Dr Paul Allen

Folio 4v of the Rabbula Gospels showing the canon tables, harmonization of the four gospels, with marginal miniatures. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Skeptics often charge that the Bible ’s historical books hopelessly contradict each other. And if that’s the case, they charge, then the Bible cannot be trusted in anything it says. Take, for example, 1 Chronicles 2:13–15 , which states that Jesse had seven sons, while 1 Samuel 17:12 indicates Jesse had eight sons. On the surface, the Bible’s historical books can appear to disagree. These range all the way from very minor variations in wording to the most famous apparent contradictions. But once you allow for paraphrase, abridgment, explanatory additions, selection and omission—acceptable techniques even in many of today’s writing styles—the books are extremely consistent with each other by ancient standards, which are the only standards by which it’s fair to judge them. As in the case of Jesse’s sons, it’s important to realize that th

The Aleppo Codex is a medieval manuscript of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), associated with Rabbi Aaron Ben Asher. The Masoretic scholars wrote it in the early 10th century, probably in Tiberias, Israel. It is in book form and contains the vowel points and grammar points (nikkudot) that specify the pronunciation of the ancient Hebrew letters to preserve the chanting tradition. It is perhaps the most historically important Hebrew manuscript in existence. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Skeptics often charge that the Bible 's historical books hopelessly contradict each other. And if that's the case, they charge, then the Bible cannot be trusted in anything it says. Take, for example, 1 Chronicles 2:13-15 , which states that Jesse had seven sons, while 1 Samuel 17:12 indicates Jesse had eight sons. On the surface, the Bible's historical books can appear to disagree. These range all the way from very minor variations in wording to the most famous apparent contradictions. But o