Numerous contradictions are imagined when one fails to harmonize both accounts. At a social gathering, you may overhear a discussion in which a man states that his son is ill at home. Later, you hear the same man state that his son is currently at work. Is there a contradiction? You would think so, unless you put both stories together. Yes, the son is ill at home, but he runs his business from his home by phone and computer. Thus, no contradiction.
When we read that Judas hung himself (Mat. 27:5) and that he fell headlong with such an impact that he burst open (Acts 1:8), there is no contradiction in the manner of his death when both accounts are merged together. Judas, after hanging himself, fell and burst. Notice, Acts did not state “Judas did not hang himself.” Such is what is needed for a true contradiction. Rather, both writers recorded a portion of the event which, when put together, gives a complete account.
It has been alleged that there is a contradiction when Matthew 5:1-2 records the first sermon of Jesus upon a mountain, while Luke 6:17,20 records it as being on a plain. The word for “plain” is pedinou, meaning “flat, level.” Long’s Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park towers more than 14,000 feet in elevation. Not only does the trail, at two thirds of the way up, cross a huge level area, the very top of the mountain itself could hold two level football fields. Yes, there are pedinou on mountains. When the accounts are harmonized, Jesus preached on a level place on a mountain.
When the Bible states that one is saved by faith (1 Cor 1:21), by repentance (2 Cor. 7:10), by confession (Rom. 10:9-10), and by baptism (Mark 16:16) there is no contradiction when all the verses are considered and harmonized. We would pray that our religious friends would learn this crucial principle. To claim that one is saved by faith only (or by any three while excluding the fourth) is to make the Bible contradict itself!
No, the Bible does not contradict itself when it is harmonized (Psa. 119: 160). [Also note: “All sin forgiven” (Acts 13:39) and “some not forgiven” (Matt. 12:32); “Swearing allowed” (Heb. 6:13) and “swearing prohibited” (James 5:12).]
Gary Henson
1 William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1958), p. 638.