Alleged Contradictions

If we state the matter baldly—as some do—and say that we will accept Mrs. White except where she contradicts the Bible, we bring into even better focus the question of her relation to Bible writers. One of the favorite tactics of atheists is to charge that the Bible writers contradict one another. And we must confess that such critics sometimes make out a plausible case—for a case may be plausible without being valid. Yet we are wholly unimpressed with the atheists’ charge. And why? First, because we are convinced on good grounds that the Bible writers are inspired, which means that because God is the source of their writings there cannot be any contradictions. Hence we are confident that the charge of contradiction must be false, even though we may not be immediately able to expose its falsity. Second, experience has taught us that what appears at first blush to be a contradiction between writers may prove to be simply a stressing of different facets of the same truth.WBEGW 105.1

Again, experience has taught us that oftentimes if only we had all the facts in a particular situation an apparent contradiction would disappear. We must never forget that inspired writers frequently deal with mysteries that transcend, at least in part, our comprehension. Intellectual and spiritual humility thus prompt us to view most of the apparent Biblical contradictions as exhibits of the shallowness of our spiritual understanding.WBEGW 105.2