The Big Book of Bible Difficulties: Clear and Concise Answers from Genesis to Revelation

by Norman L. Geisler, Thomas Howe (Contributor)

This comprehensive volume offers readers clear and concise answers to every major Bible difficulty from Genesis to Revelation, staunchly defending the authority and inspiration of Scripture. Written in a problem/solution format, the book covers over 800 questions that critics and doubters raise about the Bible. Three extensive indices--topical, Scripture, and unorthodox doctrines--offer quick and easy access to specific areas of interest.
Multipurpose in scope and user-friendly in format, The Big Book of Bible Difficulties offers the resources of five books in
• a critical commentary on the whole Bible
• an apologetics text
• a Bible difficulties reference
• a theology manual treating important doctrines
• a handbook on verses misused by cults

Genres: Christian, Christianity, Reference, Faith, Religion, Nonfiction, Theology

624 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Norman L. Geisler (PhD, Loyola University of Chicago) taught at top evangelical colleges and seminaries for over fifty years and was a distinguished professor of apologetics and theology at Veritas Evangelical Seminary in Murrieta, California. He was the author of nearly eighty books, including the Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics and Christian Ethics. He and his wife lived in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic resource to have. Not all of the answers are going to be the best, and sometimes they overlook a more reasonable solution, but still it is a good starting point and a great resource to have to hear another side of the argument before just assuming that it's a contradiction or that it has no answer. I have been using this book in my young adult group to make me more aware of some of the difficulties in the gospels specifically so that I don't skip over them on accident, even though I may not even utilize the answers available here. Very helpful.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A REPRINTING OF AN ESSENTIAL APOLOGETICS REFERENCE WORK

NOTE: This same book was previously published under the title, 'When Critics Ask: A Comprehensive Handbook on Bible Difficulties'.

The authors wrote in the Preface to this 1992 book, “In many ways, this book is five books in one. First, it is a book on Bible difficulties that gives answers to all the major questions ever raised about the Bible---over 800 in all. Second, this is a work in apologetics… Third, it functions like a critical commentary, since it treats most of the most difficult passages in the Bible. Fourth, it is a book that will help strengthen your spiritual life as you receive answers to your questions… Finally, this is a book on evangelism. For as you witness for Christ, people will ask you questions for which you may not have an answer… Rather than stop sharing Christ because you fear questions you can’t answer, you can continue in confidence because you have a ready guide to help answer the questions of those who sincerely seek to know the truth.”

They explain, “what God breathes out (inspires) must be wholly true (inerrant).” (Pg. 13) They continue, “No informed person would claim to be able to fully explain all Bible difficulties. However, it is a mistake for the critic to assume, therefore, that what has not yet been explained never will be explained… the Christian scholar approaches the Bible with the … presumption that what is thus far unexplained is not therefore unexplainable. He or she does not assume that discrepancies are contradictions… For, many difficulties for which scholars once had no answer have yielded to the relentless pursuit of truth though history… This gives us confidence to believe that the Bible difficulties that have not yet been explained have an explanation and that we need not assume there is a mistake in the Bible.” (Pg.15-16)

They point out, “Occasionally the Bible expresses the same thing in different ways… at different times. Hence, inspiration does not exclude a diversity of expression. The four Gospels relate the same story in different ways to different groups of people, and sometimes even quote the same saying with different words… Even the Ten Commandments, which were ‘written with the finger of God’ (Deut 9:10), are stated with variations the second time God gave them (cf. Ex 29:8-11 with Deut 5:12-15). There are many differences between the books of Kings and Chronicles in their description of identical events, yet the harbor no contradiction in the events they narrate. If such important utterances can be stated in different ways, then there is no reason the rest of Scripture cannot speak truth without employing a wooden literalness of expression.” (Pg. 19-20)

