wordsmyth

During discussions of the Bible it often comes up that an apologist will claim that the apparent contradictions are some how the result of mistranslation due to differences in word meanings between languages. What I'd like to know is, are there any examples of arguments for biblical contradictions from early detractors of the bible who were native to the language(s) it was originally written in?

CX

We don't actually have a lot from early detractors of the NT (I'm not all that familiar with the OT so I can't comment on that). One such is Celsus, but I don't recall any specific contradictions identified by him. I suppose we can presume that Justin Martyr's "Dialogue with Trypho the Jew" was a response to common criticisms of Xianity by Jews. I know he discusses the Is 7:14 controversy, but I'm not sure that's the kind of thing you're looking for.

In any event, sometimes such contradictions are a result of translation problems. In other instances contradictions are "cleaned up" by translators as in the Goliath being killed twice instance in the OT. Really it comes down to a case by case basis. Off hand I can't think of any off the top of my head, but generally I'd ask such a claimant to provide a reference and then check it out myself in the NA27.

Peter Kirby

I am aware of three early detractors of Christianity of whom we have notable remains: Celsus, Porphyry, and Julian the emperor. I have recently ordered Julian's books, and my only memory of Porphyry is from an excerpt in English class at Servite, but the work of Origen in refutation of Celsus (not the original of Celsus) is available here (scroll down):

http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-04/TOC.htm

A search for the word "contradiction" pulls up this:

Book VII, Chapter LXVI
But as Celsus supposes that we fall into a contradiction, whilst on the one hand we say that God has not a human form, and on the other we profess to believe that God made man the image of Himself, and created man the image of God; our answer is the same as has been given already, that we hold the resemblance to God to be preserved in the reasonable soul, which is formed to virtue, although Celsus, who does not see the difference between "being the image of God," and "being created after the image of God," pretends that we said, "God made man His own image, and gave him a form like to His own." But this also has been examined before.

I also remember this famous line.

Book II, Chapter XXVII
After this he says, that certain of the Christian believers, like persons who in a fit of drunkenness lay violent hands upon themselves, have corrupted the Gospel from its original integrity, to a threefold, and fourfold, and many-fold degree, and have remodelled it, so that they might be able to answer objections.

I think that you might have better luck finding Christian harmonizations, often in response to other Christians with varying interpretations. For example, Julius Africanus in the late 2d / early 3d century attempted to harmonize the genealogies of Matthew and Luke. In the early 2d century, Marcion wrote a book (not preserved) of "Antitheses" or "Contradictions" showing the differences between the OT Demiurge and the NT God (Marcion advocated abandoning the OT).

best,
Peter Kirby

mark9950

It would be the translators,I really think that since the bible books were from oral tradition which gets changed from generation to generation,there would have to be problems with the text and the way it was written in fragments.

But God wrote the bible right?If God really did write the bible he would not have let things like this happen,especially the flat earth writings.

Doctor X

Interestingly there is not a lot of "orality" in the OT--save songs--like you find in Homer.

Regarding rewrites in the same language--check what the Chronicler does to the Deuteronomistic Historian--Samuel-Kings--for example. For the OT see what happens to Mk in Lk and Mt.

--J.D.