What do you think?
Rate this book
Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties
This extensive encyclopedia addresses, in the order in which they appear in Scripture, the problems and questions which are raised in the biblical text against the doctrine of inerrancy, including a full index.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1982
11 people are currently reading
257 people want to read
About the author
Gleason L. Archer Jr.
16 books8 followersGleason Leonard Archer, Jr. was a Biblical scholar, educator and author.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 7, 2017
This book is a big and comprehensive attempt to explain away many of the contradictions in the Bible that bother those who adhere to the religious doctrine of inerrancy.
Obviously, if you believe the Bible contains no errors or contradictions, finding errors and contradictions in there can be alarming. As you might expect, it takes some convoluted reasoning to make the contradictions seem not to exist. The book is strictly aimed at Christians willing to accept the author's authoritative claims and is not helpful to other readers except maybe as an example of how confirmation bias works.
Obviously, if you believe the Bible contains no errors or contradictions, finding errors and contradictions in there can be alarming. As you might expect, it takes some convoluted reasoning to make the contradictions seem not to exist. The book is strictly aimed at Christians willing to accept the author's authoritative claims and is not helpful to other readers except maybe as an example of how confirmation bias works.
March 23, 2015
The book is ambitious, it sets out to go book by book through the Bible and address every real or imagined contradiction found, big and small. Some examples of "Bible Difficulties" in the book: how can verses say that Jesus spent three days and three nights in Hades after his crucifixion when he died at 3 PM Friday and rose Sunday morning, that's less than 48 hours? Or "is the mustard seed really the smallest seed, what about the orchid?" and many questions to do with number discrepancies, "what is the correct age for Jehoiachim when he came to the throne, II Kings says eighteen and II Chronicles says eight" - in fact I was surprised that there are more than a couple numerical discrepancies in the Old Testament. Another example: where did Moses' brother Aaron die, this verse says he died here and that verse says over there.
The book itself I'm mixed about. Some parts were interesting and I learned something, some parts I disagreed with (the author injects personal opinion), and other parts were very tedious, and I was skimming, although it's semi-interesting to know what the questions are and what scholars are discussing. While reading I was surprised that more than one or two questions were resolved by "it was a scribal error, he must have mis-copied, the real answer is thus". But after finishing, considering how large a book the Bible is, the less-than-perfect scribes did a decent job. The author was a bit too preachy for my taste - I'd prefer a "these people believe this and here's why and these believe that and here's why, the first people have a stronger case due to reason x" type of discussion. Instead of the "this is how it is, and those who disagree are wrong" approach.
The book itself I'm mixed about. Some parts were interesting and I learned something, some parts I disagreed with (the author injects personal opinion), and other parts were very tedious, and I was skimming, although it's semi-interesting to know what the questions are and what scholars are discussing. While reading I was surprised that more than one or two questions were resolved by "it was a scribal error, he must have mis-copied, the real answer is thus". But after finishing, considering how large a book the Bible is, the less-than-perfect scribes did a decent job. The author was a bit too preachy for my taste - I'd prefer a "these people believe this and here's why and these believe that and here's why, the first people have a stronger case due to reason x" type of discussion. Instead of the "this is how it is, and those who disagree are wrong" approach.
May 8, 2014
This is the book that converted me to atheism.
I had only a dozen or so conflicts and contradictions of the bible. This author has a great many more.
He tries so desperately to answer these "Difficulties" and his answers were not credible in my opinion.
Like I am to believe that:
Length of one's hair can control ones strength: Samson.
That one can survive for three days in a whale or leviathan: Jonah.
That a person could live for hundreds of years: Methuselah.
That one could raise people from the dead: Christ.
To build an ark thousands of years ago that could hold the worlds animals: Noah.
To part the seas: Moses.
The list that goes on and on...
To believe in the Bible is to abandon reason.
I had only a dozen or so conflicts and contradictions of the bible. This author has a great many more.
He tries so desperately to answer these "Difficulties" and his answers were not credible in my opinion.
Like I am to believe that:
Length of one's hair can control ones strength: Samson.
That one can survive for three days in a whale or leviathan: Jonah.
That a person could live for hundreds of years: Methuselah.
That one could raise people from the dead: Christ.
To build an ark thousands of years ago that could hold the worlds animals: Noah.
To part the seas: Moses.
The list that goes on and on...
To believe in the Bible is to abandon reason.
October 28, 2019
Most books are rated related to their usefulness and contributions to my research.
Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
Read for personal research
- found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
Read for personal research
- found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
September 7, 2024
A HELPFUL "ONE-MAN JOB" OF BIBLE DIFFICULTIES SOLUTIONS
Gleason Leonard Archer, Jr. (1916- 2004) was a Biblical scholar, theologian, educator and author; he wrote other books such as 'A Survey of Old Testament Introduction,' 'The Rapture: Pre-, Mid-, or Post-Tribulational,' 'The Epistle to the Romans: A Study Manual,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1982 book, "The idea for this book first occurred to me... in connection with the Summit Conference ... on Biblical Inerrancy... it was apparent that a chief objection to inerrancy was that the extant copies of Scripture contain substantial errors, some of which defy even the most ingenious use of textual criticism. In my opinion this charge can be refuted and its falsity exposed by an objective study done in a consistent, evangelical perspective... in consideration of the time element, it seemed best to handle this as a one-man work." (Pg. 11)
He recommends, "Be fully persuaded in your own mind that an adequate explanation exists, even though you have not yet found it... we may have complete confidence that the divine Author preserved the human author of each book of the Bible from error or mistake as he wrote down the original manuscript." (Pg. 15) He later observes, "Textual errors are demonstrable for 1 Samuel more frequently than for almost any other book in the Old Testament." (Pg. 169) About the discrepancy between 2 Chron 16:1 and 1 Kings 16:8 about the beginning of the reign of Elah, he admits, "Here we have a clear discrepancy in the Received Text." (Pg. 225)
He suggests, "In the case of parallel passages, the only method that can be justified is harmonization. That is to say, all the testimonies of the various witnesses are to be taken as trustworthy reports of what was said and done in their presence, even though they may have viewed the transaction from a slightly different perspective. When we sort them out, line them up, and put them together, we gain a fuller understanding of the event than we would obtain from any one testimony taken individually... Only injustice would be served by any other assumption..." (Pg. 16)
Much later, he adds, "Bible critics who have never had any training in the law of evidences may decry the 'harmonistic method' all they wish: but like it or not, it is essentially the harmonistic method that is followed every day that court is in sesson throughout the civilized world." (Pg. 315)
He concludes that "the six creative days of Genesis 1 [were] distinct stages in the unfolding work of creation," and then argues that the tracks at Glen Rose, Texas show "clear footprints of some early human species [that] actually cross the tracks of those dinosaurs!" [An argument the Institute for Christian Research/ICR abandoned in 1986, it should be noted.] (Pg. 63)
He adds, "evidences of similar intelligences [to modern chimpanzees and gorillas] in prehistorical 'man' are no decisive proof of humanity in the Adamic sense, nor of moral or spiritual capacity. Hence no strain is put on biblical credibility by these non-Adamic, pre-Adamic races, whatever their antiquity." (Pg. 65)
He argues, "we must conclude that either the unevangelized heathen are hopelessly lost, or else the Bible is grievously mistaken and must be corrected by those who have better theological insights than those found in Holy Scripture." (Pg. 387)
On the quotations in Jude of uninspired authors, he says, "It would be a logical fallacy to argue... that an inspired author like Jude was strictly limited to the contents of the canonical Old Testament for all valid information as to the past... In this case [Jude 14] the pseudepigraphical work has been preserved in which this same quotation is found... The mere fact that Genesis does not include this statement by Enoch furnishes no evidence against his having said it. This by no means demonstrates that everything in the Book of Enoch is historically accurate or theologically valid. Much of Enoch may be quite fictional. But there is no good ground for condemning everything that is written therein as false, simply because the book is noncanonical." (Pg. 430)
Some of Archer's conclusions may be surprising or controversial to some Christians, and no one ever agrees with EVERYTHING found in one of these "Bible Difficulties" books; but Archer's work is a substantial work of apologetics, and deserves study by all who are interested in this field.
