Contradiction

It's my understanding that the proponents of Biblical Inerrancy fully confess that translation errors can -- and have -- crept into the Bible. There is a tremendous amount on the web that explains the various types of translations, from literal to paraphrase and everything in between. My new favorite radio minister, R.C. Sproul -- a strong advocate of Biblical Inerrancy -- is a vocal critic of the "dynamic equivalence" translations that are out there, saying that re-phrasing the original text permits too much opportunity to modify the original intent. Some of the translations out there are, by their very admission, complete re-writes of the Bible, offering a contemporary paraphrase of the original text. There the opportunity to change the original meaning is great.

So quite often you'll hear that Biblical Inerrancy applies to the original text. This is why some -- including the likes of R.C. Sproul -- are so emphatic about going back to the original wording in the original language. Even then there's an opportunity to misunderstand the original meaning of a given Hebrew or Greek word.

The apparent contradiction you cited between 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1 is explained by one apologist here:

http://www.carm.org/diff/2Sam24_1.htm

The distinction that's being drawn in this write-up is one I've heard before. It goes something like this:

• Satan is always trying to get people to sin against God.
• God's Holy Spirit empowers some to resist this temptation. Absent God's Holy Spirit, our fallen nature would give into the temptation of Satan.
• If God wishes to allow a person to fall into sin (so that sin can be used to illustrate God's greater Glory), all God need do is remove the empowering of His Spirit. Then the temptation of Satan overcomes the person and they commit the sin urged upon them by Satan.

If you look at the Book of Job, it speaks of Satan telling God that Job is righteous simply because God has provided a "hedge" around Job -- protection, if you will. The Sabeans are not forced by God to go inflict misery on Job; God merely removes the empowering in their hearts that allows them to resist the temptation of Satan. Absent that, Satan is allowed to prey upon our fallen nature, and by our nature we'll do all manner of sinful things.

I fully recognize that this explanation will not be satisfying to those who wish to find fault with the Bible. Somewhere in the Bible -- I wish I could find it -- there's a passage that says that God has provided just these things in Scripture to trip up the proud and the boastful. In other words, there are elements of Scripture that seem irrational or contradictory so those inclined not to believe God are given an opportunity to exercise that unbelief.

One of the things I'm really coming to realize of late is that faith -- belief and trust extened without benefit of irrefutable truth (my definition) -- is really an elemental part of God's plan for us. The Bible is full of examples where faith is extolled and rewarded. Yesterday I came across this passage and it really hit me:

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6, NIV)

In my mind the "earnestly seek him" part has, at least in some measure, an element of trust that His written word contains truth and God himself can be found through Scripture.