We base most of our knowledge of Truth on the bible. So this should be our starting point. The problem is however, there are a lot of things that contradict in the bible itself. Some say that these are not really contradictions but are apparent contradictions. So what they have to do is go and interpret things in a way that the “apparent” contradictions are not really contradictions at all — explain them all way.
Interpretation
That brings us to a new problem in that how do we know that the interpretation is really right. If the passage needed interpretation then that means that the true meaning of the passage was not really clear in the first place. However, in many cases these passages were NOT unclear at all, the interpretation was only a means of explaining away the “apparent” contradiction.
Then, to complicate matters, there are several interpretations of passages, but whose interpretation is one that is right? To top it off, there are interpolations that were never there in the first place, or passages that were corrupted hundreds of years ago! Frequently, the corruption of scriptures is what causes the unclarity in the first place.
Contradictions
So what has happened here is that we are back to the start — the contradiction is still there. What is apparent is that the contradiction is real in most cases. I’m not concerned about a contradiction such as: whether Judas died by hanging himself or whether he fell headlong and his bowels gushed out.
This is the classical example of biblical contradiction that is commonly used and commentators will explain this very simple thing away in a very complicated way to make it look like it was not really a contradiction. There are literally hundreds of these kinds of obvious contradictions that are next to impossible to explain away without some extremely complex stretch of the imagination. Besides, it’s human to err, and though it may have been “inspired by God”, it was written down by human beings.
Even so, this is not a critical issue. But there are some really significant types of contradictions in the bible. The really sad types of contradictions are the ones that involve basic and central doctrinal points in Christianity that a student of the bible, who is searching for answers, needs to understand.
I’m talking about the crucial doctrinal points such as “who was Jesus?”, “what is salvation? Is it by works or not?”, “What is the trinity? Is it really the truth? Why isn’t it in the bible?”, “Was Mary really a virgin?”, “Did Jesus really die” etc.
Forgeries Make the Contradictions Worse!
The problem with many of these are that the contradictions, inconsistencies and things taken out of context, concerning these scriptures are real but may appear to be imaginary.
There are forgeries can actually be proven by comparing scripture with scripture. What’s more is there are many inconsistencies that shed even more doubt on the veracity of much of the scriptures. There are actual contradictions that can be proved by using only the bible itself — and no other documents.
Whose Interpretation is the Right One?
The very fact that there are thousands of different denominations and sects and cults within Christianity itself is the prime result of the many different ways that the bible must be interpreted.
Whenever passages of scripture must be interpreted, this means that it is not altogether clear in its meaning. Think about it: what if your kid’s text books had as many contradictions, inconsistencies and errors as the Bible has! Those text books would be replaced!
Think about it: what if your kid’s text books had as many contradictions, inconsistencies and errors as the Bible has! Those text books would be replaced!
What Happened to the Original Manuscripts?
To make matters worse, the manuscripts that were used to translate our bibles into English were not only poorest in existence, they were copies of copies of copies that were handed down through the ages in the hands of church fathers, some of which, actually stated that they lied for the church — really!
We know from the words of the church fathers themselves that even the “correctors” who were hired by the church made radical modifications to the scriptures, adding large portions of doctrine that were not there in the original, or cutting out things that they did not deem compatible to the doctrines of the church or their own personal doctrines.
After doing this the copy was destroyed (by whom or when no one really knows) that they copied from, which was a modification of another copy. So what we have are copies of copies of copies…, and there are absolutely no originals whatsoever written by anyone who actually knew Jesus Christ personally. All original documents have been either lost, destroyed or (hopefully) hidden.
The resultant copies that were extracted from the same origins were so different that they were like different books. In fact, the synoptic gospels — Matthew, Mark and Luke — are a perfect examples of this very thing. Sure they are all the same story, but comparing them side by side, you’ll see many differences — and not just small, insignificant ones.
