Jesus Contradictions

Rational Agnostic · May 5, 2019

John 8:14: "If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid."
John 5:31: "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid."

John 7:7: "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil."
John 15:19: "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

John 15:12: "My command is this: love each other as I have loved you."
Luke 14:26: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple."

John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Matthew 10:34: "Think not that I come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."

Matthew 10:5: "These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel."
Matthew 28:19: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations."

Matthew 5:16: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Matthew 6:1: "Take care not to do your good deeds publicly or before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward with and from your Father who is in heaven."

PoetPhilosopher · May 5, 2019

Yeah. I once came across a website with thousands of these apparent contradictions listed.

Rival · May 5, 2019

Hubert Farnsworth said:
Matthew 5:16: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Matthew 6:1: "Take care not to do your good deeds publicly or before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward with and from your Father who is in heaven."

I am not a Christian by any means and will not defend or speak for the others, but these two are not contradictory. One is saying be good, i.e., show don't tell your religion, actions speak louder than words; and the second is telling you not to do good things in-front of people in order to big yourself up to be seen as a good person to boost your ego.

Brickjectivity · May 5, 2019

Hubert Farnsworth said:
John 8:14: "If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid."
John 5:31: "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid."

John 7:7: "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil."
John 15:19: "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

John 15:12: "My command is this: love each other as I have loved you."
Luke 14:26: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple."

John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Matthew 10:34: "Think not that I come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."

Matthew 10:5: "These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel."
Matthew 28:19: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations."

Matthew 5:16: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Matthew 6:1: "Take care not to do your good deeds publicly or before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward with and from your Father who is in heaven."

Wow these are great and demonstrate some things like not taking just one thing he says and running away with it.

74x12 · May 5, 2019

Hubert Farnsworth said:
John 7:7: "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil."
John 15:19: "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

Clearly, they weren't taken from the world yet in John 7:7. If you look closely you'll see he's addressing two distinct groups of people in each case. In John 7 he is speaking to his brothers who are not yet "taken out of the world". It even says that his brothers did not really believe yet. But in John 15 He is talking to His closest disciples.

Hubert Farnsworth said:
John 15:12: "My command is this: love each other as I have loved you."
Luke 14:26: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple."

Duh, Jesus doesn't want you to literally hate anyone. He means as in compared for your love/devotion to God you should "hate" your family. You're not even trying.

Hubert Farnsworth said:
John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Matthew 10:34: "Think not that I come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."

Jesus leaves inner peace with His followers; but the earth will be filled with confusion/violence as some people accept and others reject the gospel.

Hubert Farnsworth said:
Matthew 10:5: "These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel."
Matthew 28:19: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations."

It's obvious that after the resurrection Jesus brings in the new Testament by His own blood. They were to proclaim the new Testament to the gentiles. In Matthew 10, they were still in the old Testament. That's why Jesus tells them to go only to the house of Israel.

Hubert Farnsworth said:
Matthew 5:16: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Matthew 6:1: "Take care not to do your good deeds publicly or before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward with and from your Father who is in heaven."

It's all about the motivation. To do it for recognition or self glorification is bad; but if your motive is selfless love then it's good. Because you're setting a good example. That would be the same as if you said parents are proud for doing the right thing in front of their children because they are "showing off". No, they aren't showing off. They're teaching their children.

So, if you do it out of pride it's bad; but if your motivation is truly to teach others to be good; then it's good.

PoetPhilosopher · May 5, 2019

Brickjectivity said:
Wow these are great and demonstrate some things like not taking just one thing he says and running away with it.

Yeah. I tried to follow the Bible closely for awhile. The beliefs got really complicated when I surrounded myself with people well-versed on the Bible. If you asked them "Are people who die in heaven now?" prepare for a long description.

ACEofALLaces · May 5, 2019

As far as I am concerned, Jesus himself is a 'contradiction'.
However regarding your contradiction list...I am sure the apologists will find some way to refute them as being incorrect interpretations, or meant something else, or, or, or......

Twilight Hue · May 5, 2019

That's the problem with being a Fundamentalist. You really and honestly don't see any contradictions although there are essentially tons to be found in the Bible unless something happens enough for you wake up and smell the coffee one day.

Brickjectivity · May 5, 2019

AT-AT said:
Yeah. I tried to be a Bible fundamentalist for awhile myself.

That is impressive. I never worked that hard on it and was simply ushered through various stages of learning by circumstances and the people I met. I feel sorry for you. It must have been like chewing bolts.

wizanda · May 5, 2019

Firstly John is made up on purpose as an IQ test.... So well spotted it is meant to be contradictory; end of Matthew 28 is made up as well.

Hubert Farnsworth said:
Matthew 5:16:
Matthew 6:1:

That does seem a contradiction, yet is merely saying don't do good deeds simply to be seen by others for ego; instead do it for the glory of God.

In my opinion.

PoetPhilosopher · May 5, 2019

Brickjectivity said:
That is impressive. I never worked that hard on it and was simply ushered through various stages of learning by circumstances and the people I met. I feel sorry for you. It must have been like chewing bolts.

It did give me a new perspective on life later on though, even if in a different way.

Skwim · May 5, 2019

Hubert Farnsworth said:
John 8:14: "If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid."
John 5:31: "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid."

