Bible contradictions?

[slotted]

Regarding bible contradictions, where would you like to start?

Contradictions

* God good to all, or just a few?
* War or Peace?
* Who is the father of Joseph?
* Who was at the Empty Tomb?
* Is Jesus equal to or lesser than?
* Which first--beasts or man?
* The number of beasts in the ark
* How many stalls and horsemen?
* Is it folly to be wise or not?
* Human vs. ghostly impregnation
* The sins of the father
* The bat is not a bird
* Rabbits do not chew their cud
* Insects do NOT have four feet
* Snails do not melt
* Fowl from waters or ground
* Odd genetic engineering
* The shape of the earth
* Snakes, while built low, do not eat dirt
* Earth supported?
* Heaven supported too
* The hydrological cycle
* Order of creation
* Moses' personality
* Righteous live?
* Jesus' first sermon plain or mount?
* Jesus' last words
* Years of famine
* Moved David to anger?
* The GENEALOGY OF JESUS?
* God be seen?
* CRUEL, UNMERCIFUL, DESTRUCTIVE, and FEROCIOUS or KIND, MERCIFUL, and GOOD
* Tempts?
* Judas died how?
* Ascend to heaven
* What was Jesus' prediction regarding Peter's denial?
* How many time did the #### crow?
* Who killed Saul
* How many beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount
* Does every man sin?
* Who bought potter's field?
* Who prophesied the potter's field?
* Who bears guilt?
* Do you answer a fool?
* How many children did Michal, the daughter of Saul, have?
* How old was Jehoiachin when he began to reign?
* Marriage?
* Did those with Saul/Paul at his conversion hear a voice?
* Where was Jesus three days after his baptism?
* How many apostles were in office between the resurection and ascention?
* Judging
* Good deeds
* For or against?
* Whom did they see at the tomb?
* God change?
* Destruction of cities (what said was jeremiah was zechariah)
* Who's sepulchers?
* Strong drink?
* When second coming?
* Solomon's overseers
* The mother of Abijah
* When did Baasha die?
* How old was Ahaziah when he began to reign?
* Who was Josiah's successor?
* The differences in the census figures of Ezra and Nehemiah
* What was the color of the robe placed on Jesus during his trial?
* What did they give him to drink?
* How long was Jesus in the tomb?

 

[vraiblonde]

Good thread This has only been covered about a thousand times in here. I'm sure you can add something new to the mix.

 

[slotted]

Good thread This has only been covered about a thousand times in here. I'm sure you can add something new to the mix.

Sorry vrai. I mentioned this in another thread, and knew that I've seen something posted on it before, but I couldn't find the thread.

You never know what anyone has to offer untill you give them the chance.

I apologize for a false accusation against you in my previous thread. I've edited it now to remove it.

 

[vraiblonde]

Did I hurt your feelings on a personal level vrai, or are you just stalking me?

Well, it seems that just you and I are posting. Jazz laughed at my other post, but other than that... :shrug:

So, yes, I'm kind of stalking you.

 

[vraiblonde]

I've edited it now to remove it.

Too late!

 

[slotted]

Well, it seems that just you and I are posting. Jazz laughed at my other post, but other than that... :shrug:

So, yes, I'm kind of stalking you.

Finally, I've always wanted a stalker on a personal level.

 

[vraiblonde]

And, BTW, I picked Vengeful God vs. Loving God. The rest are the kind of minutiae that can get tweaked in the retelling, therefore not really contradictions, IMO.

 

[Bogart]

Did Adam and Eve have navels?

 

[slotted]

And, BTW, I picked Vengeful God vs. Loving God. The rest are the kind of minutiae that can get tweaked in the retelling, therefore not really contradictions, IMO.

If that's the case, then we don't have gawd's inerrant, infallible word, now do we?

Tell it like it is, if it opposes something else that it says, then it's a contradiction. :shrug:

 

[vraiblonde]

If that's the case, then we don't have gawd's inerrant, infallible word, now do we?

