Apologetics Understanding the Seeming Difficulties in the Bible
Understanding the Seeming Difficulties in the Bible
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Even though it appears that the Bible has thousands of difficulties and contradictions, there are in fact only a few problems that can be put in categories. The most common of these difficulties are as follows:-
Difficulties Arising From the Original Text
The original text of the Holy Scriptures did not have any errors. However, due to years and years of copying, errors such as spelling, repetition, omission and a few others would have occurred. Also the language of Hebrew was written without vowels and the words were joined together. It was only later that modern scribes added vowels and separated the words. The incorrect placement of a vowel or wrong word separation could change the meaning of a passage. However, those who were responsible for copying the books of the bible took extra care and as such very little errors were made. Whatever errors existed was not sufficient to alter in any way the essential message or doctrines of the bible.Difficulties Arising Out of Translation Problems
One word in the Hebrew and Greek language can be translated by numerous other words of another language. The problem is in choosing the appropriate word for a particular passage. The same word cannot be used throughout the bible and neither can different words be used in different places. This together with the biases of the translators, archaic words and the translator’s interpretation of the passage, can cause difficulties to occur. Other aspects that cause difficulties in translations are old dialects, words that have one meaning in Hebrew/Greek but have a totally different meaning in English, and the use of euphemisms to avoid using words that may be offensive to readers.
Difficulties Arising Out of False Interpretations of the Bible
The bible carries information on a variety of topics. However, everything that the bible discusses will not be easily understood by the human mind. As such the tendency is to put one’s own interpretation on a subject one does not clearly understand. One subject may be interpreted in different ways depending on a person’s point of view or bias. Some of these interpretations may not go down well with others and thus the bible gets a bad name, albeit unfairly. Careful, prolonged and prayerful study of the Bible, especially with an open mind is the only way to understanding this dynamic book. As mentioned before whatever errors may exist are only a few and would not change the essential message of the Bible.
