The chart above represents the 63,779 cross-references found in the Bible.  A single arc depicts each cross-reference. Compare this to the 439 alleged contradictions from the chart Sam Harris commissioned (reported in Fast Company).

This cross-reference chart does not prove the Bible is not filled with contradictions, but it is a graphic representation of the unity, harmony, and consistency of the Bible.

Some Major Themes Throughout The Bible

God’s initiative—“I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God” (Exod 6:6-7 and also see Gen 17:7, Exod 19:4-5, Lev 11:45, Lev 26:12, Deut 4:20, Deut 29:13, 2 Chron 23:16, Isa 7:14, Isa 8:8, Jer 32:38, Eze 37:27, Zech 2:11, Zech 8:8, Ezek 34:24, 2 Cor 6:16).  Christ is the embodiment of God’s desire to dwell among God’s people  (Exod 25:8, Exod 29:42-45, Lev 26:9-13, Ezek 37:26-28, Matt 1:23, John 1:14, Eph 2:21, Rev 7:15, Rev 21:3).

God’s initiative despite our disobedience and rebellion—“If we are faithless, He remains faithful” (2 Tim 2:13 and also see Exod 34:6-7, Numbers 14:19, Ps 6:4, Ps 31:17, Ps 44:26, Ps 51:1, Ps 109:26, 1 Thess 5:24).

God’s initiative despite our disobedience and rebellion resulted in the cross—“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly….God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:6-8 and also see 1 Cor 15: 3-6, 1 Pet 3:18, 1 John 2:2. 1 John 4:9-10).

Scriptures Bear Witness About Jesus

The reliability of the Bible is important, not so we feel better about having an answer to the flimsy claims of skeptics, but because the Bible contains all things necessary to our salvation. 

Jesus makes it clear that studying Scripture is a means to an end (saving knowledge of Jesus Christ) and not the end in and of itself: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40).

Commenting on this passage, Martin Luther writes about how to read the Bible:

Here Christ would indicate the principal reason why the Scripture was given by God. Men are to study and search in it and to learn that He, Mary’s Son, is the one who is able to give eternal life to all who come to Him and believe in Him. Therefore, he who would correctly and profitably read Scripture should see to it that he finds Christ in it; then he finds life eternal without fail. On the other hand, if I do not so study and understand Moses and the prophets as to find that Christ came from heaven for the sake of my salvation, became man, suffered, died, was buried, rose, and ascended into heaven so that through Him I enjoy reconciliation with God, forgiveness of all my sins, grace, righteousness, and life eternal, then my reading in Scripture is of no help whatsoever to my salvation. I may, of course, become a learned man by reading and studying Scripture and preach what I have acquired; yet all this would do me no good whatever.

(Luther’s Works, 51, 4)

You can read more from the Resurgence on the “Contradictions in the Bible” chart. Additionally, Doug Wilson picked tworandomly (#208 and #211) and deals with them to show how contrived these “contradictions” are. Matt Perman wrote a postregarding the appearance of contradictions and some of the hard texts of the Bible.

As a sidenote and just for fun, the Sam Harris/Fast Company chart on the supposed errors of the bible has a few of its own:  “contradictions” #7 and #9 are duplicates as are #263 and #264 as are #323 and #324. #404 should read “by” and not “buy.” #406 reads “When when did the transfiguration occur?” That sentences only needs one “when.”

Taken from RelevantMagazine.com

When you want to say, “I’m a Christian, but not like them.”

Tell me if this has happened to you: you’re going along, trying your best to live a Christian life, reading the Bible regularly and going to church, when you come upon a person (or group of people) who share your beliefs. You think pretty much the same things, you come from the same backgrounds, but the only difference between you and them when it comes to their faith is … they’re extremely frustrating. And it’s driving you nuts.

I’m sure you know who I’m talking about: folks who are exceptionally loud, usually whiny and highly judgmental. And, because they’re Christians, they’re ruining it for everybody else.

Recently, I was talking to a few friends—really faithful folks who attend church regularly and who, above all other things, self-identify as Christians—about the subject of unemployment. They immediately shared their distaste for those out of work, labeling them all as lazy. “They’re all just unemployed because they don’t want to work,” said one. “If they really wanted a job, they would get one. These sad, greedy people are not more deserving than me for my hard-earned pay. It’s ridiculous.”

