Today, I was at school and someone said that the Bible was full of contradictions and I didn't know how to answer them. One of the examples they pointed out was the fact that God was hovering over water before he created light so does that mean that there was water before or during God existed?Great question. The first thing to make sure you understand is that God has always existed. There is no time in which there was no God. Second, there is a difference between what happens in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," and Genesis 1:2, "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."
In Genesis 1:1, God CREATED everything out of nothing ("Heavens and earth" here is the Hebraic way of saying "everything"). In Genesis 1:2 and beyond, God PREPARES/SHAPES his creation to sustain life. The phrase, "without form (tohu in Hebrew) and void (bohu in Hebrew)" is used to describe uninhabited land. Similarly, the phrase, "darkness was over the face of the deep" does not mean there is no sun, but that land is without God's blessing. So Genesis 1:2 is describing a state of the CONDITION of the land before God made it good, filling it with light and life. The earth is in a desert-like, empty state. It is only in Genesis 1:3 and beyond that God gives his blessing, making the land "good" and habitable for living creatures such as plants, fish, animals and human beings.
As you can see, there is no contradiction between these two verses. Friend, don't be discouraged when people say things about the Bible. If you do not read the Bible properly, you can make it say almost whatever you want. However, if you do read it properly (e.g. read a book of the Bible according to its genre; studying the original language carefully; understanding the author's original intention; looking at historical context, etc.), the Bible does not contradict itself at all.
Hope this helps you.
[Answered by Pastor HM]
