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- The Anvil
Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s door,
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime,
Then looking, I saw upon the floor,
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.
“How many anvils have you had,” said I,
“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”
“Just one,” said he, and then with twinkling eye;
“The anvil wears the hammers out, ye know.”
And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s Word,
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The anvil is unharmed…the hammers gone.
- John Clifford (1836-1923)
This study is designed to give a defense on behalf of God’s word (1 Pet 3:15; Jd 3); to edify
Christians (1 Thess 5:11); and to confirm God’s word as reliable (Jn 20:30, 31).
Part One:
Rules To Apply When Dealing With Alleged Discrepancies…
- “The question of discrepancies is a question of interpretation…”
Alvah Hovey (1874)
1. Always be certain that the same person, the same place, the same thing, or the same event is
under consideration.
- a. To say Johnny Dogood is rich, and Johnny Dogood is poor, may seem to be a
contradiction.
b. However, if we are discussing two different persons, living in two different places having
the same name, then there is no contradiction at all.
- i. Both Gen 6:15 and Ex 25:10 speak of an ark.
ii. However, it is not the same ark, at the same time, in the same place, during the
same event.
2. Rule 1, but in addition, at the same time.
- a. To say Johnny Dogood is rich and Johnny Dogood is poor may again seem to be a
contradiction.
b. Let’s suppose that this time it is the same Johnny Dogood.
c. Is it a contradiction?
- i. Not if at two different points in his life.
ii. When young he was rich, when old he was poor.
- d. Gen 1:31 says it is all good, but Gen 6:5 says it is not good.
- i. Same earth, same God.
ii. But, not at the same time.
- 3. Rules 1 & 2, but in addition, in the same sense, or from the same perspective.
- a. Ac 9:7 >> Ac 22:9.
b. Did they hear or not hear?
- i. They heard from the perspective of having heard something.
ii. However, they did not perceive what was said.
4. Finally, it is not necessary to offer an exact, it must be this, answer.
- a. The only answer needed is an answer which is plausible, hence one which offers
reasonable doubt.
b. For example, let’s revisit the statements, Mr. Johnny Dogood is rich and Mr. Johnny
Dogood is poor.
- i. It may two different men with the same name living in two different places.
ii. It may the same man at two different times.
iii. It may two different men with the same name living in one place.
iv. Et. Al.
- c. As long as a plausible explanation can be given, it cannot be said that there is a definite
contradiction.
*Note also, that though there sometimes appears to be a discrepancy in the English text, does not
mean it is so in the original text (Lk 13:24; 2 Tim 2:24).
1st, αγωνίζομαι
2nd, μάχομαι
_______________
In addition to the rules set forth in part one, Bible students should consider:
1. The Bible is innocent until proven guilty.
- a. Just because someone says there is a contradiction does not make it so.
- i. Suppose a crime was committed by a man wearing a red hat.
ii. Is the first person seen wearing a red hat the criminal?
- b. We expect people to be considered innocent until proven otherwise, and we should show
the same courtesy to others.
2. Supplementation is not contradiction.
- a. Just because certain details were added to or left out of the telling of an event does not
mean that both or either are wrong.
b. Suppose two people go to see a baseball game:
- i. One mentions the home teams great defense.
ii. The other mentions their clutch hitting.
iii. One says the star hitter struck out.
iv. The other says he hit a home run.
- c. Matt 14:21 compared to Mrk 6:44.
d. Matt 27:57-60 compared to Jn 19:38-40.
3. Consider who is saying what.
- a. Every passage is inspirited (2 Tim 3:16).
b. Yet, some of the inspired events are recorded as having taken place by men who were
not inspired.
- i. Jack can say that Bill said the grass is purple.
ii. Jack is truthfully telling what Bill said, though Bill said a falsehood.
iii. Gen 3:4—event is true, but statement is false (cf. Jn 8:44).
4. Consider the type of language being used.
- a. Symbolic, as in the Revelation (1:1).
b. Figure of speech.
- i. Sun rises.
ii. Sun doesn’t really rise.
iii. 1 Cor 15:6—really dead.
- c. Synecdoche.
- i. Part for the whole or whole for the part.
ii. Jd 3.
iii. Rom 5:1.
iv. Ac 18:8.
- d. Hyperbole.
- i. Exaggeration to make a point.
ii. Rev 20:6.
iii. Matt 18:22.