(I wisely refrained from sharing I had only recently found a part-time job after being unemployed for nearly six months and my mother was still unemployed after two, trying to make ends meet with the benefits she receives. For the record, I do not consider either of us inherently lazy, greedy and manipulative of the system. )

I was baffled when another friend announced she would never support any organization that promotes breast cancer research, as she believed most of them also advocate abortion. When pointed out to her that those who suffer from breast cancer are also in need of care, she argued that the unborn are far more defenseless. Although I am also pro-life, I was baffled by the absoluteness of her argument—as a Christian, can’t we find a way to care for all of those who are weak among us?

But wait a minute, I thought. Aren’t we supposed to be on the same side? Am I alone in being frustrated? And perhaps most importantly, what am I called to do about it?

Like most things under the sun, contentious relationships like these are nothing new. In Jesus’ day, the Jewish faith was governed by the Pharisees, pious followers of the law who placed the tenets of their religion above all else. They were prideful, fearful men, bent on making life miserable not only for those who fell short of following God’s law to the extent that they did, but also for Jesus. Baffled that Jesus would dare spend His time with common sinners—tax collectors! Women accused of adultery!—and that He would dare to heal people on the Sabbath day, they chalked up His actions to evil. “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons,” they said (Matthew 9:34, NIV).

These men, the ones who supposedly were followers of the same faith Jesus was, tested Him in public and berated Him, denouncing His reputation, but Jesus had none of it. On multiple occasions He addressed them directly, telling them in no uncertain terms where they fell short: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You have neglected the more important matters of the law: justice, mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23). He also says: “Woe to you! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are” (Matthew 23:14-16).

Pretty strong words. Why was He so angry? Was it because He understood the damage the Pharisees were doing in misrepresenting the character of the God they worshiped? Was it because His level of frustration was reaching its max? Both?

The thing is, like the Pharisees, most of today’s frustrating Christians are really trying to do the right thing. In His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Himself says that “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). There are consequences for those who break God’s law (5:19), and many Christians are trying to walk the path of righteousness, which is, as Jesus told us, a very narrow one. So it becomes easier to understand that some Christians believe that in order to represent the fullness of the Gospel, they must need to place limits on those to whom they preach.

But it’s exactly that message, the message of, “You are not welcome,” that becomes so frustrating. Many Christians are so set on judging others that they lose sight of the heart of Jesus—His love—and His message of unconditional love and mercy becomes twisted into an ugly stereotype.

So what are we called to do about it? First and foremost, we need to be honest with ourselves. Are we the kind of Christian who judges first, then loves afterward? We need to follow Jesus’ example, and love and minister to everybody—including the Christians who annoy us—with patience and without complaint. Just as Jesus healed those who were outcast, including Samaritans, lepers and women, we need to welcome and serve—without judgment, since Jesus certainly didn’t give any and that alone is up to God—all who are present in our lives: the gay co-worker, our grandparent suffering from Alzheimer’s, the homeless man on the street corner, the liberal or Tea Party voters next door. To ignore them publicly and judge them privately, while at the same time proclaiming to be a follower of God, is a disservice to your Christian brothers and sisters struggling to proclaim God’s Good News to the world. And there is nothing good about self-righteousness and phony piety. We also need to reevaluate our relationships with God and find out if we have lost sight of that balance between walking in God’s grace and doing what we can to serve Him here on earth.

The truth is, none of us have it all together. We all struggle with something, and it’s hard enough as it is to be a loyal Christian and follow a path of lifelong righteousness. When we’re tempted to point our fingers and complain to God that our fellow Christians are “doing it wrong,” it’s best to take a lesson from what really matters.

At the end of John’s Gospel, after Jesus’ resurrection, He is seated with the apostles. Peter is very concerned about the “one Jesus loves,” and is anxious about what will happen to him. Jesus looks at Peter and tells him some of the wisest words found in the New Testament.

“If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You follow me” (John 21:22).

So follow Him. Keep loving. The non-Christians who know you will be drawn to you; and through your prayer and your example many will come to know Jesus—the real Jesus, the God of love and compassion for all.

Where the Church has gone wrong and how we can get back on track.