The NT kind of cancels out the OT. Jesus was pretty specific that all the old ways/laws were wrong and then taught how you're really supposed to do it. That's why he was sent to earth in the first place.

So Christians who live by OT doctine aren't doing it right - Jesus says so.

 

[slotted]

The NT kind of cancels out the OT. Jesus was pretty specific that all the old ways/laws were wrong and then taught how you're really supposed to do it.

So Christians who live by OT doctine aren't doing it right - Jesus says so.

Feel free to point out where I said the OT is the way to do it.

I'm saying that the bible is a book of tall tales. Don't get me wrong, I do think that it can be used to teach good morals, but it can be used to justify about anything for that matter.

That's why he was sent to earth in the first place.

Did you get a chance to read my link earlier?



I'm off to bed, but look forward to catching your reply tomorrow.

 

[vraiblonde]

Feel free to point out where I said the OT is the way to do it..

I didn't say you did. But you were talking about contradictions and I pointed out that there would naturally be contradictions in doctrine between the OT and the NT.

My personal feeling is that they could throw the whole Bible out as a religious guide and just use the Sermon on the Mount. That pretty much sums up how you're supposed to behave and the rest is just filler.

 

[SamSpade]

And, BTW, I picked Vengeful God vs. Loving God. The rest are the kind of minutiae that can get tweaked in the retelling, therefore not really contradictions, IMO.

Interesting. I've never really regarded that so much as contradictory as much as it is a different viewpoint of the same God. You really can't read the Psalms without getting the idea that God is also a deeply compassionate and loving God - in addition to the vengeful, wrathful, angry one you get in all the prophetic books.

And I always likened it to this, because it makes a perfect parallel - the perspective of God in the Old Testament is you looking at your parents when you were five; the New Testament is you looking at your parents when you were thirty. When you were immature, your Dad was someone who made rules, punished you if you got out of line and you did not DARE to upset him. When you got older, you understood that every rule and most of those 'harsh' actions were always intended by a very loving parent to protect you and guide you.

Or perhaps, a similar perspective - a harsh instructor in the martial arts. As a novice, you might regard him as petty and cruel, but as you mature, you learn to appreciate his patience and wisdom.

Same with the OT versus the NT - rules and guidelines versus the thoughts and attitudes of the heart - same game, but more mature perspective.

 

[vraiblonde]

When you got older, you understood that every rule and most of those 'harsh' actions were always intended by a very loving parent to protect you and guide you.

But your Dad isn't going to destroy the world and almost every living thing in it just because he's pissed at the way you're behaving.

I always take the OT as kind of a caveman history book. Back then, people didn't know how things worked, so they'd just say "It was God" and be done with it. Their communication was limited to their own little area, so what may have seemed like a world-wide flood might have only taken place in their region.

Then I picture Jesus coming around saying, "Look, you ignorant cavemen, quit acting like a bunch of superstitious retards and pay attention. Quit with the burnt offerings - that's for Neanderthals - and listen while I tell you how God wants to to behave."

And considering that Noah is truly the father of mankind, he should be more famous than what he is. The Bible singles out David, Abraham, Moses and a couple others as patriarchs and lawmakers, but Noah is just a story - no more important than Jonah. I always found that interesting.

 

[SamSpade]

Then I picture Jesus coming around saying, "Look, you ignorant cavemen, quit acting like a bunch of superstitious retards and pay attention. Quit with the burnt offerings - that's for Neanderthals - and listen while I tell you how God wants to to behave."

As do I. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, prefaces almost *everything* with "you have heard....but I tell you". In each case, he turns a legitimate LAW into what it was meant to do - deal with the inner character of the person in question.

The OT *was* caveman history - it's described frequently in the NT as a mentor, a tutor, a pedagogue, something *intentionally* temporary until the better covenant could be established. Because when you're dealing with superstitious people who bow down to statues, it's hard to explain to them the harder underlying spiritual issues the laws actually deal with. This comes out in the NT as well - Jesus will say things like "Moses gave you divorce because of your hard hearts, but it was always meant this way from the beginning". He wasn't destroying the Law as much as clarifying, and fulfilling it.

