The Problem of the Bible: Inaccuracies, contradictions, fallacies, scientific issues and more.

sooda said:

I have no idea what you are talking about. The Akkadian script has been around since 2800 BC.

King Omri built most of the stuff attributed to Solomon.

Isaiah lived in 165 AD during the Maccabean Revolt.

There were TWO Nazareths.

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Where do you get all your rubbish from, do you just make it up, or does some demon enter your brain while you sleep.

Josephus the Historians records all the towns and cities in Galilee and make no mention of Nazareth, which is thought to have been no more than a zealot commune.

The Anointed said:

Where do you get all your rubbish from, do you just make it up, or does some demon enter your brain while you sleep.

Josephus the Historians records all the towns and cities in Galilee and make no mention of Nazareth, which is thought to have been no more than a zealot commune.

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I was thinking two Bethlehems… not two Nazareths.

sooda said:

I was thinking two Bethlehems… not two Nazareths.

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Correct! There were to Bethlehems, and it was in the area around the Bethlehem of Galilee, which town is now called 'Beitlaham' which is only a few kilometres fro Nazareth that the children two years and below were ordered to be slaughtered by Herod the Great, who died in 4 B.C. two year after the birth of Jesus.

MJFlores said:

Just reading from the book

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Yes, I was taken back by that statement. It's confusing - like most of the bible.
Reading about Ruth today - she was 'unclean' as a Moabite - Jews couldn't
intermarry with them. Yet she's on the ancestral line to Jesus.
And the word 'virgin' includes married women. There's tons of this stuff.

The Anointed said:

Correct! There were to Bethlehems, and it was in the area around the Bethlehem of Galilee, which town is now called 'Beitlaham' which is only a few kilometres fro Nazareth that the children two years and below were ordered to be slaughtered by Herod the Great, who died in 4 B.C. two year after the birth of Jesus.

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This is new to me. But the context of the Christmas story is Bethlehem where David
was. There's a similar one with Jesus born of a 'virgin' - the context is a young woman
who is betrothed and chaste. Context is everything.

The Anointed said:

Correct! There were to Bethlehems, and it was in the area around the Bethlehem of Galilee, which town is now called 'Beitlaham' which is only a few kilometres fro Nazareth that the children two years and below were ordered to be slaughtered by Herod the Great, who died in 4 B.C. two year after the birth of Jesus.

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Didn't happen.. Herod didn't kill all the boy babies under two.

Mary didn't travel 90 miles on the back of a donkey if her baby was due to be born.

sooda said:

Didn't happen.. Herod didn't kill all the boy babies under two.

Mary didn't travel 90 miles on the back of a donkey if her baby was due to be born.

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I love the CERTAINTY of these things.
Why wouldn't Herod kill all the babies? He killed his own children.
If I lived back then in a kill or be killed world, and I knew a contender
to my dynasty was born in a certain area, I would do a clean sweep
of the area. No big deal.
Josephus did not record this infanticide. I suspect there's a
reason: Josephus was a Pharisee, and Jesus was hated by the
Pharisees. Josephus did not want to give Christianity oxygen.
But I think he did refer to Christians didn't he? Can't remember.
It's as if this new group sprang out of the vacuum. And Josephus
mentioned John the Baptist.

As for Mary on donkey - we don't know the situation.

PruePhillip said:

I love the CERTAINTY of these things.
Why wouldn't Herod kill all the babies? He killed his own children.
If I lived back then in a kill or be killed world, and I knew a contender
to my dynasty was born in a certain area, I would do a clean sweep
of the area. No big deal.
Josephus did not record this infanticide. I suspect there's a
reason: Josephus was a Pharisee, and Jesus was hated by the
Pharisees. Josephus did not want to give Christianity oxygen.
But I think he did refer to Christians didn't he? Can't remember.
It's as if this new group sprang out of the vacuum. And Josephus
mentioned John the Baptist.

As for Mary on donkey - we don't know the situation.

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There were at least two messiah's befrbe Jesus and a couple after him in the 1sr century. I'll have to look them up. Mary either walked 90 miles or she rode a donkey..... Or she went to the Bethlehem near Jerusalem.

sooda said:

There were at least two messiah's befrbe Jesus and a couple after him in the 1sr century. I'll have to look them up. Mary either walked 90 miles or she rode a donkey..... Or she went to the Bethlehem near Jerusalem.

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There were possibly hundreds of messiahs. The trick for the Jews was
to understand WHICH was the messiah. A bit like that Life of Brian movie.
Jesus claim to the title rested upon his miracles - the Jews did acknowledge
this but resisted the man because he wouldn't compromise with them.
Jesus was famous throughout the Levant, beyond Israel's borders. He
didn't come to glorify himself. He fulfilled what Redemption Messianism
(did I invent a new term?) said of him. The last of the great Old Testament
prophets declared him to the people. He came while the temple still stood,
he was crucified as scripture says, he was believed upon by the Gentiles
and his people were exiled for not knowing the time of their visitation.

PruePhillip said:

Torah and at least some of the Psalms were written in the ancient Akkadian
script - unknown to Babylonian era scribes.

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The Akkadian script was the official administrative language of Babylon (and thus its scribes) during the period you're referring to.

