I got a post on my facebook from a friend who had been out evangelizing and had run into someone who said, "The Bible is full of contradictions." My question was, "Could I have a list of them please?" My experience is that when you find an apparent contradiction that it usually turns out not to be.
This week my personal study has included literary and rhetorical writing devices. And as I studied one that popped out was the literary device of the paradox. A paradox is two contradictory statement that cancel one another but at the same time are both true. The most famous paradox in literature is found in the book 'A tale of two cities'. The opening line of the book reads, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." These two contradictory statements do not cause us to take the book and chuck it in the trash. This is still required reading at schools all over this country. In fact, with these two apparently contradictory statements the author begins to write about how both are true.
Let me give you a couple of examples of paradox in holy scripture; In John 5:31 Jesus says, "If I alone bear witness of Myself, My testimony is not true." Then three chapters later, in John 8:14, Jesus says, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true." These two statements at first glance are apparent contradictions. But I say to you further study will reveal that they are paradoxical statements instead.
The first statement, "If I alone bear witness of Myself, My testimony is not true" is a true statement, the Torah teaches that, "Everything shall be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses" (Deuteronomy 19:15). According to the Torah if a person bears witness alone, their testimony is not true. However, Jesus later says, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true; for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from, or where I am going."
The reason Jesus can bear witness of Himself is because He is God, the second person of the Godhead, and God can bear witness of Himself. So in fact, both statements are true and instead of contradiction we have a paradox. And just like the book 'A tale of two cities' we are not going to through out the book because of a paradoxical statement, we should read and study it further.
Here is another one in the next two verse in chapter 8, Jesus says, "You people judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true" (John 8:15-16). Now if this is not paradoxical enough look at John 9:39, Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world." Then three chapters later Jesus says, "I did not come to judge the world" (John 12:47)
Again both statements are true! Maybe I can explain scripture with it. Jesus said earlier in John 3:17-19, "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil."
Jesus both came into the world to judge the world, being that those who do not recieve the light are judged because they love darkness, and at the same time Jesus didn't come into the world to judge the world but instead to save the world. Both statements are true and both statements are tough to wrap your mind around, that why they are paradoxical.
Next time I will write about another apparent contradiction in the Bible which in fact turns out not to be one and just further goes to prove the perfection of God's Word. A paradox is just two contradictory statements that cancel each other out but in fact turn out to be true.
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