Think of it this way - when you needed to learn some complex scientific principle - as a child - did the teacher whip out quantum mechanics, unified field theory and calculus - to explain *GRAVITY* to you? Hell no.

Same with your own kids. When they're three or four, you don't explain why they can't have candy for dinner - you just tell them no. When they're older, they'll understand. When they're young, they *can't* understand - their minds aren't there yet.

This is one of the over-arching messages of the NT - God gave a covenant he *meant* to destroy, once his people had reached a point when they were receptive - when they were sufficiently "grown up" to receive it.

Bear in mind - the old rule-keeping attitude of "keep this rule, and you'll be cool" is STILL a prevailing attitude in the religion of many. It never ever reaches down to the character or the motives of the heart. To so many, it's still a matter of covering your bases.

 

[Railroad]

3If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness,4 he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions,5 useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself. 1 Timothy 6:3-5

GLADLY! Time to update the Ignore list!

 

[vraiblonde]

Time to update the Ignore list!

Well, zen me out, too, then because I've always been annoyed by that passage. "Do what I say and if anyone questions it or even tries to discuss it, cover your ears and go 'lalalalala' while you run away."

It makes God sound like a Communist dictator rather than a loving father.

Sam, I'm curious why you chose Saul for your contradiction. It was my understanding that the Amalekite was lying in hopes of getting a reward from David. Therefore it wouldn't be a contradiction. Am I missing something?

 

[2ndAmendment]

Well, zen me out, too, then because I've always been annoyed by that passage. "Do what I say and if anyone questions it or even tries to discuss it, cover your ears and go 'lalalalala' while you run away."

It makes God sound like a Communist dictator rather than a loving father.

Sam, I'm curious why you chose Saul for your contradiction. It was my understanding that the Amalekite was lying in hopes of getting a reward from David. Therefore it wouldn't be a contradiction. Am I missing something?

God is The Creator. We are His creations. He is the Potter; we are the pots. When you finally realize that relationship and accept it, then you also realize that He has the right to do anything He wants with His creations. All of Romans 9 covers it pretty well but this is particularly to the point.

Romans 9:14-24

<sup id="en-NASB-28170">14</sup>What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!

<sup id="en-NASB-28171">15</sup>For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION."

<sup id="en-NASB-28172">16</sup>So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

<sup id="en-NASB-28173">17</sup>For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH."

<sup id="en-NASB-28174">18</sup>So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

<sup id="en-NASB-28175">19</sup>You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?"

<sup id="en-NASB-28176">20</sup>On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it?

<sup id="en-NASB-28177">21</sup>Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?

<sup id="en-NASB-28178">22</sup>What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?

<sup id="en-NASB-28179">23</sup>And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,

<sup id="en-NASB-28180">24</sup>even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

Considering ourselves anything but creations and subjecting God to our standards is trying to fit God through the funnel of human understanding. Humans understand very little of God's creation that is all around us. Why think God should conform to our understanding? Regarding the "Vengeful God vs. Loving God", God is the originator of tough love.

 

[Railroad]

Well, zen me out, too, then because I've always been annoyed by that passage.

 

[Mikeinsmd]

Ok, not trying to pizz of the believers but I am really tired of the "My way or the highway" mentality of religeons.

Romans 9:14-24

14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!

15 For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." If I like you, you're golden, if not, you're eff'd

16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. The God who's gonna choose as he wishes

17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH." But I'm not gonna show or preach around the earth, only on this grain of sand here

18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. See #15 above

19 You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" Yea that!!

20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? Don't question me, just do what you're told or I'll burn your ass for eternity!

21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? Don't question me you lil ant!! Why would something so great & powerfull create & mess with ants??

22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? Good idea!! Mikey would start believing for one thing!

23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, See #17 above

24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.