context.

Alleged Contradiction No. 48
Non-believers receive mercy. (Romans11:32)	Only believers receive mercy. (John 3:36; Romans14:23)
Only baptized believers receive mercy. (Mark16:16)	Mercy cannot be predetermined. (Romans 9:18)
Interpretation:
Non-believers obtain mercy by becoming believers and by accepting baptism (the "sacrament of faith"- Catechism of the Catholic Church CCC 1236); "believe and be baptized" (Acts 2:38). It is a mystery of God's providence that others come to faith while others don't.

Alleged Contradiction No. 49
All who call on the "Lord" are saved. (Romans10:13; Acts 2:21)	Only the predestined are saved. (Acts 13:48; Ephesians1:4-5; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Acts 2:47)
Interpretation:
The mystery of predestination is like the Trinity which cannot be fully fathomed. The Scriptures and the Church mutually educate that, while no one can be saved disjointedly from God’s grace, God also has provided each human true freedom to reach out to call upon Him. Free will and predestination do not cancel each other out but are reconciled in God's all-powerfulness and in His Providence, which humans cannot think through. Like the Trinity, it goes beyond human’s sanity, but does not contradict it. This is more of a theological problem than a textual contradiction.

Alleged Contradiction No. 50
Jesus says He would not spurn anyone who comes to Him. (John 6:37)	Jesus says that many who come to Him is spurned. (Matthew 7:21-23)
Interpretation:
The first passage refers to those who have truly come to Jesus and sacrifice their lives over to Him. The next passage refers to those who claim His name but do not truly seek His face, those who "are in the Church in body only". In essence, the ones referred to in Matthew are non-believers who go through the motions of accepting Christianity but their hearts are actually on the opposite side.

Alleged Contradiction No. 51
Salvation comes by faith and not works. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans11:6; Galatians 2:16; Romans 3:28)	Salvation comes by faith and works. (James.2:14,17,20)
Interpretation:
The "works" taken in St. Paul, are the ceremonial "works of the law", rituals of the Old Covenant which is no longer binding on Christians. Conversely, the "works" told in St. James are good works, works carried through charity, which are obligatory for Christians. They are two different types of works.

     

Alleged Contradiction No. 52
The righteous have eternal life. (Matthew 25:46)	The righteous are barely saved. (1 Peter 4:18)	No one is righteous. (Romans 3:10)
Interpretation:
The righteous gets pleasure of eternal life, but no human merits the initial grace of justification, so the righteous are made so by God's grace, and in that sense everybody including the saints, are "barely saved". The passage from Romans is a Psalm 14 verse and refers to the fools who deny God (see Psalm 14:1). Nobody is righteous apart from God's grace.

  

Alleged Contradiction No. 53
Believe and be baptized to be saved. (Mark 16:16)	Call on the name of the "Lord" to be saved. (Acts 2:21; Romans10:13)	By grace you are saved. (Ephesians 2:5)
Endure to the end to be saved. (Matthew 24:13)	Believe, then all your household will be saved. (Acts 16:31)	By grace and faith you are saved. (Ephesians 2:8)
Believe in Jesus to be saved. (Acts 16:31)	Hope and you will be saved. (Romans 8:24)	Have the love of truth to be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:10)
Be baptized by water and the spirit to be saved. (John 3:5)	Believe in the resurrection to be saved. (Romans 10:9)	Mercy saves. (Titus 3:5)
Interpretation:
They don’t contradict each other.  Rather, these things are significant towards salvation. These can be contradictory if interpreted in a minimalist manner; "Hope and nothing but hope saves,” the Scriptures never articulate in this mode.  There is no one simple thing on salvation; it requires turning one's whole life over to God, and all of these mentioned are aspects of that. They are all significant.

 

Alleged Contradiction No. 54
Backsliders are damned. (2 Peter 2:20)	Backsliders are saved no matter what. (John10:27-29)
Interpretation:
The sheep can never be removed out of the Lord's hand by anyone; they may be wandered away brought by their individual choices.

Alleged Contradiction No. 55
Forgive seventy times seven. (Matthew 18:22)	Forgiveness is not possible for renewed sin. (Hebrews 6:4-6)
Interpretation:
The first passage refers to men forgiving other men. Next to it refers to God's forgiveness of man, which differs in context. Human is always called to forgive insignificant others, but in Hebrews the citation is to the sacrament of baptism (the word "enlightenment" is an ancient term for the sacrament) and the fact that baptism for remission of sins cannot be duplicated.  Meaning, if I’m baptized a Catholic and turn to born again who approaches me for another baptism so that sins committed sins be forgiven as they claim, and subsequently when I committed again another sin after being baptized from this sect and turn to a Protestant who approaches me for baptism for the forgiveness of sin as they claim, is not Jesus’ teaching but a private misguided comprehension on the teachings of Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Alleged Contradiction No. 56
Divorce, except for unfaithfulness, is wrong. (Matthew 5:32)	Divorce for any reason is wrong. (Mark.10:11-12)
Interpretation:
Divorce is always incorrect. However, it is not divorce that makes one an adulterer, but rather divorce and remarriage. Jesus teaches that it is always wrong, but allows that in the case of infidelity, a man may "put away" his wife. This is not divorce in the strict sense, but "separation from bed-and-board", a state of affairs in which the spouses physically separate but without formal divorce. Mark's Gospel simply skips on this.