They DO acknowledge the probable existence of copyist errors in our existing texts: “God only uttered the original text of Scripture, not the copies. Therefore, only the original text is without error… when we run into a so-called ‘error’ in the Bible, we must assume one of two things---either the manuscript was not copied correctly, or we have not understood it correctly. What we may not assume is that God made an error in inspiring the original text.” (Pg. 23-24) Examples include who killed Goliath [1 Sam 17:50/2 Sam 21:19; pg. 164]; 1700 or 7000 horsemen [2 Sam 8:4/1 Chr 18:4; pg. 172]; barley or lentils [2 Sam 23:11/1 Chr 11:13, pg. 177]; 3 or 7 years of famine [2 Sam 24:13/1 Chr 21:12, pg. 179]; 4000 or 40,000 stalls [1 Ki 4:26/2 Chr 9:25, pg. 181]; Ahaziah 22 or 42 [2 Ki 8:26/2 Chr 22:2, pg. 194]; Jehoiachin 8 or 18 [2 Ki 24:8/2 Chr 36:9, pg. 199]; those who returned to Jerusalem [Ez 2:1ff/Neh 7, pg. 214]; location of incense [Ex 30:6/Heb 9:3-4 pg. 517].

They suggest, “There is no demonstrated contradiction of fact between Genesis 1 and science. There is only a conflict of interpretation. Either, MOST modern scientists are wrong in insisting the world is billions of years old, or else SOME Bible interpreters are wrong in insisting on only 144 hours of creation some several thousand years before Christ with no gaps allowing millions of years. But, in either case, it is not a question of INSPIRATION of Scripture, but of the INTERPRETATION of Scripture.” (Pg. 33) Later, they note, “There is good evidence to support the belief that humankind is more than 6,000 years old. But there are also good reasons to believe there are some gaps in the Genesis chronologies. First, we know that there is a gap in the genealogy in the Book of Matthew… when compared to 1 Chron 3:11-14… Second, there is at least one generation missing in the Genesis genealogy. Luke 3:36 lists ‘Cainin’ between Arphaxad and Shelah, but the name Cainin does not appear in the Genesis record at this point (see Gen 10:22-24). It is better to view Genesis 5 and 10 as adequate genealogies, not as complete chronologies.” (Pg. 38-39)

Of the differences in the Ten Commandments in Ex 20:2-17 and Dt 5:6-21, they observe, “First, it must be remembered that Moses’ purpose in reviewing the Law is not to provide an exact word-for-word recitation of the statements in Exodus. Moses is not only reviewing the Law, but he is expounding and explaining the Law and its implications and applications for entrance into and life in the Promised Land. Second, Moses was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as he spoke and wrote the words in these passages in Deuteronomy. Consequently, it is under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that Moses altered, omitted, or added a word or phrase in his presentation of the Decalogue.” (Pg. 118)

Of the “long day” of Joshua, they suggest, “First, it is not necessary to conclude that the earth’s rotation was totally halted. [Joshua 10] Verse 13 … could indicate that the earth’s rotation was not completely halted, but that it was retarded to such a degree that the sun did not set for about a whole day. Or, it is possible that God caused the light of the sun to refract through some cosmic ‘mirror’ so that it could be seen a day longer. Even if the earth’s rotation was completely stopped, we must remember that God is not only capable of halting the rotation of the earth for a whole day, but He is also able to prevent any possible catastrophic effects that might result from the cessation of the earth’s rotation. Although we do not necessarily know HOW God brought about this miraculous event, we know THAT He did it. Finally, the Bible speaks in everyday observational language. So the sun did not ACTUALLY stop; it only APPEARED to do so.” (Pg. 141)

About Job 1:6 placing Satan in Heaven, they say, “Satan has been OFFICIALLY expelled from heaven, but he still ACTUALLY has access there. Several places in Scripture present the idea that Satan has access to the presence of God in order to accuse the saints. In Zechariah 3:1 we find a vision of Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord with Satan on his right hand accusing him… Satan has had the opportunity to appear before God for the purpose of accusing God’s people of sin. This is what he is doing against Job in Job 1:6 and 2:1.” (Pg. 225)

