Justified True Belief

#1 Any difference between two biblical accounts is a contradiction, so the Bible is unreliable. + A contradiction requires affirming and denying the same claim in the same sense at the same time, not two authors selecting different details. Multiple attestation often includes complementary variation.

#2 If the Gospels do not match word-for-word, they cannot be eyewitness based. + Independent eyewitness-based accounts normally vary in wording, order, and what they emphasize, especially when summarizing speech and events. That kind of variation can actually support authenticity, since word-for-word identity often looks like copying or coordination.

#3 Different participant lists are contradictions (for example, different women at the tomb). + A shorter list is usually not claiming to be exhaustive, it is spotlighting key figures. Overlapping groups are normal in summaries.

#4 If one account mentions one person and another mentions two, they contradict. + “Two were present” includes “one was present” unless the text says “only one,” which is rarely the case. Authors often highlight the main speaker or most prominent individual.

#5 Proverbs are unconditional promises, so one counterexample disproves the Bible. + Proverbs are wisdom generalizations about what is typically true, not universal guarantees in every case. Treating wisdom literature like a covenant promise creates the “disproof.”

#6 The Bible says “There is no God,” so atheism is biblical. + That is quote-mining: Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Reading the full sentence and context resolves the “contradiction.”

#7 The Bible teaches a flat earth because it mentions “the four corners of the earth.” + “Four corners” is a common idiom meaning “the whole earth” or “all directions,” especially in poetic or apocalyptic contexts. Idioms are not geometry.

#8 Jesus was scientifically wrong because He said faith can “move mountains.” + “Move mountains” is standard hyperbole for overcoming enormous obstacles. Treating rhetorical exaggeration as a physics claim is a category mistake.

#9 The Bible is scientifically wrong because it talks about “sunrise.” + “Sunrise” is everyday phenomenological language describing how things appear from our perspective. Using ordinary human observation language is not a cosmology statement.

#10 Jesus was wrong because the mustard seed is not the smallest seed on earth. + Jesus is using a common agrarian comparison in His setting, referring to the smallest seed typically sown in that context, not giving a global botany lecture. Parables communicate meaning through familiar imagery, not technical taxonomy.

#11 The Bible is false because it calls bats “birds.” + Ancient Hebrew classification often groups animals by observable mode of movement (flying creatures), not modern biological taxonomy. Calling it “wrong” assumes the text is trying to use 21st-century scientific categories.

#12 Jesus said “judge not,” so Christians can never make moral judgments. + In context, Jesus condemns hypocritical, self-righteous judgment, not all moral discernment. The same broader teaching calls for right judgment and correction without hypocrisy.

#13 The Bible contradicts itself because Jesus brings peace, but also says He brings “a sword.” + “Sword” language is metaphor for division and conflict that can arise from allegiance to Jesus, not a command to violence. “Peace” can refer to peace with God and the ultimate aim of the kingdom, even if the message provokes conflict in the present.

#14 The Bible contradicts itself because it says God “repented” or “changed His mind.” + Much of that language is anthropomorphic (describing God with human terms so we can understand His actions in history). It does not automatically mean God is ignorant, surprised, or morally unstable, especially since Scripture also affirms God’s faithfulness and knowledge.

#15 The Bible contradicts itself because it says God “hates” and also says God is love. + “Love” and “hate” can function as covenantal or judicial language about favor versus opposition to evil, not emotional instability. The claim usually ignores genre and the moral context of judgment language.

#16 The Bible contradicts itself because James says God tempts no one, but Genesis says God “tempted” Abraham. + The confusion is English: the biblical languages distinguish “test” (prove, refine) from “tempt” (entice to sin). Genesis 22 is a test of Abraham’s faithfulness, not God trying to lure Abraham into evil.

#17 The Bible contradicts itself because it says “no one has seen God,” yet people “saw God.” + The texts can distinguish seeing God’s essence from seeing a theophany, a mediated manifestation of God. The objection collapses distinctions the Bible itself makes.

#18 One Gospel says one angel at the tomb and another says two, so contradiction. + “Two were present” includes “one was present” unless a text says “only one.” One writer can spotlight the main speaker while another notes both.

#19 One Gospel says the stone was already rolled away, another says it was rolled away then, contradiction. + One can describe the scene upon arrival while another narrates the event that explains it. Description versus narration is not a logical conflict.

