Dealing with Bible Difficulties

I went to an RTB lecture this weekend where Krista Bontrager spoke on "Dealing with Bible Difficulties".  She emphasized that the doctrine of INERRANCY is essential, for if the Bible were not reliable in the test-able facts, then it may bring to question its authority in untest-able areas, such as theology.

One of the best responses to those who claim that the Bible is filled with contradictions is to ask them to give specific examples.  Often, solid examples will not be able to be provided because many of them are either misinformed or just trying to be malicious.  But, when actually dealing with a passage, she suggested the following strategy:

1. State the Problem
2. Propose possible solutions
3. Consult the experts
4. Determine severity of the problem (core belief, secondary belief, or peripheral belief)

This is often employed by scientists in dealing with anomalies - weighing the evidence, considering possible alternatives, and finding the most plausible.

It was also really interesting to break up into groups and address case studies using the above strategy.   By looking at various passages often claimed to have contradictions, we were able to see how we could come up with possible solutions.