Bible 'Contradictions'?

[LightBearer316]

Care to elaborate?

Not implying you are wrong but rather the parable appears to being in regards to one situation, how to respond to the folly of a fool. Or maybe I am missing something in your post.

The parable says, "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding." So I do agree with your comment about the key thing being discernment since the principle gives one wisdom to unlock understanding. After all it i s written "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding."

So who do you think God is speaking to in the Book of the Preacher wherein it is written, ""For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow." ?

Excellent question — and I appreciate how you connected Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. You’re absolutely right that discernment is central to true wisdom.

When Solomon wrote, “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow” (Ecclesiastes 1:18 KJV), he was describing wisdom “under the sun” — human observation and reasoning apart from divine revelation. The “Book of the Preacher” (Ecclesiastes) explores what life looks like when viewed from the earthly, temporal perspective.

In contrast, Proverbs emphasizes wisdom from above — “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10 KJV). One grieves because earthly wisdom exposes the futility of everything done without God — vanity. But heavenly wisdom brings peace because it begins with reverence for God and ends in understanding His will.

So when Solomon says “in much wisdom is much grief,” he’s not condemning wisdom itself — he’s revealing that knowledge without God leads to despair.
That’s why James contrasts the two kinds of wisdom:

“This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish… But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable…”​

— James 3:15–17 KJV​

God is speaking through Ecclesiastes to remind us that all human striving, knowledge, and reasoning outside of Him ends in emptiness. True discernment comes only when we align understanding with the fear of the Lord — the foundation of all wisdom.

Grace and peace in Christ
Acts 17:11 (KJV)
“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

 

[LightBearer316]

As an aside - Babes in Christ always be on the lookout for the Oneness Pentecostalism (often called the “Jesus Only” movement) uses very familiar Christian terms like “Jesus,” “baptism,” and “Holy Spirit,” but means something very different by them.




What “Oneness” or “Jesus Only” Teaches

Oneness Pentecostalism denies the Trinity.
Instead, it teaches that God is one Person who simply appears or manifests in different modes — sometimes as the Father, sometimes as the Son, and sometimes as the Holy Spirit.

So rather than believing in one God who exists eternally as three distinct Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), Oneness theology claims those three are just titles or roles of one single divine Person — Jesus.

That’s why they’re often called “Jesus Only” — because they baptize and pray only in the name of Jesus, rejecting the Trinitarian formula “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19 KJV).

What They Believe About Baptism

Oneness groups (like the United Pentecostal Church International, or UPCI) teach that:

• You must be baptized in Jesus’ name only (not the Trinitarian formula),
• And you must speak in tongues as evidence of salvation.

They view baptism as part of the process that causes salvation — not as a symbol of faith.
So in their system, a person isn’t fully saved until they’ve:

1. Repented,
2. Been baptized “in Jesus’ name,” and
3. Spoken in tongues.

That’s why it’s sometimes called the “Acts 2:38 doctrine.”

Why It’s Considered Heresy

1. Denies the Trinity
   • The Bible shows the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as distinct Persons who exist simultaneously, not as one Person shifting forms (e.g., Matthew 3:16–17, John 14:16, 2 Corinthians 13:14).
   • Denying this distorts the very nature of God.
2. Distorts the Gospel
   • Scripture teaches we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV), not by baptismal formulas or outward signs.
   • Baptism is a symbol of salvation, not the cause of it (Romans 6:3-4 KJV; 1 Peter 3:21 KJV — “not the putting away of the filth of the flesh…”).
3. Reinterprets Key Verses
   • They build nearly everything on Acts 2:38, ignoring other clear passages like Acts 10:43-48, Ephesians 1:13, and Romans 10:9-10 where faith precedes baptism.

The Orthodox (Biblical) View
The historic Christian position since the first century has always been:

One God in three co-equal, co-eternal Persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.​

• The Father is not the Son.
• The Son is not the Spirit.
• Yet all three are one in essence and nature — the one true God.

Salvation comes by faith in Christ alone, through His finished work on the cross — not by water, not by formula, and not by speaking in tongues.

In Short
Oneness Pentecostalism / “Jesus Only”

• Denies the Trinity.
• Makes baptismal wording a condition for salvation.
• Adds works and rituals to the gospel.

That’s why it’s considered a serious doctrinal error — a heresy — by virtually all orthodox Christian traditions (Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox alike).

Grace and Peace

 

[UnoiAmarah]

The Orthodox (Biblical) View
The historic Christian position since the first century has always been:

One God in three co-equal, co-eternal Persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• The Father is not the Son.
• The Son is not the Spirit.
• Yet all three are one in essence and nature — the one true God.

Salvation comes by faith in Christ alone, through His finished work on the cross — not by water, not by formula, and not by speaking in tongues.

Since the term eternal describes the nature of a life form, being one that has no beginning of existence, having always existed, then would any living thing that proceeded forth from the eternal life form be eternal also?

Since it is not possible to know whether any life form has existed forever, by the dictum that nothing comes from nothing otherwise known as the principle of causality which is known and seen to be undebatable, that is the substance upon which I have hope that there is an eternal God being the evidence for the hope in an eternal God unseen since life comes from life, thus the reason for my faith in the existence in an eternal God prior to the beginning of the universe.