The Bible - Infallible?

Alright, so I was brought up in a Christian home, I've gone to church my whole life (except in college . . . whoops), and I've always been taught that the Bible is the infallible word of God with no errors. I basically went through life beliving this, but not really looking into it and honestly not worrying about it too much. Anyway, recently I've been really interested in spiritual matters and I've been reading the Bible a lot more than I previously did.

Along the way though, I've found some interesting things and even some things that appear to be contradictory. Here are a few examples:

1)In the account of the crucifixion, it is said that two robbers were crucified next to Jesus, here are passages from Matthew and Luke:

"Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, 'You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!' . . .In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him." (Matthew 27:38-39, 44)

"Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed . . . One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: 'Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!' But the other criminal rebuked him. 'Don't you fear God,' he said, 'since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.' Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' Jesus answered him, 'I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.'" (Luke 23:32, 39-43) *Incredible passage btw*

Okay, so which was it? Did they both insult him, or did the one robber repent? I realize this may not be a big deal to some people, but I know others who believe there are absolutely no inconsistencies in the Bible. To these people I ask, "How do you explain this?" And just to be clear I'm not trying to mock anyone, I'm seriously asking for people's beliefs/opinions.

On to another example, this time regarding the faith vs works issue with salvation. For this issue I will summarize, but I encourage people to read the entire passages. The Bible is online here. The passages in question are Romans 3:21-4:8 and James 2:14-26.

In the first passage, Paul concludes that salvation comes by faith alone, saying, "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law." James presents a different view, saying, "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone." What makes this even more interesting is that Paul and James use the same example involving Abraham to illustrate their respective views.

Paul states, "If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about - but not before God. What does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.'" Whereas James says, "You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did."

Again, who's right? Also, to people who believe that the Bible contains no human-inspired writings, why would God give us two conflicting explanations on this issue? Personally, I think that the best source for learning about true Christianity is . . . Jesus Christ! I realize that I have just proposed that the Bible isn't perfect and that the teachings of Jesus are found in the Bible, but I think they've made it through clearly enough. I have been surprised how powerful and inspiring Jesus' teachings have become when read with a completely open mind. I really encourage everyone to check them out.

Well, that's basically it. I'm looking forward to hearing people's views on this subject. I realize that some people just don't believe in the Bible or Jesus Christ at all and I respect your right to believe whatever you want, but I'd like to hear from people who have some belief in these matters as the relevance of this topic relies on belief of some kind. Again, I'm not attacking anyone's beliefs, but I'm just very curious about these things and I want to hear what other people have to say.

P.S. Sorry about all of the edits, I'm kind of a perfectionisss, perfectionisss, ST! (Cable Guy reference)

[edit on 25-1-2006 by Rock Lobster]

[edit on 25-1-2006 by Rock Lobster]

[edit on 25-1-2006 by Rock Lobster]

[edit on 25-1-2006 by Rock Lobster]

Why does any - one have to be right? with the exception of my beliefs being "right" for me and Yours for you.

It was once said, " There is one Mountain, but many paths to the top of the Mountain." ( havent a clue who was the first to utter this but there are several
variations by a legion of people.)

It is my belief that the popular bible does have errors. It was written by men and men are flawed. I think they tried to do it right, but good intentions usually don't spell accuracy.

I think it is about 80-90% accurate, but it doesn't really matter - the truth can be found within yourself, not in a book and not from others.

It is my belief that we should not depend on others to find our own path. We should search ourselves for the answer to the path that we should take - my path is different from yours.

I agree that we all have different views about "God" and the bible but the real question you have to ask is whether or not your willing to believe in him... me myself have a hard time deciding what is real because like you said earlier, it says one thing and then turns around and says another.
How are we suppose to believe in something that we can't even keep a consistant story about? I think is all comes down to Faith. We have to have Faith to believe in anything.. not just about God or the Bible but about anything in life.
I hope I have helped you some... sorry if I didn't...

Thanks for the posts so far everyone! I guess most people have come to the conclusion that the Bible is flawed, but that the important message is still there, so that's not really an issue. stalkingwolf, I respect your belief in different paths, but in the example I gave there are two interpretations of the same path. Using your quote "There is one Mountain, but many paths to the top of the Mountain" as a reference, there may be many paths, but someone has to pick one of them right? It would be impossible to reach the top of the mountain if you stepped off the path and into a rocky area that you couldn't pass. In my opinion, Jesus' message is summarized in Luke 10:27 where it says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind"; and "Love your neighbor as yourself." I tend to agree with James' interpretation as "Love your neighbor as yourself" seems to imply helpful action toward others. Anyway, what I'm saying is that even if someone accepts the idea of multiple paths, there must be some boundaries or guidelines that form the paths up the mountain or else the mountain would be scalable by anyone living any lifestyle whatsoever.

In reference to the thread topic, I think the original poster has answered his/her own question. I agree with most of the other posts here in so far as having faith and making up your own mind on what to take out of the Bible and what not to. There is no ONE TRUE WAY to connect with God. There are many ways and only YOU can determine which is the best way for YOU.

Alright, thanks for the responses everyone. I guess this thread is pretty much done in terms of discussing the topic listed. My main interest is really in Jesus' teachings and the differing views on them in the New Testament. I assure everyone that I am not relying on anyone else's interpretation to base my decisions, but instead I try and learn more every day. I suppose this topic doesn't hold quite as much interest for most other people, but personally I find it interesting since I've had the mainling Protestant viewpoint preached to me my whole life. Thanks for the posts everyone!