34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— 35 and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." Luke 2:34-35 (NASB)

Simeon was a true prophet, for Christ has been from the beginning "a sign to be opposed."  Atheists, people of Islam, and Liberal Protestant theologians all accuse the Bible that contains the accounts of his birth, life, teachings, death, resurrection and ascension as having contradictions and being untrue and unreliable.  All three groups want to weaken the Bible so that it ceases to represent the truth about Christ and His church and ceases to have any moral or religious authority.  By constantly making accusations against the Bible, they feel that something will stick eventually, and when it does, then the the Christ and His Bible are defeated.  Gone would be the idea of inspiration, unless you have a Liberal Protestant theologian redefine it for you.  Of course, his/her definition also will deny the Bible of any historicity of Christ or authority in moral or religious matters.

The nature of a real Bible contradiction is defined on one online site,1 and this same site answers some alleged contradictions.2  On this webpage, I have answered a number of contradictions on the following two pages:

Alleged Bible Contradictions by Liberals
Field's Alleged Bible Contradictions

In addition, there are three books that are helpful in considering alleged Bible contradictions:

Dehoff, GW. Alleged Bible Contradictions Explained. Dehoff Christian Bookstore, Murfreesboro, TN, © 1996.
Haley, JW. An Examination of the Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible.  WG Holmes Publisher. © 1875.

Both of these books can be purchased at www.amazon.com as they are still being printed, or they may be available at your library.

The reference by Ted Stewart is very helpful also:

Stewart, Ted. Apologetics II: New Discoveries That Confirm The Bible.  Sunset International Bible Institute, Lubbock TX, © 2001.  Chapters 9 & 10 are most helpful in this regard.  You can order a copy online at their bookstore3 by simply entering the author's name in their search window and then selecting the product.  Or you can call them at 1-800-687-2121 to order.

Lastly, there are a number of commentaries that can be helpful.  Obviously, a commentary written by Liberal Protestant theologians will not help answer alleged Bible contradictions, so you should choose commentaries carefully.