Customer Reviews

Bible Difficulties and Seeming Contradictions

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This book is a wonderful tool for understanding and explaining away misconceptions that there are contradictions in God Word.

To begin with, this text is woefully out of date, originally published in 1926/1932. It is staunchly Missouri Synod Lutheran in its view of biblical inerrancy and infallibility...and don't forget God-inspired. I read Arndt's work almost 20 years ago and, being a Mo. Syd. Lutheran who recognized the dangers of rational thought, loved it. It was like Kool-Aid for my brain.

As I read through it again I couldn't help but tear apart every argument that Arndt makes. He's overly simplistic, but he has to be since his main audience is made up of conservative Lutherans.

In the section on science Arndt compares the theory of evolution to maybe a passing fancy and seems sure that in time people will reject it as they have rejected many other theories. Had I met Dr. Arndt I would have loved to have asked him when he thought people would reject the theory of Heliocentricity. Alas, I am being too hard on Dr. Arndt. He wrote this work long before the discovery of DNA, which in turn has led to a larger acceptance of the theory of evolution. Heck, Pope John Paul II even said that evolution is the way it happened. (That's even more reason for a Lutheran to reject something).

I could cite many interesting difficulties and contradictions in Arndt's work, but I will end with this: In the section on human sacrifice, our esteemed Doctor states that "...the Bible, both directly and by implication, condemns the slaughter of human beings in an endeavor to gain favors from a deity." Yes, the Old Testament does condemn human sacrifice. However, the Israelites, on God's orders, slaughtered the inhabitants of the Promised Land (a little bronze-aged genocide if you will)...to please God and gain favors from him. When they didn't slaughter some of the inhabitants God got upset, and held back some of his favors.