Biblical Contradiction: God dwells in or not in temples:

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Biblical Contradiction Explained: God does or does not dwell in temples:

God dwells in temples:

Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.

2 Chronicles 7:12

For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.

2 Chronicles 7:16

God does not dwell in temples:

However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:

Acts 7:48

Explanation:

There is no contradiction here. When God said he dwells within the Temple built by Solomon he was not suggesting that he in any way literally, exclusively, or unconditionally dwells within the Temple built by Solomon. God was suggesting that it was Solomon’s, and the Hebrew people’s, faith that warranted God’s special attention in the Temple built by Solomon.

In the days of Solomon it was not uncommon for temples to be built as a “house” for a God. However, God was telling Solomon that the Temple was his house as it is a Temple built for the true God.

Unfortunately, the Hebrew people, by the time Luke wrote Acts, arrived at the belief that God only dwells within the Temple. Luke was specifying that God is not restricted to temples; that without faith, the Temple is just a stone building built by man.