Baladas said:

The Akkadian script was the official administrative language of Babylon (and thus its scribes) during the period you're referring to.

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Really, so how did these scribes get the translations wrong? There
are errors in Deuteronomy and the Psalms. Stuff that didn't make
sense because a translator/copyist didn't know Akkadian.

And alternatively, is there one of those anti-biblical circular arguments
here, ie Akkadian was the text of the Torah, we know Akkadian was
used in Babylon/Greek era because here's the Torah.

PruePhillip said:

Really, so how did these scribes get the translations wrong? There
are errors in Deuteronomy and the Psalms. Stuff that didn't make
sense because a translator/copyist didn't know Akkadian.

And alternatively, is there one of those anti-biblical circular arguments
here, ie Akkadian was the text of the Torah, we know Akkadian was
used in Babylon/Greek era because here's the Torah.

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Thousands of examples of Akkadian cuneiform have been recovered from this era on everything from daily affairs (such as marriages, tax records, etc) to official royal decrees.

Cylinders of Nabonidus - Wikipedia
Cyrus Cylinder - Wikipedia

We even know of a wealthy landowning family who had their own archives dating to this era:

House of Egibi - Wikipedia

I'm not really sure why you are arguing this point so hard.
I wasn't even attacking your scriptures.

james dixon said:

The Problem of the Bible: Inaccuracies, contradictions, fallacies, scientific issues and more.

I think you misunderstand what the Old and New Testaments are all about. The King James version of the bible is a collection of sixty-six (66) books written by different authors covering different periods of biblical history and God’s interactions with the Israelite people.

One can believe parts of it and not others.

It’s up to the reader to glen what one can from it.

At least that is how I see it; what about you?


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Late Material or Editing in Genesis Rebuttal of Evidence

Genesis 11:28 "Ur of Chaldeans." Chaldeans did not come into use until the Neo-Babylonian period, 6th century BC This is a later scribal addition

Genesis 14:14 the city of Dan is mentioned. This city was called Laish until the time of the Judges when the tribe of Dan took the city (Judges 18:29). This is a later scribal addition

Genesis 36:31 "And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel" (KJV) This was written when there were kings in Israel. This is a later scribal addition

Genesis 10 The Table of Nations: many cities named did not exist at the time of Abraham. Verse 2 "Magog" first appears in Late Assyrian Texts. Verse 11 Nineveh is not known until it was made the capitol of the Assyrian Empire by Sennacherib. Before this was Calah. Verse 14 the Philistines are mentioned who did not come to Canaan until 1200 BC. This is a later scribal addition

Genesis 21:32,34 "Land of the Philistines" Abraham makes a treaty with the Philistines who did not come to Canaan until 1200 BC. This is a later scribal addition, or there were small number of Philistines who came earlier, but there is no evidence of this.

Genesis 21: 22 "Beersheba" This city did not exist until Iron Age I (1200-1000 BC).

IBSS - Biblical Archaeology - Date of Genesis

I feel sorry for those who believe in the literal truth of the Bible.

mistoftime said:

I feel sorry for those who believe in the literal truth of the Bible.

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Me too.. I just wonder how the authors made so many mistakes. Its written as if it had been hacked and amended willy nilly over and over again.

PruePhillip said:

You can't say something "never happened" - you were not there. Not having evidence
doesn't mean something is not true.
No-one says the Jews made pyramids. They built cities. Everyone had slaves, including
Egypt.
It's a quick journey to Canaan but the bible tells us why this didn't happen.
The Jews spent at least 38 of the 40 years in settlements or temporary shelter, ie Kadesh.
And yes, fear of Egyptians altered their journey.
Hope this helps.

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There is no pasture or water in Sinai to support 2 million people and their herds.

MJFlores said:

Yes seen it before commenting
It is an oasis today

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Post some photos of Kadesh and tell me if you think it could support 2 million people and their herds.

PruePhillip said:

Just one --- I am tired.
Isaiah lived prior to and during the Babylonian times, I understand.
After the first return (Edict of Cyrus, return of captives to their countries)
we have books like Ezra and Nehemia. But about this time the scripture
became canon - and no further book were permitted. Just as is the case
with the New Testament. Not even Maccabees is really accepted.

To date Isaiah at some ludicrously late date defies logic to me. If we are
going to date Isaiah on the basis of prophecy (?) I suggest we date him
for the 20th Century because he writes of a "second return" to Israel -
when the Jews hadn't been in captivity the first time.

And Isaiah's writings are utterly resplendent with Messianic texts, both
the King and the Redeemer. Isaiah's suffering Redeemer gives you the
impression he was looking back on Jesus' ministry and crucifixion.

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Isaiah was writing about King Uzziah.

Uzziah's reign was 52 years in the middle of the 8th century BCE, and Isaiah must have begun his ministry a few years before Uzziah's death, probably in the 740s BCE. Isaiah lived until the fourteenth year of Hezekiah's reign (who died 698 BCE )

I'd ask for the big (alleged) 'contradiction' that says Jesus wasn't resurrected? Just your best one (1 only for now) and not a myriad of allegations.

Let's see that bad boy.