אבנימ

Biblical Hermeneutics Part Second Chapter 30

Terry now turns to answer the critics who allege that the Scriptures are full of internal contradictions. He identifies these supposed discrepancies under the categories of genealogy, numbers, doctrine and ethics. First of all he points out that a large number of instances are easily answered by doing due diligence with textual criticism and introductory analysis of specific books and authors. By these we discover easily discernible copyists’ errors, authors’ various methods of time reckoning, their diverse local and historical perspectives, and most importantly the different scope, plan and purpose behind their respective writings. Terry also rightly observes that many alleged inconsistencies really only exist in the perverse minds of critical skeptics.

Actual variations, as the in case of genealogies, do not necessarily constitute errors. That the data is presented differently, but not is not mutually contradictory, rather serves to confirm the verity of the records by showing that the authors worked independently and without collusion, each compiling and recording the data according to his own particular purposes. Indeed, the presence of the variant genealogies in both the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures provides the strongest evidence of historical veracity. [Aside: I deduce that the author’s contemporaries, if the records were factually inaccurate, would surely have rejected them. This is all the more certain in the Jewish culture for which lineage was so important.] As for numerical discrepancies, the majority of these cases simply arise due to the custom of using letters for numbers.

In what may appear to be doctrinal and/or ethical discrepancies, the author effectively shows how these are resolved through the use of basic hermeneutical principles. Among several case studies, he discusses the Mosaic judicial legislation on recompensing evil vs. The Sermon of the Mount, the prohibition of murder vs. the institution of capital punishment, and Paul’s doctrine of justification vs. that of James. In each of these cases, he shows how the specific scope and purpose of the author must be understood in order to rightly comprehend the text. For example, Moses is dealing with civil jurisprudence while our Lord is concerned primarily with personal ethics. In the seemingly contradictory passages between Paul and James, Paul is discussing how one is justified, while James is concerned with the life of faith once one is justified. [Aside: Terry does much good here and elsewhere in showing how much trouble ensues when one takes Scripture in a wooden and literalist fashion. cf. Proverbs 26.4-5] Terry also does well to point out the unity of Scripture, e.g. that the personal ethics of forgiveness and longsuffering are present in the Old Testament, as is the endorsement of legitimate retribution by the civil government present in the New Testament.