Another Bible Contradiction Answered

The Nugget:

Mar 6:5  And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

The Muslim Challenge:

50,000 Errors and Biblical contradictions

If the Bible was divinely inspired, then why would it have so many really obvious contradictions?

[There followed a listing of 250 alleged Bible contradictions]

My Response:

That is a marvelous listing of alleged Bible contradictions.

I hope you will not mind if I borrow these (by making a copy via “copy and paste” to add to my collection of alleged Bible contradictions to answer). These always make for very interesting and instructive material for a deeper study of the Bible.

Of course you have provided too many examples to answer here on this discussion thread.

Each supposed contradiction is a lesson about or an example of misreading the Bible text.

I will answer just one (now unnumbered) example:

All power is given unto [Jesus] in heaven and in earth.
– Matthew 28:18

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

And [Jesus] could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands on a few sick folk and healed them.
– Mark 6:5

To assert that this constitutes a contradiction involves two or three major errors in reading the Bible text:

(1) The chronological error. Failure to take into account the chronology of the narrative can lead to serious misconceptions regarding what the Bible affirms. Mark 6:5 takes place well before what is proclaimed in Matthew 28:18. The proclamation found in Matthew 28:18 was given after the glorious bodily resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(2) The insufficient context error. When sufficient context is provided for Mark 6:5,  we learn that a lack of faith may limit what God will do for a person, in this case, physical healing. The account demonstrates that the people of His own town Nazareth who knew Jesus and His family well were blocked from genuinely receiving His message and largely blocked from benefiting from His healing ministry.

Here is more of the context for Mark 6:5 to show how taking into account the immediate context helps to remove the alleged contradiction for those capable of reading the Bible apart from imposing their own unbelieving worldview which blinds them to seeing the simple truth that is being presented:

Mar 6:1  And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.
Mar 6:2  And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
Mar 6:3  Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
Mar 6:4  But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
Mar 6:5  And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
Mar 6:6  And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

(3) Failure to take into account the wider context of the whole of Scripture. When we consult all that the Bible has to say on a particular subject or theme we will better understand what the Bible teaches. To find all that the Bible teaches we must use such resources as The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, or The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury. These resources furnish cross references for every verse in the Bible, cross references which serve to explain, illustrate, or confirm what is said in the verse being studied.

Here are the cross references for the first clause in Mark 6:5, “he could there do.”

Mar 5:17; Mar 9:23, Gen 19:22; Gen 32:25, *Psa 78:41, Isa 59:1-2, *Mat 11:21, 23, 24. 13:58, Luk 13:34, Heb 4:2.

Mark 5:17
17  And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
King James Version

Mark 9:23
23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
King James Version

Genesis 19:22
22  Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
King James Version

Genesis 32:25
25  And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
King James Version

Psalms 78:41
41  Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
King James Version

Isaiah 59:1-2
1  Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2  But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
King James Version

Matthew 11:21  Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

Matthew 11:23  And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
Matthew 11:24  But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

Matthew 13:58
58  And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
King James Version

Luke 13:34
34  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
King James Version

Hebrews 4:2
2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
King James Version

The proper response to our own lack of faith should be to follow the example presented in the New Testament of a man who responded to Jesus:

Mar_9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

Consider the promise found in Hebrews 11:6,

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.