Because of mistranslations or lack of knowledge, some have assumed that the Bible has contradictions. For example, at Matthew 20:29, it says that Jesus was "going out of Jericho", whereas Luke records Jesus as "getting near to Jericho".(Luke 18:35) A contradiction ? No. Why ?
Many are unaware that during Jesus time, there were two Jerichos. On this, Joseph P. Free writes: "Archaeology, however, has thrown additional light on this apparent discrepancy. Early in the twentieth century A.D., excavations were made at Jericho by Ernest Sellin of the German Oriental Society (1907-1909). The excavations showed that the Jericho of Jesus' time was a double city . . . The old Jewish city was about a mile away from the Roman city. In the light of this evidence, it is possible that Matthew is speaking of the Jewish city which Christ had left, whereas Luke is speaking of the Roman, at which Christ had not yet arrived. Thus, on His way from the old to the new city, Christ met and healed the blind Bartimaeus."-Archaeology and Bible History, 1964, p. 295.
Many have taken the stand that the Bible is not the word of God or contradictory. James Barr (1924 -2006) once Oxford Hebrew professor, said that "the proper term for the Bible would be Word of Israel, Word of some leading early Christians." (The Bible in the Modern World ) There is, however, sound evidence that the Bible is God's word. What are some examples of the Bible's accuracy, that we can trust this "book" ?
Anatomy: The Bible accurately says that 'all the parts' of a human embryo are "in writing." (Psalm 139:13-16; New World Translation) The brain, the heart, the lungs, the eyes - these and all the other body parts are 'written down' in the genetic code of the fertilized egg in the mother's womb. Contained in this code are internal timetables for the appearance of each of these parts in proper order. This fact about the development of the human body was recorded in the Bible almost 3,000 years before James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the genetic DNA code in 1953. How was it possible for the Bible, to have pointed toward a genetic code long before it's discovery in the twentieth century ? Because it was inspired of God, who is called "the source of life" at Psalms 36:9.
Because the King James Bible reads: "Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them", at Psalms 139:16, this causes a failure to grasp the vivid meaning of what David wrote.
The New World Translation accurately reads of Psalms 139:16: "Your eyes saw even the embryo of me ("embryo of me", Hebrew golem, meaning "an unformed mass, i.e. as the embryo", Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, H1564), and in your book all its parts were down in writing, As regards the days when they were formed and there was not yet one among them."
Astronomy: Some 2,700 years ago, long before people in general knew that the earth is round, the prophet Isaiah wrote: "There is One who is dwelling above the circle of the earth." (Isaiah 40:22; New World Translation) The Hebrew word chugh here translated "circle," may also be rendered "sphere." (A Concordance of the Hebrew and Chaldee Scriptures, by B. Davidson) Then, too, "the circle" of the earth's horizon is clearly seen from outer space and sometimes during high-altitude airplane travel.
Also, Job 26:7 says that God is "hanging the earth upon nothing." This is now well known, for astronomers now know that the earth has no visible means of support and is spherical or round like a "circle". How could the Bible present this over 1000 years even before Pythagoras asserted that the earth was round in about 500 B.C.E. though most believed it was flat ? Because the Creator, Jehovah God, revealed this to his servants and has been preserved for those who are serious about learning who the true God is, through his word, the Bible.