They note, “According to [Isa 45:7], God ‘creates good and evil.’ … However, the Hebrew word for evil used here does not always mean moral evil. Indeed, the context indicates that it should be translated… as ‘calamity.’ Thus, God is properly said to be the author of ‘evil’ in this sense, but not in the moral sense---at least not directly. Further, there is an indirect sense in which God is the author of moral evil. God created moral beings with free choice, and free choice is the origin of moral evil in the universe. So, ultimately God is responsible for making moral creatures who are responsible for moral evil. God made evil POSSIBLE by creating free creatures, but the free creatures made evil ACTUAL… Of course, God only PERMITTED evil, but does not PROMOTE it, and He will ultimately PRODUCE a greater good through it.” (Pg. 271)

Of the ‘He shall be called a Nazarene’ prophecy in Mt 2:23, they state, “Matthew did not say that any particular OT ‘prophet’ (singular) stated this. He simply affirmed that the OT ‘prophets’ (plural) predicted that Jesus would be called a Nazarene. So we should not expect to find any given verse, but simply a general truth found in many prophets to correspond to his Nazarene-like character…” (Pg. 328)

Of the demoniac(s) healed [Mt 8:28-34/Mk 5:1-20/Lk 8:26-39], they comment, “There is a very fundamental mathematical law that reconciles this apparent contradiction---whenever there are two, there is always one… There were actually two demoniacs that came to Jesus. Perhaps Mark and Luke mentioned the one because he was more noticeable or prominent for some reason. However, the fact that Mark and Luke only mention one does not negate the fact that there were two as Matthew said… If Mark or Luke had said there was ONLY one, then that would be a contradiction. But the word ‘only’ is not in the text. The critic had to change the text to make it contradict, in which case the problem is not with the Bible, but with the critic.” (Pg. 337)

About the Resurrection appearances, they argue, “Matthew 28:5 … does not say there was ONLY one angel. John [20:12] says there were two, and whenever there are two there is always one; it never fails! The critic has to add the word ‘only’ to Matthew’s account in order to make it contradictory...” (Pg. 365) Later, they add, “Peter ran to the tomb twice. There are noticeable differences between this and his first visit to the tomb (Jn 20:2). In Lk 24:12, Peter is alone, whereas John was with him on the earlier visit (Jn 20:3-8), Here Peter was definitely impressed … with what he saw, but the first time only John ‘saw and believed’ [Jn 20:8].” (Pg. 571)

Of Mark 16:9-20, they suggest, “Whether or not this piece of text belongs in the original, the TRUTH it contains certainly accords with it. So, the bottom line is that it does not make any difference, since if it does not belong here there is nothing in it contrary to the rest of Scripture. And if it does not belong, there is no truth missing in the Bible, since everything taught here is found elsewhere in Scripture…. So, in the final analysis, it is simply a debate about whether this particular TEXT belongs in the Bible, not over whether any TRUTH is missing.” (Pg. 378)

Concerning when the Holy Spirit was given, they comment, “[Jn 20:22] is a difficult one, with no direct parallels, and it is hard to know exactly what it means. And like all obscure passages, one should not base any major teaching on it.” (Pg. 424)

Of Paul having Timothy circumcised, they state, “Even if Paul were wrong here in his action, it would not prove that the Bible erred in its teaching, but simply that Paul erred… Furthermore, Paul’s action in having Timothy circumcised is not necessarily inconsistent with what he taught in Galatians, since the two cases are different. Paul was violently opposed to any who made circumcision necessary for salvation. But he never opposed it as helpful for evangelism.” (Pg. 435)

Of the quotation in Jude 14, they observe, “First, it is not certain that Jude is actually citing the ‘Book of Enoch.’ He may simply be mentioning an event which is ALSO found in this uninspired book… Furthermore, even if Jude took this statement from the Book of Enoch, it is still true. Many true statements can be found outside of Scripture. Just because Jude quoted from a non-canonical … source does not mean that what he says is necessarily wrong. Not everything in the Book of Enoch is correct, but this does not warrant the conclusion that everything in it is wrong.” (Pg. 549-550)

This book is to be highly commended by its willingness to treat, in detail, even the most puzzling and difficult situations. Where there are multiple possible solutions, they are typically non-dogmatic. This book will be “must reading” for anyone seriously studying apologetics.

