Love Truth Blog

Pick up a King James Bible, flip over to 2 Samuel 6:23 and the passage reads: “Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.” That is simple to understand. Flip over to 2 Samuel 21:8, however, and one finds it mentions “the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.” Did Michal the daughter of Saul have children? Or did the biblical writer simply make a mistake? Did he get confused about who’s who in the family of Saul? It might be suggested that the “five sons of Michal” were not really biological children, since 2 Samuel 6:23 states that “she brought up for Adriel,” that is Michal “adopted and brought up the boys under her care.” 1 However, there may be another way of resolving this apparent contradiction. Modern translations, for the most part, offer a different reading of the verse. For example, 2 Samuel 21:8 in the New American Standard reads: “the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul...

God appeared to Solomon in a dream at night and granted him a wish. Solomon then prayed for the wisdom to discern between good and evil so that he could rule as the king over God’s people. Solomon’s prayer pleased God, and the Lord responded in granting the monarch wisdom along with riches and honor (1 Kings 3:5-15). Today King Solomon is known for his great wisdom. Understanding Solomon’s wisdom, on the other hand, can at times be mind boggling. For instance, one proverb of Solomon goes, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will also be like him,” but in the very next line reads, “Answer a fool as his folly deserves, That he not be wise in his own eyes (Prov. 26:4-5, NASB). Does one answer a fool? Is this a contradiction in the Bible? There is no contradiction. The answer to the question of whether or not to answer a fool is both “yes” and “no” depending upon the circumstances. Solomon is not offering two universal rules that apply to every situation; rather he pai...

1 Corinthians is rich with spiritual truths that have implications for Christians of every generation. Some skeptics, however, raise objections to the reliability of 1 Corinthians on the basis of an apparent contradiction made by Paul. They point out that 1 Corinthians 2:15 reads, “But he who is spiritual appraises [or judges] all things, yet he himself is appraised [or judged] by no one,” 1 but that 1 Corinthians 4:5 reads, “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God,” and assert that biblical writer commands readers to do two completely opposite things. 2 Are Christians to judge or not to judge? Paul is not contradicting himself. 1 Corinthians 2:15 concerns the source of the believer’s ability to make sound judgments about truth and error, right and wrong, good and evil, where...