#20 The inscription on the cross is different in each Gospel, so someone made it up. + Authors can paraphrase or abbreviate the sign, and it likely existed in multiple languages, making exact wording vary. The meaning remains consistent: Jesus is identified as “King of the Jews.”

#21 One Gospel says Jesus carried the cross, another says Simon carried it, contradiction. + Both can be true if Jesus began carrying it and Simon was later compelled to carry it. The accounts can spotlight different moments.

#22 Mark and John contradict on the time of the crucifixion, so one is wrong. + Mark 15:25 says crucifixion at “the third hour,” while John 19:14 places Jesus before Pilate “about the sixth hour,” and these can differ by reference point (trial vs crucifixion), timekeeping convention, and approximation. The objection usually assumes one modern clock system and exact-minute reporting.

#23 Matthew says two blind men at Jericho, Mark says one, contradiction. + If two were healed, it is still true that one was healed, and Mark highlights Bartimaeus by name. A selective report is not a contradiction unless it explicitly says “only one.”

#24 The rooster crowing during Peter’s denial contradicts itself (once vs twice). + Mark includes two crowings, while other accounts can summarize the same event with a single rooster-crow marker. That is compression, not contradiction.

#25 Matthew says the centurion came to Jesus, Luke says the centurion sent elders, contradiction. + In ancient writing, a person can be said to do something through authorized representatives. The centurion can “come” in the sense that he initiated and directed the request.

#26 Judas’ death contradicts itself, one passage says he hanged himself and another says he fell and burst open. + The accounts can describe different aspects of the same death, for example hanging followed by a later fall and rupture. Neither text claims to give an exhaustive medical timeline.

#27 Saul’s death contradicts itself (fell on his sword vs killed by an Amalekite). + The Amalekite’s story in 2 Samuel 1 can be self-serving fabrication meant to gain favor, and the narrator has already given a different account in 1 Samuel 31. The “contradiction” claim assumes the Amalekite’s report must be true.

#28 God hardens Pharaoh’s heart and Pharaoh hardens his own heart, contradiction. + Both can be true: Pharaoh hardens himself, and God judicially confirms him in the path he insists on. The text often presents a sequence where Pharaoh’s stubbornness precedes intensified divine hardening.

#29 The Bible contradicts itself about children being punished for their parents’ sins. + Some passages address the social consequences of sin across generations, while others address individual moral culpability before God (for example Ezekiel 18). Treating consequences and personal guilt as the same category creates the conflict.

#30 Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 contradict each other, so creation is confused. + Genesis 1 is a structured cosmic overview; Genesis 2 zooms in on humanity and Eden and often arranges details topically. Different scope and focus are not mutually exclusive.

#31 Jesus’ “three days and three nights” is false because it was not 72 hours. + In Jewish idiom, inclusive counting often treats part of a day as a day. The objection assumes modern stopwatch precision rather than ancient reckoning.

#32 The New Testament quotes the Old Testament out of context, so it is dishonest. + New Testament writers often apply Old Testament passages by drawing out the broader theme and storyline, not by claiming every verse was a stand-alone prediction. Reading the wider OT context usually shows the NT use is tied to the same big idea, not a random prooftext grab.

#33 The Bible teaches pi equals 3 (so it is mathematically wrong). + The “molten sea” description (1 Kings 7:23) is not presented as a geometry textbook, and ancient descriptions often round measurements. Also, diameter and circumference can be measured at different points (rim thickness), which affects the numbers.

#34 Luke got the census wrong, so the birth narratives are historically useless. + The objection often assumes Luke must be using our modern bureaucratic categories and must be referring to a single well-known census in only one possible way. There are plausible resolutions involving translation, administrative roles, and the possibility of earlier enrollments, so “Luke is disproven” is overstated.

#35 Biblical genealogies contradict, so Jesus’ lineage was invented. + Ancient genealogies can serve different purposes, such as legal succession versus biological descent, and they can be selective rather than exhaustive. Differences do not automatically equal fabrication, they often reflect different lines or different aims.

#36 Paul contradicts himself because he says women must be silent, yet elsewhere women pray or prophesy. + “Silent” can be contextual language about order and non-disruption in a specific setting, not a universal claim that women may never speak. The broader New Testament evidence that women prayed and prophesied forces a more careful, contextual reading.