Bible Veracity

There are some who would have us believe the Bible contradicts itself because it records Jesus fed 5000 people in one place (Luke 9:10-17) and 4000 (Mark 8:1-9) in another. The fact is that there were two incidents. One took place near Bethsaida (Luke 9:10) while the other was on the other side of the lake from Bethsaida (according to what is said in Mark 6:45). You will have noticed, of course that Mark records the two incidents (in chapter 6 and chapter 8) as does Matthew (in Matthew 14:15-21 and Matthew 15:32-39).

Though charging the Bible with contradicting itself, in this case, is a matter of ignorance and hardly worth mentioning as a proof for the Bible's veracity there does remain an important principle to remember. The Bible records history but, because we have summaries of the data, sometimes it is easy to mistake one record with another. There are several things which make this easier to see.

First, remember we have four Gospels. They are recorded by different authors who write from different viewpoints. So while John may record the same details as (say) Luke he is interested in a thematic approach with less attention to the timing of the events. Luke is more interested in producing what we might consider a history of the events of Christ's life and ministry while Mathew is concerned to show that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies concerning the Messiah. Mark's Gospel would appear to be setting forth a brief summary of Jesus' Messiahship, though he includes personal details which the others do not have.

The principle I wish to draw from these facts is that, though the Bible is the Word of God he used ordinary people to record its story of redemption. We should expect to find differing styles and details because God did not override the personalities of the writers when he "spoke through the prophets of old." The message was intended to be presented in accord with their personalities. So, God tells the truth, though he does so in the style and language of the writer of that truth.

Second, Because this is a summary - do we really imagine that every word and action of Jesus' three-year ministry can be recorded in (say) the 24 short chapters which make up Luke's Gospel? This is going to mean there are some details which have been omitted and there will be a certain pattern to the discourses which give the gist, rather than the content. That there is a pattern will mean that sometimes a similar discourse will sound like the same one because the gist was the same. Extraneous details may be different because of the differing circumstances in which those similar talks were delivered.

Third, the recording language was that of the market place, not that of the academic. It is colorful and evocative and may be more or less precisely used. That should be no barrier as long as we remember God used this form of the language so that all could understand his message. So we find truth clothed in the precision and garb of the everyday. The sun rises in the East and set in the west. Accurate if not scientifically so. Then when we read in Acts 14:42-52 that "the Jews" did certain things we do not believe that every single person that was called a Jew in the city was involved. That is just not the way people usually work. It may have been only the leaders, or it may have been the leaders and some of the people, or it may even have been the leaders and the majority of the people but it was, in any case, what we would mean if we said "the Jews" as opposed to the "Gentiles."

Bearing these three matters in mind goes a long way to understanding what we mean when we speak of the veracity of the Bible.