[Melanie Schaab · Rating 4 out of 5]

While reading through the Bible, I checked this book for any difficulties related to my current reading. It brought up a number of difficulties that never occurred to me, which is a plus. But it also typically gives only one answer to each difficulty. It's an extremely thick book, so one answer alone may be all they could manage to fit into a single volume, but there were a few cases where I thought the answer they gave was not the best and I would prefer a source that gives multiple possible responses where applicable. Most of the "difficulties" are extremely easy to answer; some are very lengthy; and the answers to some refer you to an answer to another similar difficulty elsewhere in the Bible. All told, it's been a very interesting and informative read.

[Sergio Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those who have my questions, this book has many answers. I remember going through this book and seeing questions I didnt even know were questions. However, where I did have questions this book had answers and helped me a lot with explaining.

[Lidia Pascar · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was hard to understand some passages. Some explanations weren't clear enough but per total the expectations are accurate. I did not know there are so many " contradictions" in the Bible, a good book for those who want to defend the Bible as being the Word of God!

[Matthew Arnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book covers a wide variety of questions and I feel like they were answered well and had lots of scripture to backup the answers.

[Garrett Rupp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really long. It’s not really designed to be read through, but that’s what I did anyway. I enjoyed it.

[Chuk's Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

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4.5 Stars

Feelings about the book:
- Very much needed read on my part - I really appreciated the way the authors executed on the concept.

Premise/Plot:
- This is a tour de force of an apologetics book that addresses contradictions, errors, and confusing passages within the Bible.

Themes:
- Faith, reason, doubt, setting the record straight, hermeneutics

Pros:
- Clear writing structure: Problem, then answer

- Has concise answers to the problem which I appreciated

- Easy structure, it follows the same structure as the Bible in terms of how problems in the books are answered

Cons:
- This book is best for those who know the problems that are answered

Quotes:
‘Proverbs are not designed to be absolute guarantees. Rather, they express truths that provide helpful advice and guidance by which an individual should conduct his or her daily life.’

‘Satan has been officially expelled from heaven, but he still actually has access there. Several places in Scripture present the idea that Satan has access to the presence of God in order to accuse the saints.’

‘First, nowhere does the Bible affirm the doctrine of Mary’s perpetual virginity. Like the Roman Catholic doctrine of Mary’s sinlessness… there is no statement anywhere in the Bible that supports this teaching.’

‘Nowhere does the Bible teach the doctrine of purgatory.’

‘Fifth, the NT explicitly forbids the evil system of this world that traded the “bodies and souls of men” (Rev. 18:13). Slave trade is so repugnant to God that He pronounces His final judgement on the evil system that perpetrated it (Rev. 17-18).’

‘The demons are not saved because they do not exercise a saving kind of faith… The difference between saving faith and non-saving faith is that the former is only belief that God exists. The latter is faith in God.’

[Luke Sitts · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.5/10
I’m going to have to rate fiction and non fiction books differently. As far as non fiction goes I think this book is a great resource that any Christian would find useful anytime they run into a issue they have with scripture, but it’s more of a resource rather than a good read. Reading it through there is far too much information to retain, but whenever I used it as a resource I found it much more helpful.

[Bruce Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geisler doesn't disappoint. The format is helpful as it progresses through Scripture. His approach is intelligent and respectful without compromise.

[Ken Reese · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes with authority lacking substance.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent apologetic resource for questions concerning challenging (and supposedly problematic) verses/portions of the Bible

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful compilation of possible harmonizations of bible difficulties.

[Shane Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant contribution to the field of apologetics!!