“If one accepts that there is a God, then one is already moving away from what is scientific. In that case, is contradiction really that much of a problem?”
If one believes that a perfect being presented and protects His Word, then, yes, contradictions are a problem.
If the historical details of the Bible are revealed by a perfect and omniscient being, there should be no errors, no anachronisms, no contradictions. MAYBE His account of a flood left no physical evidence, that’s a separate issue, but he shouldn’t have told an author of a King being paid in darics a few hundred years before King Darius invented them.
If Noah’s ark required additional miracles to float for a whole year without falling apart, those miracles should be mentioned so the story becomes a record, not a fairy tale.
“One must use a critical mind when looking through the Bible, even if one is a believer, but if one has already decided that there is a God, then aren't the contradictions relatively trivial?”
PERFECT. And OMNISCIENT. Neither trait can tolerate contradictions and still be true.
“ Are the details *that* important?”
Only if you use the Bible as evidence.
i mean, if you only present the Bible as the work of men, fine.
If you ever said, “I know there’s a God because his Bible is without error,” or some made-up stat on fulfilled prophecies, or how i can’t question the Bible because it’s the product of GOD… Then, yes, those details are important.
