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To demonstrate that there is a contradiction between two statements, it is not sufficient
to simply state them. One must be able to show what it is about the statements that
cause them to contradict. For example, one may cite Matthew 2:11 and Luke 2:7 as contradictory
accounts, but to demonstrate that they contradict each other one may go on to say that since
Luke 2:7 states “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling
cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” and
Matthew 2:11 states “And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with
Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures,
they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh,” the accounts must be contradictory
ones because “the young Child” cannot be in “a manger” and in “the house”
at the same time and in the same sense. The only problem here is that these two scripture
verses do not, in fact, contradict each other since the “Babe” was “lying in a manger”—not
sinning, mind you—and “the young Child” was in “the house,” for some time transpired
after “she brought forth her firstborn Son” (Luke 2:7) and “the shepherds…came with
haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger” (Luke 2:15, 16) and before
“wise men from the East…had come into the house” and “saw the young Child with
Mary His mother” (Matthew 2:1, 11).