Romans 3:10

Contradictions (3)

Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.

• Has there ever been a righteous person?

  Job 15:14, Isaiah 64:6, and Romans 3:10 deny anyone is righteous — all our righteousness is as filthy rags, there is none righteous, no, not one. Hebrews 11:4, 2 Peter 2:5-8, Ezekiel 14:14, Luke 1:6, and Matthew 23:35 name specific righteous people — Abel, Noah, Lot, Daniel, Job, Elisabeth, Zacharias.

  Critical scholarship: Leans toward reconciliation.

  Theology

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• Should we fear God?

  The Torah, prophets, and Wisdom literature relentlessly command fear of YHWH — Deuteronomy 6:13, Ecclesiastes 12:13, Proverbs 9:10, Matthew 10:28, and Hebrews 10:31 all insist on it. But 1 John 4:18 says perfect love casts out fear, 2 Timothy 1:7 says God didn't give us a spirit of fear, and Romans 8:15 says believers haven't received a spirit of bondage to fear.

  Critical scholarship: Genuinely disputed among scholars.

  Law & ethics

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• Who (or what) is a ransom for the righteous?

  The Bible offers at least four mutually incompatible answers to who or what serves as a ransom for the righteous. Proverbs 21:18 says the wicked are the ransom; the Synoptic ransom logion and the deutero-Pauline pastorals say Jesus is; Proverbs 13:8 says it's a man's riches; and a separate stream from Job, Isaiah, and Romans denies there are any righteous people for whom to pay a ransom in the first place.

  Critical scholarship: Leans toward a genuine contradiction.

  Theology

  More on this question

  The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.

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