      

Alleged Contradiction No. 57
Jesus sanctions of wiping out enemies. (Luke19:27)	Jesus teaches to love one’s enemies. (Matthew 5:44)
Interpretation:
Jesus commands to love enemies, but the reference in Luke is not to men but to God and His enemies. Everybody must love their enemies, but God will destroy the wicked at His coming, which is what the parable in Luke emphasizes.

Alleged Contradiction No. 58
God dwells in heaven. (Matthew 5:45; Matthew 6:9; Matthew 7:21;	Angels dwell in heaven. (Mark13:32)
Jesus is with God in heaven. (Acts 7:55-56)
Believers go to heaven. (1 Peter1:3-4)	Heaven will pass away. (Matthew 24:35; Mark.13:31; Luke 21:33)
Interpretation:
God, Jesus, the angels and the saints are all in heaven, but the heaven referred to in the last passage is not the heaven where God resides but is a generic name for the physical sky ("the heavens"), which will undeniably pass away at the end of time.

                     

Alleged Contradiction No. 59
Pray that you don't enter temptation. (Matthew 26:41)	Temptation is a joy. (James1:2)
Interpretation:
The passage from James speaks of "trials", not "temptations." Trials are to be regarded all joy because suffering refines one’s character, transforming a person to be more Christ-like if it is borne patiently. But Jesus cautions everybody against succumbing to temptation to sin. Temptation to sin and external trials are dissimilar in nature.

Alleged Contradiction No. 60
God leads human into temptation. (Matthew 6:13)	God tempts no one. (James1:13)
Interpretation:
God tempts no one to sin. The petition "lead us not into temptation" in the Lord's Prayer does not mean that God does. Individual sins result from consenting temptation; therefore everybody should ask the Father not to "lead" us into temptation. Translating the Greek verb used by into a single English word is tough: the Greek means both "do not allow us to enter into temptation" and "do not let us yield to temptation." In any case, it is a supplication to God to give us grace to resist temptation than an insinuation that God Himself is the active agent of temptation.

Alleged Contradiction No. 61
Don’t be anxious for tomorrow. God will take care of you. (Matthew 6:25-34; Luke12:22-31)	A man who does not provide for his family is worse than a faithless. (1 Timothy5:8)
Interpretation:
Anyone is responsible to provide for those God has entrusted to His care, but should not allow worldly cares control one’s concern and be reminded that the present is the most important instance as it is only now that one has the opportunity to say yes to Him.     Judicious, modest planning in providing for the family is not opposed to consigning one’s will into the hands of God's holy Providence. Likewise, this teaching in Christian tradition is more exactly interpreted from the context of those in religious life.

Alleged Contradiction No. 62
Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Acts 2:21; Romans10:13)	Not everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Matthew7:21)	Only those whom the Lord chooses will be saved. (Acts 2:39)
Interpretation:
"Calling on the name of the Lord" should not be interpreted in a minimalist gist, as if by mere pronouncement of His name is already enough.  "Calling on the Lord" means giving oneself to the Lord with all its challenges as faithful Christians/humans. (Compare with numbers 53, 51, 49 and 29)

Alleged Contradiction No. 63
Humans are justified by works than faith. Matthew7:21; Romans 2:6,13; James.2:24)	Humans are justified by faith than works. (John3:16; Romans 3:27; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16)
Interpretation:
Compare with number 51.

Alleged Contradiction No. 64
Do not take sandals or staves. (Matthew 10:10)	Take only sandals and staves. (Mark 6:8-9)
Interpretation:
In Matthew, Jesus does not say to take no sandals, but to take no "extra sandals, or shirt or staff." Jesus does not charge His apostles to go barefoot, to take nothing extra but simply a pair of sandals, one staff and no more. Mark repeats the same instruction but verbalizes it another way.

 

Alleged Contradiction No. 65
Jesus says that there’s peace in Him (John16:33)	Jesus says that He comes not to bring peace. (Matthew10:34; Luke12:51)
Interpretation:
Communion with God bears fruit; the Lord bestows supernatural peace to the devoted.  Nevertheless, His advent is not about bringing peace in the worldly sense. At times, breaking of worldly peace is relevant as a result in the choice of finding serenity that is from God.  Jesus speaks of two different types of peace here.

pages
1	2	3	4	5	6	7