Currently Reading This Present Darkness By Frank E. Peretti see related

Be sure to check out this great cartoon from John Rule.

We now continue with our study of the many supposed contradictions within God's Word. This is the next part in my "Rebuttal" series; a series dedicated to defending an answer to the critics and give anyone who asks an answer about the hope that lies within me.

Today, leading off, we see the ever-popular argument about the account of Creation. Genesis 1:25-26 tells us:

25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all[b] the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

And Genesis 2:18-20 states:

18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

The apparent contradiction is that in Genesis 1 God created the animals first and in Genesis 2 God created man first. However, a quick examination of God's purposes in these two passages will easily put this one down. In Genesis 1 we can read and see that God's purpose in that chapter is to create the animals according to their kind. These animals are also spread all over the earth. One of the common myths today is that the animals are only in the Garden of Eden. However, the Garden is not created until Genesis 2:8. The first round of animals created populated the entire earth. They are not named, however, and we read in Genesis 2:20 that Adam has to name each and every one of the animals. So, does Adam walk the earth searching for every animal? Certainly not! Instead, God created more animals within the Garden of Eden for two purposes. First off, so Adam could name them. Secondly, Adam needed a wife. God created every beast of the field and every bird of the air so Adam could name them and find a companion. He named them and, of course, did not find a companion so God created Eve. The two chapters do not contradict each other. In fact, the chapter two account clears up the problem that Adam would have had to walk the earth finding and naming all the animals. Instead this account tells us how all the animals are named and how Adam came to know Eve.

No contradiction exists in this passage, the Bible stands correct.

Switching gears, we move to both the old and new testaments on the issue of sin. It is amazing how low those wishing to discredit the Bible will go. I am not even sure why I am discussing this one, but I will. Ecclesiastes 7:20 says:

20 For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.

And 1 John 3:9 says:

9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

I fail to see the contradiction. All this "supposed" contradiction does is show how confused those who attempt to discredit the Bible are. The Bible teaches that all are sinners as Ecclesiastes states. However, the passage in 1 John is basically saying that if a man is walking with God and doing the will of God he will not sin. The Bible is not contradicting itself, but showing the difference of walking away from God and walking with God. No error exists in this passage and the Bible is correct.

That is all the contradictions I will be looking at in this section. I typically do three, however, the first one took longer than I expected to type out. In the next part we will continue to examine these supposed contradictions, finding the truth.