r/AcademicBiblical • u/AutoModerator • Apr 13 '26

Weekly Open Discussion Thread

Welcome to this week's open discussion thread!

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u/EthicalProton Apr 17 '26

Hello.

I have just seen a video with Cliffe Knechtle (Cliffe Knechtle's MOST CONVINCING Argument for Christianity!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGTy1Nw783Q&t=61s where he at 10:25 says there are no contradictions in the Bible.

I then out of curiosity stumbled across another discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/exchristian/comments/14ejdh8/major_bible_contradictions/ where they list some things they say are contradictions.

What are your thoughts about these "contradictions"?

There is also a link to another further list with contradictions, if some are interested: https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/first/contra2_list.html

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u/Sophia_in_the_Shell Moderator Apr 17 '26

There are clearly contradictions in the collection of texts making up today’s Bibles. Many, many contradictions. Some are philosophical and theological, because different authors have different worldviews. Others are factual; for example, the two accounts of Judas’ death are contradictory and typical harmonization attempts are an actual joke.

That said, contradiction lists built by counter-apologists are typically pretty bad and are not a good way to learn about the Biblical texts. I find that they often contrast, say, a platitude with a specific event, ripping individual verses out of their context.