Gleason Leonard Archer, Jr. (1916- 2004) was a Biblical scholar, theologian, educator and author; he wrote other books such as 'A Survey of Old Testament Introduction,' 'The Rapture: Pre-, Mid-, or Post-Tribulational,' 'The Epistle to the Romans: A Study Manual,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1982 book, "The idea for this book first occurred to me... in connection with the Summit Conference ... on Biblical Inerrancy... it was apparent that a chief objection to inerrancy was that the extant copies of Scripture contain substantial errors, some of which defy even the most ingenious use of textual criticism. In my opinion this charge can be refuted and its falsity exposed by an objective study done in a consistent, evangelical perspective... in consideration of the time element, it seemed best to handle this as a one-man work." (Pg. 11)
He recommends, "Be fully persuaded in your own mind that an adequate explanation exists, even though you have not yet found it... we may have complete confidence that the divine Author preserved the human author of each book of the Bible from error or mistake as he wrote down the original manuscript." (Pg. 15) He later observes, "Textual errors are demonstrable for 1 Samuel more frequently than for almost any other book in the Old Testament." (Pg. 169) About the discrepancy between 2 Chron 16:1 and 1 Kings 16:8 about the beginning of the reign of Elah, he admits, "Here we have a clear discrepancy in the Received Text." (Pg. 225)
He suggests, "In the case of parallel passages, the only method that can be justified is harmonization. That is to say, all the testimonies of the various witnesses are to be taken as trustworthy reports of what was said and done in their presence, even though they may have viewed the transaction from a slightly different perspective. When we sort them out, line them up, and put them together, we gain a fuller understanding of the event than we would obtain from any one testimony taken individually... Only injustice would be served by any other assumption..." (Pg. 16)
Much later, he adds, "Bible critics who have never had any training in the law of evidences may decry the 'harmonistic method' all they wish: but like it or not, it is essentially the harmonistic method that is followed every day that court is in sesson throughout the civilized world." (Pg. 315)
He concludes that "the six creative days of Genesis 1 [were] distinct stages in the unfolding work of creation," and then argues that the tracks at Glen Rose, Texas show "clear footprints of some early human species [that] actually cross the tracks of those dinosaurs!" [An argument the Institute for Christian Research/ICR abandoned in 1986, it should be noted.] (Pg. 63)
He adds, "evidences of similar intelligences [to modern chimpanzees and gorillas] in prehistorical 'man' are no decisive proof of humanity in the Adamic sense, nor of moral or spiritual capacity. Hence no strain is put on biblical credibility by these non-Adamic, pre-Adamic races, whatever their antiquity." (Pg. 65)
He argues, "we must conclude that either the unevangelized heathen are hopelessly lost, or else the Bible is grievously mistaken and must be corrected by those who have better theological insights than those found in Holy Scripture." (Pg. 387)
On the quotations in Jude of uninspired authors, he says, "It would be a logical fallacy to argue... that an inspired author like Jude was strictly limited to the contents of the canonical Old Testament for all valid information as to the past... In this case [Jude 14] the pseudepigraphical work has been preserved in which this same quotation is found... The mere fact that Genesis does not include this statement by Enoch furnishes no evidence against his having said it. This by no means demonstrates that everything in the Book of Enoch is historically accurate or theologically valid. Much of Enoch may be quite fictional. But there is no good ground for condemning everything that is written therein as false, simply because the book is noncanonical." (Pg. 430)
Some of Archer's conclusions may be surprising or controversial to some Christians, and no one ever agrees with EVERYTHING found in one of these "Bible Difficulties" books; but Archer's work is a substantial work of apologetics, and deserves study by all who are interested in this field.
June 21, 2023
While not the most invigorating read in the world, Archer advances a strong, evangelical case for the inerrancy of Scripture, resolving alleged contradictions between Biblical passages by advancing methodically through each book of the Bible. Though I by no means expect to remember everything in this book, I hope that I will remember at least some things, and for the memory to be faint enough for the unremembered things such that I can quickly search for a solution.
January 28, 2024
Normally reference book is boring to read and no one reads that. This one is fun to read given Archer's lucid and direct prose, story telling skill as an OT scholar. It gets you to go back to the biblical text to work it out for yourself like a good physics book getting you back to the Hamiltonian and Schrodinger equations
July 6, 2020
I didn't actually finish this book. I did not appreciate that the author "facts" to prove his agenda. The facts proved HIS points, but not THE points.
August 6, 2023
Ooga booga
March 7, 2008
I have the older edition (there has since been an updated one that I may get) and I have to say he deals with a lot. However, he doesn't deal with all the passages i would have liked. If you're just getting started in Bible study and want to get a feel for what questions a book may raise go here. Very easy to read with plenty of information.
May 26, 2011
A decent reference work for those who struggle with apparent contradictions in the Bible.
CB
CB
March 12, 2013
Very good resource. I must have for every Christian library.
May 24, 2022
Very good. Unusual. Detailed. Scriptural. Gives interesting and logical explanations to deep Biblical questions. It has helped me a lot in my research.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews