Did we find a Bible contradiction?
A Response to Lilith Helstrom Pt. 3
In a blog post entitled "8 Ways the Gospel Message Contradicts Itself," Lilith Helstrom makes eight assertions that seek to expose the supposed contradictions in the message she rejects.
Today, I seek to answer the third claim as I continue this series, the purpose of which is to clarify and defend the true Gospel.
Claim #3:
“Jesus died for three days. Starting on Friday evening and ending early Sunday morning. You know how less than forty-eight hours equals three days.”
Response
When you push past the fog of sarcasm, you will see that this claim or objection to the gospel message is really that the biblical writers do not know how to count three days accurately. Many see a contradiction between Matthew 12:40 and the historical facts of the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Jesus’ death from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning does not equal three ordinary 24-hour days.
This is a classic “The Bible can’t be trusted” kind of argument. These claims aim to invalidate the authors of Scripture, causing the reader to reject their writings and, thus, reject the gospel message.
However, upon close examination of the culture in which the authors of Scripture wrote, this seeming contradiction completely vanishes.
A “Day” for Us, a “Day” for Them
Paul writes, “that he [Jesus] was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4; Emphasis mine).
I can understand how someone who has never studied the Scriptures in depth would scratch their head at the words “the third day.” I actually remember during a season of doubt as a young boy asking my dad this very question: How could Jesus die on Friday and be raised Sunday morning, and as Christians we triumphantly declare that Jesus was raised “three days later”?
Lilith’s claim assumes that when the Scriptures use the word “day,” they are using it in our Modern, Western way of viewing a day. Many people in ancient times did not count days the way we do. For the Jews in the first century, a portion of a day was considered a full day. So Jesus’ death at 3 p.m. on Friday (Mark 15:34—“The ninth hour”) was considered day one, Saturday was day two, and Sunday morning was day three.
This understanding of “Day” in the first century is recorded for us in the annals of Jewish history:
The Talmud (Jerusalem Talmud, Shabbat 9:3) – This rabbinic text discusses how part of a day is counted as a whole day:
“A day and a night are an Onah, and part of an Onah is as the whole of it.”
(An "Onah" refers to a 24-hour period, but even a portion of it counts as a whole.)
The Babylonian Talmud (Pesachim 4a, 87b) – This source also affirms that part of a day is equivalent to a full day in Jewish reasoning.
Biblical Examples:
Esther 4:16 – 5:1: Esther calls for a fast of “three days, night and day,” yet she goes before the king on the third day, showing that the Jews considered part of a day to count as a full day.
1 Samuel 30:12–13: A servant states that he had not eaten for "three days and three nights," but the context suggests this includes partial days.
The New Testament itself supports this understanding:
Matthew 27:63-64: Jesus’ enemies recall that He said He would rise “after three days,” and they request the tomb to be guarded until the third day—showing that "after three days" and "on the third day" were used interchangeably in Jewish thought.
Historical Writings:
John Lightfoot (1602–1675), Hebrew Scholar and Commentator on the Talmud, noted:
"The Jewish idiom reckons any part of a day as the whole day, and thus, 'three days' may span only portions of three separate days."1
Conclusion
Many skeptics want to raise these objections to sow seeds of doubt in the minds of those who were raised in the church and invite other skeptics to mock the Bible.
This kind of mocking is meant to shut down meaningful dialogue. However, it raises a deeper issue.
Lilith's rejection of the gospel, based on a superficial reading of how days are counted, reveals that her problem is not with arithmetic but with authority. The real question becomes: What is Lilith’s (and other skeptics’) standard for establishing truth and reality?
If God’s Word is true, historically accurate, and without error in its original manuscripts, then we have every reason to believe that these historical facts happened exactly as the Bible recounts them.
If someone rejects the written Word of God as the final authority and standard of all truth, they must justify their methods for determining knowledge, morality, and reality.
Rather than criticizing the Bible for supposed contradictions, atheists would do well to look down at their feet and examine the foundation they are standing on. Does their worldview support the methods of reasoning they impose on others, withstand the historical reliability of Scripture, or offer any real hope for their own souls?
Sources pulled with the help of ChatGPT