Biblical inerrancy

The doctrine of “biblical inerrancy” teaches that the Bible, as originally written, was without errors, mistakes, or contradictions. However, Christians who hold to that position have a problem, because the Bible clearly contains contradictions. Here are two examples:

1.       Was Jesus crucified before Passover or later than that?

The Jewish Passover was celebrated on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish calendar ^[1] (known as Nisan). The week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread began on the fifteenth day of this first Jewish month of Nisan.[2] The Synoptic Gospels all say that Jesus sent his disciples to prepare the Passover meal “on the first day of Unleavened Bread.”[3] This probably refers to Passover, which was often considered the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Since Jewish days begin at sunset, this means that Jesus’s final meal—the so-called “Last Supper”—and his crucifixion would have been on or after Passover.

However, John’s Gospel is quite insistent that Jesus was crucified on the day before Passover[4]—that is, on the thirteenth of Nisan.

2.      How did Judas die?

Matthew chapter 27 says that when Judas Iscariot—who betrayed Jesus into the hands of the Jewish leaders—saw that Jesus had been condemned by the Sanhedrin, he felt remorse, returned the money he had been paid, and “went away and hanged himself.”[5] That seems clear enough.

Except that Acts 1:18 tells a very different story. It says that Judas “acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.”

I cannot resolve these discrepancies. On the other hand, they do not threaten my faith in God or Christ, probably because of my background as a trial attorney. I have seen witnesses who are trying to be truthful and accurate, and who witnessed the same event or occurrence, fail to agree about the details. We notice different things, we focus on different things, we remember different things—because we are all different. And yes, sometimes people make mistakes.

That is how I view the biblical writers. They were men who witnessed remarkable things. Some—perhaps all—had a very deep, Spirit-given understanding of God/Christ and his ways. Like sincere, truthful witnesses, they wrote down what they remembered, understood, and believed to be true. But they were men. I do not believe they were immune from mistakes.

And what is more, the Bible, to my knowledge, never claims to be perfect or without mistakes (unlike the Koran, which does make such claims).

What I find miraculous—and what so many skeptics miss—is that these biblical writers, from widely different backgrounds, agree on so much—indeed, they agree on all of the essentials. For example, they all agree that Jesus made claims about himself that no mere man has any rigth to make, because Jesus effectively claimed to be divine. And they all agree that Jesus died and was then resurrected.

Furthermore, from my study of the Bible, I do not believe the biblical writers contradict each other on spiritual matters (as opposed to factual matters). I will give you an example that I have heard skeptics cite—Matthew 12:30 vs. Mark 9:40.

In Matthew 12:30, Jesus says, “The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.” (Luke 11:23 is similar.) In Mark 9:40, Jesus says, “For the one who is not against us is for us.” (Luke 9:50 is similar.) Are these contradictory statements? Not at all. Not when you understand the context. Here is how I explained the difference in Chapter 94 of my recent book, Understanding the Gospels (Book 1) (copyright 2025):

John, one of the Twelve, informed Jesus that the disciples had tried to stop a man who was casting out demons in Jesus’s name since he was not part of their group. The disciples might have acted out of jealousy or resentment prompted by their own recent inability to cast out a demon (Chapter 90).

Jesus told them not to stop the man, pointing out that a person who does a miracle in Jesus’s name isn’t likely to say anything bad about him, adding, “for the one who is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9:50; Mark 9:40 is similar)

At first blush this seems to contradict what Jesus said in Matthew 12:30: “The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.” (See also Luke 11:23 and Chapter 61.) But the context is completely different, and that accounts for the dissimilarity. Here Jesus is talking about people—and specifically, about people who are trying to help other people in the name of Jesus. Since that is what the followers of Jesus are supposed to do, followers of Jesus should encourage that, not oppose it.

Now let’s look at the context of Luke 11:23 and Matthew 12:30. Jesus was casting a demon out of a man. The Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons through the power of Satan, and therefore of being in league with Satan.  Jesus was pointing out that he and Satan are actually on opposing sides. Satan is “against Me.” While Jesus tries to gather souls for God, Satan is trying to sabotage those efforts and scatter people away from God. Thus, when Jesus says, “The one who is not with Me is against Me,” the “one” he is referring to is Satan—and possibly also those who ally themselves with Satan by championing lies and evil.

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[1]. See Exodus 12:18, Leviticus 23:5, Numbers 9:2-5 and 28:16.

[2]. See Leviticus 23:6 and Numbers 28:17.

[3]. Matthew 26:17, Mark 14:12, Luke 22:7

[4]. See John 13:1, 19:14, 19:31, and 18:28.

[5]. Matthew 27:5