Western culture is all about the self and how to gain bigger and better things. It’s no surprise, then, that this mentality has affected the way most of us think about church. It’s easy to get stuck in a mindset that continuously assesses the quality of a church based on what they have to offer us. There is even more of a tendency to evaluate churches based on the specific desires of one’s self when searching for a new church.

Questions like, “Was the sermon good and did it move me?”, “How well did the band play and did I like the songs?”, “Does the church have fun events coming up that interest me?” and “What was the facility like and did it have a good atmosphere?” are regularly asked by churchgoers every week. A decision about returning to a church is largely based on whether the church’s programs and style are pleasing to us or not.

Church leaders are very aware that people ask these questions. As they seek to carry out the mission God has placed on their hearts for ministry, it can be easy for pastors and administrators to find themselves spending hours in meetings trying to figure out how to market their church to meet everyone’s tastes. When a church’s focus has drifted from Jesus to these external factors, the success of the church is usually then measured in terms of numerical growth, financial giving and programs.

An argument for this mentality is that trying to focus on and please people is a necessary evil in an attempt to reach more people with the Gospel. The problem with this is that when you look at Jesus’ ministry, He spent little to no time entertaining people or making sure they were comfortable. Instead, He stuck to the truths of the Gospel. Many times this approach made people uncomfortable and walk away.

The fact is, the questions we use to assess our churches are not the same questions that God wants us to ask.

In Crazy Love, Francis Chan writes: “God’s definition of what matters is pretty straightforward. He measures our lives by how we love.”

This love is uncomfortable and it means sometimes listening to music that’s not your style or understanding a sermon that didn’t do much for you might have helped someone else that Sunday. It means that sometimes church isn’t big and cutting-edge, but small and simple. More so, it means not coming to a church focused on consuming, but instead coming to give and serve.

Christians must understand that God does not define “good” churches by the quality of their programs, the size of membership or the look and feel of a facility. Focusing on those things can cause us to completely miss the point of what God actually wants of His Church. God has called us to draw near to Him, share the freedom and life of Jesus, and to love and serve others. Everything else must come second to these goals.

John Ortberg describes what happens in many churches in the 2010 Spring edition of Leadership journal:

“Out of this vision [of who Christ is and what He wants to accomplish] flows a desire to do good things for such a God. And sometimes these activities may lead to results that look quite remarkable or impressive. [Eventually] people begin to pay more attention to what they are doing than to the reality of God.

“At this point the mission replaces the vision as the dominant feature in peoples’ consciousness. Once this happens, descent is inevitable. For now people are living under the tyranny of Producing Impressive Results.”

Is “Producing Impressive Results” a sin? Not always. Programs and numbers and quality are all good things, but when church focuses mainly on these things instead of Christ … it is sinful.

The original Greek word that is translated as sin in English literally means “to miss the mark.” Sin is when we go in a different direction than what God wants for us.

The direction God wants us to go is toward Him. That is the whole point of church. Church should be a group of people, regularly gathering in an effort to draw closer to God, living life together in love and service, and sharing God with others. That’s it! There are no rules or guidelines to how that specifically looks, sounds or feels. It’s not about external elements, but about our internal hearts and what direction they are facing. It’s about love for God and love for one another.

Today there are very impressive churches that meet all around the world. You can walk into an impressive building, hear incredible music, fantastic preaching and participate in some amazing programs to help others in need, all while being surrounded by hundreds or thousands of others doing the same thing. None of that really matters though. What matters is where the hearts of the leaders and members are focused.

Consider the letter to the church in Ephesus recorded in Revelation 2:

“I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.”

Jesus is saying, “You are a good church doing many good things!” However, He continues:

“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches” (NLT).

This message is just as much for us today as it was for the church in Ephesus almost 2,000 years ago. As we attend, serve or lead a local body of Christ’s Church, we cannot allow ourselves to make our gatherings focus on external things that can take the place of God within our hearts. Instead, we must stay focused on the love of Christ—His sacrifice, His resurrection, His grace; and the impact of those things on the hearts of those who come together.

Jake Kircher writes about ministry and faith at www.jakekircher.com and marriage and relationships atwww.holymessofmarriage.com. Jake and Nich recently completed a sermon series called “Questioning Church,” which can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/user/GraceYouthGathering.