By Hank Hanegraaff

The Internet is awash with alleged Bible contradictions. More often than not they can be traced back to the notorious Bart Ehrman, a religious studies professor who has made a cottage industry out of alleged contradictions. The question at hand is a classic case in point. Says Ehrman, “In John’s Gospel, Jesus performs his first miracle, when he turns water into wine and we’re told that ‘this was the first sign that Jesus did’ (John 2:11). Later in that chapter we’re told that Jesus did ‘many signs’ in Jerusalem (John 2:23). And then, in chapter 4, he heals the son of a centurion, and the author says, ‘This was the second sign that Jesus did’ (John 4:54). Huh? One sign, many signs, and then the second sign?” Truthfully, what I have a hard time understanding is how a simple “problem” like this can stump a world-class scholar.

First, as is clearly communicated in the gospel of John, the first miraculous sign Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee was to change water into wine. Once again, class, the first miraculous sign (#1) that Jesus performed in Cana in Galilee was changing water into wine.

Furthermore, according to the gospel of John, the second miraculous sign Jesus performed while at Cana in Galilee (4:46) was healing the son of a centurion (cf. 4:54). Huh? What was the second miraculous sign Jesus performed while at Cana in Galilee, class? All together now: the healing of the son of a centurion while at Cana in Galilee!

Finally, as should be patently obvious, the fact that Jesus did “many signs” in Jerusalem is not a “problem with the Bible” but rather exposes a problem with Bart. In this case it appears to be a problem of obfuscation.

And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

John 21:25 NKJV

For further study, see Hank Hanegraaff, Has God Spoken? Memorable Proofs of the Bible’s Divine Inspiration (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011).

 

***Note the preceding text is adapted from The Complete Bible Answer Book: Collector’s Edition: Revised and Expanded (2024). To receive for your partnering gift please click here. ***