John 7:7: "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil."
John 15:19: "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

John 15:12: "My command is this: love each other as I have loved you."
Luke 14:26: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple."

John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Matthew 10:34: "Think not that I come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."

Matthew 10:5: "These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel."
Matthew 28:19: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations."

Matthew 5:16: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Matthew 6:1: "Take care not to do your good deeds publicly or before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward with and from your Father who is in heaven."

Okay. Bring on the Christian tap dancers. .......................................... OOPS, I see some of them are already here.

.

Augustus · May 5, 2019

Don't really see why fundies and (some) atheists get so excited by contradictions seeing as the people who wrote the Bible obviously didn't find them in any way problematic. If they had done, they wouldn't be there for people to get excited about.

Terry Sampson · May 5, 2019

Hubert,

Hope you don't mind me asking you a question, but my curiosity has got the best of me this morning.

Imagine, if you can and will, the possibility that I or someone else passing through or by Religion Forums could rationally, reasonably, and amicably go through each of the contradictions that you posted, and any other troubling scripture that you find in any book of the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, AND explain the contradictions and troubling scriptures away.

Mind you, I'm not offering to try to answer your questions about what you find in the Bible. And, just between you and me, I really don't care what your theological worldview is.

So here's my question: Can you imagine that, after all your concerns are addressed and your questions are answered, you'd go to a safe and private place without any witnesses and acknowledge (a) that Jesus of Nazareth is alive and well somewhere in the universe today, and (b) that he's looking forward to meeting you, face to face someday, at your leisure???

Do you think that's a possibility, assuming that all your scriptural concerns and questions are resolved?

1213 · May 6, 2019

Hubert Farnsworth said:
John 8:14: "If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid."
John 5:31: "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid."
...

Every book can be made look contradictory by irrational cut pasting. I think it doesn’t prove anything.

Rational Agnostic · May 7, 2019

1213 said:
Every book can be made look contradictory by irrational cut pasting. I think it doesn’t prove anything.

Wow, that was the weakest attempt at a rebuttal I've ever seen.

Rational Agnostic · May 7, 2019

Terry Sampson said:
Hubert,

Hope you don't mind me asking you a question, but my curiosity has got the best of me this morning.

Imagine, if you can and will, the possibility that I or someone else passing through or by Religion Forums could rationally, reasonably, and amicably go through each of the contradictions that you posted, and any other troubling scripture that you find in any book of the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, AND explain the contradictions and troubling scriptures away.

Mind you, I'm not offering to try to answer your questions about what you find in the Bible. And, just between you and me, I really don't care what your theological worldview is.

So here's my question: Can you imagine that, after all your concerns are addressed and your questions are answered, you'd go to a safe and private place without any witnesses and acknowledge (a) that Jesus of Nazareth is alive and well somewhere in the universe today, and (b) that he's looking forward to meeting you, face to face someday, at your leisure???

Do you think that's a possibility, assuming that all your scriptural concerns and questions are resolved?

I'm agnostic, so of course I'm still open minded. But the level of evidence necessary to convince me that the claims of Christianity are true is quite high. It is not enough to "resolve" the contradictions in the bible (although I believe they are unresolvable). If theoretically they were resolved, Christianity could still be false. We would need clear, unambiguous evidence to justify a belief.

Rational Agnostic · May 7, 2019

Augustus said:
Don't really see why fundies and (some) atheists get so excited by contradictions seeing as the people who wrote the Bible obviously didn't find them in any way problematic. If they had done, they wouldn't be there for people to get excited about.

Uh, you realize that the "people who wrote the Bible" didn't all sit down together and write it, correct? The bible is a compilation of a bunch of religious writings, and most of the authors never knew each other, nor even knew what other books would end up in the bible.

Rational Agnostic · May 7, 2019

74x12 said:
Clearly, they weren't taken from the world yet in John 7:7. If you look closely you'll see he's addressing two distinct groups of people in each case. In John 7 he is speaking to his brothers who are not yet "taken out of the world". It even says that his brothers did not really believe yet. But in John 15 He is talking to His closest disciples.

Duh, Jesus doesn't want you to literally hate anyone. He means as in compared for your love/devotion to God you should "hate" your family. You're not even trying.

Jesus leaves inner peace with His followers; but the earth will be filled with confusion/violence as some people accept and others reject the gospel.

It's obvious that after the resurrection Jesus brings in the new Testament by His own blood. They were to proclaim the new Testament to the gentiles. In Matthew 10, they were still in the old Testament. That's why Jesus tells them to go only to the house of Israel.

It's all about the motivation. To do it for recognition or self glorification is bad; but if your motive is selfless love then it's good. Because you're setting a good example. That would be the same as if you said parents are proud for doing the right thing in front of their children because they are "showing off". No, they aren't showing off. They're teaching their children.

So, if you do it out of pride it's bad; but if your motivation is truly to teach others to be good; then it's good.

I think that's a lot of rationalizing to try to make the verses say something other than what they actually say. In reality they are contradictory.

Rational Agnostic · May 7, 2019

AT-AT said:
Yeah. I once came across a website with thousands of these apparent contradictions listed.

Yes, but some are not actual contradictions, since they may tell different stories and yet not be mutually exclusive. However, the ones I listed, as best as I can tell, ARE mutually exclusive.

Jesus Contradictions

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