Since the Bible Can Not Contradict Itself, How Do We Reconcile Parallel Account Discrepancies or Clear Numerical Discrepancies?
1) Direct Answer
There are no contradictions in God’s Word. What people call “discrepancies” are differences of perspective, emphasis, time-reckoning, rounding of numbers, or transmission issues in copies and translations. When you take all the witnesses together, the record harmonizes.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- The Bible says all Scripture is inspired and cannot be broken (2 Timothy 3:16; John 10:35). God does not contradict Himself.
- God established truth by “two or three witnesses” (Deuteronomy 19:15). The Gospels give multiple witnesses. Different details are not denial; they are completion.
Samples of harmony:
- One or two? Demoniacs and blind men: Matthew mentions two (Matthew 8:28; 20:30). Mark and Luke highlight one (Mark 5:2; 10:46; Luke 8:27). Does any verse say “only one”? No. Then two were there; one was emphasized.
- Angels at the tomb: Luke records two (Luke 24:4), Matthew and Mark focus on one who spoke (Matthew 28:2-5; Mark 16:5). Does any verse say there was not a second? No. Then both are true—two present, one speaking.
- Judas’ death: He hanged himself (Matthew 27:5). His body later fell and burst (Acts 1:18). Do these exclude each other? No. They are two stages of one tragedy.
- Hours of the crucifixion: Mark uses Jewish daytime reckoning (third hour ≈ 9 a.m., Mark 15:25). John uses Roman civil time (sixth hour ≈ about 6 a.m. before the final sentence, John 19:14). Different clocks, same day.
- Genealogies: Matthew gives the royal/legal line through Joseph (Matthew 1). Luke traces the bloodline from Mary going back through David’s son Nathan (Luke 3). Two lines, one fulfillment—Jesus is truly David’s Son.
- Census or numerical variations (e.g., 2 Samuel 24:9; 1 Chronicles 21:5): writers may count different categories (men of war vs. valiant men), round numbers, or report at different points in the process. Where numerals in copies vary, that is in the hand of man, not a flaw in God’s revelation; no doctrine is touched.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- Silence is not contradiction. If one account mentions one person and another mentions two, the one is not denying the second; it is focusing.
- Different vantage points tell the same truth. Four witnesses around one event will not repeat every detail with the same wording.
- Time can be reckoned differently (Jewish sunrise day vs. Roman civil day). That explains hour differences without any conflict.
- Inclusive counting and round figures were common in Scripture. “Three days” can mean part of day one, all of day two, part of day three, as the Jews counted.
- God inspired the Word; men copied and translated it. If a digit looks different in a later copy, the Spirit still preserves the doctrine, the story line, and the prophetic harmony. The message stands perfect.
4) Reinforcing Statement
Now notice, when you ask the simple questions—Does any verse deny what the other affirms?—the supposed contradictions fall away. The Scripture is one voice. Read it with the Author’s Spirit, compare Scripture with Scripture, and the harmony appears every time.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The Seed of Discrepancy
65-0118 §10
Notice in verse 41, the two also very close, so close in the last days till He didn't do... He could not depend on some certain church to separate them, say, the Methodist or the Baptist, or the Pentecostals, to separate them. He said, "He sends His angels to separate them." An angel is coming to bring the separation, the segregation between the right and the wrong. And no one can do that but the angel of the Lord. He's the one that is going to tell which is right and which is wrong. God said He will send His angel...
Hebrews, Chapter 7, part 1
57-0915E §105
Listen! Listen here! The Bible said, in the Revelation... I'm going to take you from first to the last now. The Bible said, in Revelation, that when the beast came, he deceived all upon the earth. The beast did. "He deceived all upon the earth, whose names were not written in the Lamb's book of life [since the revival began; does that sound right? well, since the preacher preached that mighty sermon; since that man was healed] since the foundation of the world!" Where was Jesus slain at? At Calvary? No, sir! Jesus...
The Seal of God
54-0514 §31
Now, we find out that the first thing that ever raised up to form any form of the beast, at all, or... The beast means a "power." We went through all the symbols and everything, last night, to prove that the beast was a power. And it did not come out of Russia. It come out of Rome. That's right. It came from Rome. And it was not, it was not a group of men. It was not a political organization. It was a religious institution. It was a church that set on seven hills, with one man who had controlling power over all the...
Christ is revealed in His own Word
65-0822M §42
but not one word in the Bible contradicts the other one. Not one prophet ever contradicted the other one. They was every one perfect. And when one come in and did prophesy, and that real prophet raised up and called him down, then it was made manifest, see, see. So the Bible is the Word of God to all true believers.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever
58-0214 §46
They took him into the temple, and the Urim and Thummim, which was the breastplate of Aaron, had the twelve stones of children of Israel. When they began to prophesy or tell their dreams, and if those lights conglomerated together, and made a supernatural... God always answers by supernatural. And He manifested Himself through those lights, that it was supernatural. If the Urim and Thummim spoke back, any Bible reader knows that they accepted it, that it was of God. And if it didn't manifest itself in the lights, t...