 | The Reverend Doctor Cathy Northrup was born in Ft. Meade, MD, and was raised in a variety of places in the United State and Germany, as her father was in Counter Intelligence with the Army. She graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, with a double major in English and Religion. She graduated from Georgetown Law Center in Washington, DC, and practiced law with the Federal Reserve Board for a number of years before attending Union Theological Seminaryin Richmond, VA. She graduated from Union, and served several churches in North and South Carolina, at the same time obtaining her Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ. Dr. Northrup is currently the Pastor/Head of Staff of First Presbyterian Church, Wichita, KS. She is married and has two black Labrador dogs who were rescued from abusive situations. You can contact Dr. Northrup at cnorthrup@firstpresbywichita.org or by phone at (316) 263-0248, ext. 26. |
Religion
2008-07-01 15:11:00
Can the Bible be contradictory?
Question: The Bible seems contradictory in several areas. For instance: 1) Jesus taught that people who would go to heaven (be saved) must become as little children (Matt 18:3-4 and 19:14; Mark 9:36-37 and 10:14-15; and Luke 18:15-17). But St. Paul wrote that maturity demands us to forsake the things of childhood (1 Cor 13:11). Also, 2) The Bible states that “Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11). But Jesus stated, some 900 years after Elijah’s time, that “none has ascended to heaven except the One who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man” (John 3:13). Can you explain these two instances, and then give an overall comment in regard to the Bible not being contradictory?
Answer: Presbyterians affirm, in The Confession of 1967, that the “one sufficient revelation of God is Jesus Christ, the Word of God incarnate, to whom the Holy Spirit bears unique and authoritative witness through the Holy Scriptures, which are received and obeyed as the word of God written. The Scriptures are not a witness among others, but the witness without parallel. The church has received the books of the Old and New Testaments as prophetic and apostolic testimony in which it hears the word of God and by which its faith and obedience are nourished and regulated.”
The first example cited to you of the Bible being “contradictory” is not in fact an example of contradiction at all. Both passages are true; they just have different emphases. Jesus was speaking of the trust of children. Paul was telling adults who had faith that they should not remain static in their faith and understanding; they should allow it to grow, and work toward that.
The second example is also not “contradictory;” again, the point is different because the context is different. The Bible states Elijah did go up by a whirlwind into heaven without death; this is unique to this great prophet, and it makes one point. The kind of ascension of which Jesus speaks in John, however, is particular to him. He is to “ascend,” that is, be lifted up onto the cross, and only after that “ascend” to heaven. This makes another point.
When someone points out to you “contradictions” in the Bible, go with that person to the passages in their context. Taking a passage here and a passage there, and comparing them out of context is not helpful.