Of many copies, several were considered the best and by vote these three were chosen. But the real authors of these gospels are actually not known and the men whose names were used to name these books were most likely long dead when these were written and knew nothing of them.
What about the Gospels Jesus’ Disciples Wrote?
And what about all the gospels that were not accepted? Even though they were not voted in to be part of the canonized bible, what if they had truths in them from the originals that the winners didn’t contain?
These that were declared “apocrypha”, that is “spurious” or “of questionable authenticity”, may have contained truths that Jesus actually taught that the canonical books did not contain. One may not believe this, but how do you know there aren’t? And how do you know there isn’t more truth in these writings than the books that were approved by the Romans, the Greeks and Constantine, the Roman Emperor?
What about the early believers who knew Jesus and were personal disciples of Jesus? The Greeks who wrote the New Testament Gospels had never even met Jesus and many who had met him and wrote his teachings had their writings not included and marked as heretical by many of the church fathers.
So there is really no way at all to know how much or how little of the original teachings of Jesus and his disciples are actually contained in the canonical (Holy) bible.
And we also have no way of knowing how much, how little or even which passages of the scriptures were invented and inserted or removed because some scribe or church father thought it should or shouldn’t be there or because it was a tradition of the roman church or it would offend the emperor. The reason is that there are no original manuscripts to compare. Of course there are many obvious contradictions and inconsistencies that are not that difficult to find, but the again it’s hard know sometimes which is the true one and which is false, or even if it’s neither.
We know the church to have been rampant with untruths that bishops, church fathers and scribes took the liberty to invent in those days — many of the church fathers have confessed this themselves. The only way we would actually have reliable evidence is if we had the original manuscripts written by the disciples themselves in Aramaic or Hebrew.
We are told by bible scholars that it is estimated that the originals were written in Greek only from 70 AD into the second century and there were never any gospels written in Aramaic, but the gospels were translated from Greek into the Aramaic. Then there are other scholars that will say just the opposite. How is one to know the truth? All we really have are opinions.
The truth is that there is really a lot of speculation and no one really knows for sure or can prove anything. The saddest part about all of this is that there is really no way to know for sure what the whole truth of the bible actually is — and what is Truth and what is not! That’s why I say you have to look deep down inside your soul.
Then you have those that will say that the bible is God’s “inerrant” Word. However, from the church’s own admission and from all the history that has been written about these men who wrote down or copied the words over the centuries since the original words were actually spoken were not exactly “holy”.
We are told by historians and some of the church fathers themselves that there were in many cases ignorant and crafty men who corrupted the word of God and we have absolutely no idea to what extent.
In the 100’s of years following the first century early church Christianity was constantly plagued with fighting, bickering, backstabbing, persecutions, murders, etc., all over the differences in doctrinal beliefs, striving for power and control over the masses.
It Requires Belief to be Deceived
All these horrors influenced the way the our bible was modified and has eventually evolved into the many different and often conflicting versions of the bibles that we have today. What is one to believe?? We have to have some kind of proof to back up our claim, otherwise it is merely theory or hypothesis at best.
There is no way that we can know what Jesus actually said and did. I believe that some things it says in the bible are actually true, but that is all it really is… just belief. Without proof it is really only faith based on hearsay, which may or may not be true. And as I have said before: it requires belief to be deceived.
There is no way that we can know what Jesus actually said and did
The only way that we could have some reliable evidence of what the original truth was without all the additions, subtractions and modifications that have gone into the resulting editions that we have today is if we had the originals that we could prove that the disciples of Jesus themselves wrote in the tongue that they spoke in their day — Aramaic or Hebrew, and have it faithfully and correctly translated directly to English. But this is only a dream. Alas, all of the original ancient manuscripts have been long lost, destroyed or hidden.
I believe that some things it says in the bible are actually true, but that is all it really is… just belief
So, “How to know what the truth actually is ?” The only way is to look deep down inside your soul, and take a sincere and critical look at what you already believe and test everything with Logic. That’s a start.
Next: The Main Takeaways