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 10:E-13
We learn in no uncertain terms that this false vine is the vine of Satan. Their gathering is of him (Satan). They meet in the Name of God and lie that they are Christ's. They preach, they teach, they baptize, they worship, they partake of various rites given by Christ to the church, yet they are not of God. But since they say they are, God will hold them responsible and in each age He speaks of them and to them. They remind us exactly of Balaam. He had the prophetic office. He knew the proper approach unto God as d...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 6:E-13
Though the messenger to the Thyatirean Age was Saint Columba, I want to dwell a little on the life of Saint Patrick as an example to us and also to give the lie to Rome's claim that Saint Patrick was any more one of her than was Joan of Arc. Patrick was born to the sister of Saint Martin in the little town of Bonavern on the banks of the river Clyde. One day while playing on the shoreline with his two sisters, pirates approached and kidnapped all three. Where the sisters went, no one knows, but Patrick (his name wa...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-18
Why does He stand by? The reason is in Romans 8:17-18, "And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Unless we suffer with Him we cannot reign with Him. You have to suffer to reign. The reason for this is that character simply is never made without suffering. Character is a VICTORY, not...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 3:E-41
How beautifully the Saviour praises and commends His children. He takes full account of their fine spiritual attitudes and behavior. He knows that there is weakness amongst them, but as yet He does not cry out against it. Isn't that just like the Lord? He knows how to encourage us in the right matters and discourage us in the wrong matters. We could all learn a good lesson right here in running the church and our families. And better still, we could all learn a good lesson in that God deals with each one of us in e...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 5:E-82
The ancient histories agree with the Bible that this Babylonish religion was most certainly not the original religion of earth's early peoples. It was the first to drift away from the original faith; but it was not itself the original one. Historians such as Wilkinson and Mallett have proven conclusively from the ancient documents that at one time all the peoples of the earth believed in ONE GOD, supreme, eternal, invisible, Who by the Word of His mouth spoke all things into existence, and that in His character He...