Plain Old Common Sense
Posted on March 23, 2010 by Kris
Filed Under Inerrancy of Scripture, What I'm Studying... | 1 Comment |
One idea that continues to surface when examining “errors of the Bible” is the complete lack of common sense on the part of the accuser. Making accusations against the inerrancy of the Bible often seems to point to the disingenuous nature of the accuser. In an effort to find any discrepancy, the accuser will grasp at any straw, without applying even a modicum of common sense.
Quite frequently, a mere examination of the context of a verse in question will resolve any thought of a contradiction (if a little common sense is applied to the equation). Consider one oft repeated accusation of Biblical contradiction. In John 1:18 we are told that “No one has seen God at any time…” However, in Genesis 32:30, Jacob said that he had “seen God face to face…” To the person who is unwilling to look at the context, and consider possible explanations, this is an unanswerable contradiction. But, to the honest mind, examining all of the evidence is vitally important. Ignoring the context of the passage, and ignoring the application of “good old common sense” is simply not an option.
By looking at Genesis 32, one will see that Jacob did not actually see God in His true (and spiritual) form. He saw a representation of God, identified as a man in the context (Genesis 32:24). Perhaps this is a contradiction? One verse says this was a man, the latter (verse 30) says that it was God. Which one is right? The fact is, this passage records for us Jacob’s perception of the circumstances. First, it was a man–there was nothing about Him that would make him stand out as being different from any other man. However, this Man performed a miracle, changing Jacob’s perception of the nature of the being that he was dealing with. He deduced that he had been wrestling with a manifestation of God. Common sense tells us that Jacob did not believe that he had wrestled with God in His literal form! He couldn’t even tell the difference between this manifestation of God and a man!
John’s account in John 1:18 references the fact that no human has seen God in his true form. Anyone who has studied the book of John knows that John spent much of his efforts establishing the deity of Christ. He establishes without doubt that Jesus Christ was God before coming to earth, continued to be God while on earth, and is still God now that He has ascended back into heaven. So, if that is the case, then how can the same author say that no man has seen God? Again, we must apply a bit of common sense. Though Jesus was God, and maintained His deity, He took on the form of a man (Philippians 2:5-7). He took on a form, a manifestation that was perceivable by men. Even though many people saw Jesus as He walked the earth, no man has yet seen the God in His true form.
In a figurative sense, John also records another way in which a person can “see” God. In John 14:8-11, Philip asked Jesus to show the Father to the disciples. Jesus said that they had “seen the Father” by seeing Him. Obviously, this did not mean that these men had seen the actual form of God, but rather that they had seen the nature of the Father through the being and teaching of the Son. This illustrates just how important it is to look at a context before jumping to a conclusion. It is quite obvious that Jesus was not contradicting John’s earlier statement in chapter 1:18!
Many of the “contradictions” that are alleged to be in the Bible can be answered by the same line of thinking. One must consider the context, and thus what is being discussed, before jumping to the conclusion that there is indeed a contradiction. If the passages under consideration are not discussing the same topic, then how can they be a contradiction of one another? One must seek to understand what is being said, not just take one verse out of context and make a straw man argument from it. One also needs to try and apply a little common sense. Arguing a point when it is clearly contrary to rational human reasoning (such as the accusation of contradiction that we are examining here) is disingenuous at best, and ignorant at worst.
So, take the time to actually examine the scriptures. They certainly have nothing to fear. Which is more than can be said about those who continually publish “contradictions” that have been answered years ago!
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The old expression that says there is nothing more uncommon than common sense sure applies to this situation. Anyone who is sincerely looking for the truth will understand by a serious study of God’s word that there are NO contradictions in the Bible.
Why do some looks for the worst while others look for the best? This doesn’t mean that we are to overlook error. It simply means that we must examine all the evidence seriously before we come to any conclusion. An honest heart will see the truth.