The Bible as Truth

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.
Eph. 1:17

Knowledge of God comes from one source: from God. For a man or woman to know OF God, they have to go TO Him.
Reading that section of Ephesians one finds out that it continues to say,

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling...

It was not ever God's intention that man be ignorant.

Now concerning spiritual "gifts," brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
I Cor. 12:1

This verse in the King James Version is a poor translation. The words "spiritual gifts" in the Greek texts from which the Bible is translated use one Greek word, the word "pneumatikos." Pneumatikos means "spiritual things, or 'spirituality'." See? God's will is for His people to be instructed in things of the spirit realm.

You say, "But this was Paul writing, and Paul was just a man?" A man, yes, but he either lied or he told the truth regarding his presentation of the scriptures. What did he say regarding his writings?

But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Galations 1:11&12

Well, either Paul lied, or he told the truth. What about the other Bible writers?

For the prophesy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
II Peter 1:21

The scriptures claim that they came by men set apart by God, moved (inspired and motivated) the Holy Ghost, "holy ghost" being an English term for the Holy Spirit of God.

Either they lied or told the truth. If there be a god, is this so hard to fathom? A human executive can dictate a letter to a secretary, and edit it with her or him to certify that the language is correct. Can not God do as much?

Then you say, "There are contradictions in the Bible."

Between various versions and texts, there do appear to be discrepancies.
The geneology of Christ appears different in Matthew than in Luke. Two crucified with Christ in Matthew both reviled him. In Luke, one repents and is promised Paradise. Through and through appears to be contradictions.
The key is, "appears" to be.
A more careful and comprehensive study of the scriptures themselves, sometimes referring to textual sources, reveal that the geneology of Matthew is regarding the line of Mary the mother of Jesus, who apparently was fathered by a man named "Joseph." Scribes often did not understand this, and being unfamiliar with other texts, such as those of Luke, sometimes (not always,) recorded the word "husband." Meanwhile, the geneology of Luke was of Joseph the HUSBAND of Mary. (And supposed father of Jesus.)
The repentant man crucified with Christ in Luke was a malefactor, one of two led and crucified with him. The two revilers in Matthew were thieves, two led after, and crucified later, on Calvary and who both rejected him. Early paintings of Calvary often depicted four additional crosses besides Jesuses' center cross.
Sometimes the apparent contradiction is because of poor translations from Greek, Aramaic, or Latin into our native tongue.
Sometimes we fail to understand idioms or figures of speech.
Sometimes contradictions appear due to our failure to understand clearly what is written. We may not know enough history, or might not understand the context or setting, or we may simply not have read the whole account.
Sometimes errors appear when we don't follow tenses or pronouns properly.
But repeated and thorough study helps give a serious searcher of scripture enough vision of the Bible's God-given pattern to see that there are no errors.
And to properly deal with errors in translation or inadequate grammatical knowledge, there are study helps: Bullinger's Companion Bible, his "Figures of Speech used in the Bible," his "Lexicon" are all a great help.
Strong and Young have excellent concordances.
There are interlinears (textual and contempary versions line by line to compare) and atlases and dictionaries and various versions of scripture for scripture analysis.
There are excellent studies of culture and common grammer usage, such as "Light through an Eastern Window" by Bishop Pallai. These are usually easy reads.

The truth remains is, it is God's word and even if you're not up to scholorly endeavors (no shame in that, most of us aren't) there is adequate material that one needs not be ignorant of scripture, nor needs be convinced of non-existant flaws in the scriptures.

For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Psalm 100:5

To all generations.

And remember, it is God that imparts wisdom. And how do we get Him to do that? First, become acquainted through Jesus Christ, for the man Jesus is the mediator between God and man.

And then ask him, for God is rich to those who ask Him.

Amen?

Amen!

A few Bible helps:

Resource Pages for Biblical Studies, main page
The Bible Gateway - KJV
Catholic Encyclopedia
Church Fathers