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.
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-114
...that I was ordained a Baptist preacher and I have steadfastly declared that the Baptists have missed it for saying you receive the Holy Ghost WHEN you believe, for that is not so. You receive Him "SINCE you believed." Acts 19:2-6. "He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized wi...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 3:E-99
This portion of Scripture is the revelation of how the literal seed of the serpent was sown in the earth, even as we have the account of Luke 1:26-35, wherein is set forth the exact account of how the Seed of the woman came into physical manifestation apart from the instrumentality of the human male. "And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the an...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 7:E-41
...ional zeal it was at this tragic time. The words of Comenius describe much of this era. Comenius wrote the "ONE THING NEEDFUL." He compares the world to the labyrinth, and shows that the way out is by leaving what is needless, and choosing the one thing needful--Christ. The great number of teachers, he says is the reason of the multitudes of sects, for which we shall soon have no names left. Each church reckons itself as the true one, or at least as the purest, truest part of it, while among themselves they persecu...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 5:E-90
That this Ninus is the Nimrod of the Bible we can affirm by comparing history with the Genesis account. Pompeius said, "Ninus, king of Assyria, changed the ancient moderate ways of life by the desire for conquest. HE WAS THE FIRST WHO CARRIED WAR AGAINST HIS NEIGHBORS. He conquered all nations from Assyria to Lybia as these men knew not the arts of war." Diodorus says, "Ninus was the most ancient of Assyrian kings mentioned in history. Being of warlike disposition he trained many young men rigorously in the arts of...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 3:E-5
...age is over, don't you believe it. Such a statement is wrong on two counts. First of all, it is wrong to suppose there aren't any more apostles, just because the original twelve are dead. An apostle means a 'sent one'; and there are many sent ones today, but they are called missionaries. As long as men are being called and sent forth with the Word of Life there is an apostolic age going on. Secondly, they refer to an age of 'manifested Holy Ghost power' as being over since the Bible has been completed. That is unt...