Contradictions?

"There are so many contradictions in all these messages we send. We keep asking, 'how do I get out of here?" 'where do I fit in?'" The Eagles

I heard an NPR story on the way home today where FreshAir was interviewing the author of the book "Jesus, Interrupted" (NOW OUT IN PAPERBACK). This book is about why the author turned from Christian to agnostic - which is fine - but the reasoning for his decision made me shake my head a bit. He found contradictions in the Bible, and specifically in the gospels, and thinks it ruins the truth of one gospel over the other when people combine them and produce contradictions like "Jesus died so our sins could be absolved" vs. "Jesus was wrongly convicted and when people understood that it made them want to change their sinning ways." The two can't co-exist in his mind.

Also disturbing to me, since I'm not a practicing Christian (although it doesn't stop me from commenting, does it!) was his complaint that the idea of the afterlife (heaven and hell in the Christian tradition, but conceived differently in other traditions) didn't really originate in the Word of God as written in the Bible, but actually arose in EARLIER PRE-CHRISTIAN cultures. Hello? There was literally no acknowledgment that religious cultures across the globe and from time immemorial have developed the same concepts, the same stories, the same ways of making sense of the world. Different labels, different spins, but the identical concepts. Coincidence? Part of the human condition? Cultural/genetic memory? Whatever the reason, I feel confident that these beliefs are not the purview of, nor originated by Christians.

But I'm losing my point. My point is about contradictions. Maybe it's because I'm a Libra, but one of the central tenets of my own belief system is that there is very rarely an either-or when it comes to ideology or everyday philosophy. Yin and yang are opposites but exist in the same orb. It is perfectly feasible for the two gospel accounts above to represent different lenses into the same truth. The synthesis of apparent opposites into a more perfect holistic vision of a truth is something I look for, strive for, and accept. The out-of-balance that occurs when polar opposites are insisted upon and staunchly defended is what offends me. Make room for the contradictions. Incorporate them. Make them into a whole. It's amazing how rich, nuanced, and exciting the world will become.