Biblical Contradictions

[Mister Emu]

I know that some of you beleive there are contradictions in the Bible, I would like for you to post them here.

 

[Druidus]

IN GENESIS are two contradictory stories of creation. In Genesis 1:20 & 21, "every living creature" is brought forth from the waters, including every winged fowl." But in 2:19 God brings forth "every beast of the field and every fowl of the air" from dry ground.
In Genesis 1:2, earth comes into existence on the first day, completely underwater. Only by the 3rd day were waters of the deep collected, and dry land formed. But in Genesis 2:4, 5, & 6, earth on the first day was dry land, unwatered.
The first story has trees made on the 3rd day and man formed 3 days later (1:12-13 and 26-31). In the second version man was made before trees (2:7, 9). If chapter 1 is true, then fowls were created before man. If chapter 2 is true, then they were created after man.
Version one teaches man was created after all beasts. The second is clear, Adam was created before beasts. (1:25,27 versus 2:7,19).
In version one, man and woman are created simultaneously (1:27) while in version two (2:7,20-22), man and woman are separate acts of creation.
.
IN GENESIS, the long discredited description of the heavens as a "firmament" is a fundamental contradiction in the Bible of the known realities of astronomy today. Biblical stars, sun and moon are all embedded "in" this firmament. (The meaning, during biblical times, of the word "firmament," was a "solid" body or orb, or the solid concentric domes holding the heavenly bodies ~ Webster's Third International Dictionary.) We are told there are waters below the firmament, and told waters are "above" it, too (1:7). Really!!

MATTHEW quotes Jesus (19:26), "with God all things are possible." Did Matthew or Jesus forget something? In the Book of Judges (1:19) God is not almighty, as he helped rid Judah of inhabitants of the mountain, but could not drive out those in the valley "because they had chariots of iron."
This God of miracles apparently can move the largest body in the solar system, the Sun (or at least stop planet earth), in order to prolong daylight for Joshua's military revenge (or to move the sun's shadow 10 degrees backward [2 Kings 20:10-11 or Isaiah 38:7- 8]). Yet this same mover of heavens is cowed by mere horses & buggies made of iron?
I wonder what would happen if God decided to attack a "modern" 1950 Buick?
Exodus 31:I7: Like a man, God rests and can be "refreshed." Isaiah scorns such contemptible weakness.
In 40:28 he insists God, creator of the "ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary." An infinite God cannot tire, nor needs to be - nor can be -- "refreshed."

GOD does not change. James 1:17 says God has "no variableness..." but then, in Jonah 3:10, God "repented" and changed his mind about smiting Nineveh's people. So what are we to think of assurances given in Numbers 23:19, which states, "God is not a man...neither the son of man, that he should repent." Yet this tireless omnipotent God himself volunteers the striking thought in Jeremiah 15:6, "I am weary with repenting."
How human that confession sounds by a presumably unchanging God who 'cannot weary' (as Isaiah wrote above), nor repent.
In Deuteronomy 4:24 "God is a consuming fire, but in John 4:1 "God is love." He's "the God of Peace" in Romans 15:33 but in Exodus 15:3, "the Lord is a man of war." (Called a "man" here? Yet not called a man in Numbers 23:19?)

ON THE PERMANENCY OF THE EARTH
"... the earth abideth for ever." -- Ecclesiastes 1:4

"... the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." -- 2Peter 3:10




ON SEEING GOD
"... I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." -- Genesis 32:30

"No man hath seen God at any time..."-- John 1:18




ON HUMAN SACRIFICE
"... Thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God..." -- Leviticus 18:21

[In Judges, though, the tale of Jephthah, who led the Israelites against the Ammonoites, is being told. Being fearful of defeat, this good religious man sought to guarantee victory by getting god firmly on his side. So he prayed to god] "... If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering" (Judges 11:30-31).

[The terms were acceptable to god -- remember, he is supposed to be omniscient and know the future -- so he gave victory to Jephthah, and the first whatsoever that greeted him upon his glorious return was his daughter, as god surely knew would happen, if god is god. True to his vow, the general made a human sacrifice of his only child to god!] -- Judges 11:29-34




ON THE POWER OF GOD
"... with God all things are possible." -- Matthew 19:26

"...The LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron." -- Judges 1:19




ON DEALING WITH PERSONAL INJURY
"...thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. " -- Exodus 21:23-25

"...ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." -- Matthew 5:39




ON CIRCUMCISION
"This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised." -- Genesis 17:10

"...if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing." -- Galatians 5:2




ON INCEST
"Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of this mother..." -- Deuteronomy 27:22

"And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter...it is a wicked thing...." -- Leviticus 20:17

[But what was god's reaction to Abraham, who married his sister -- his father's daughter?] See Genesis 20:11-12

"And God said unto Abraham, As for Sara thy wife...I bless her, and give thee a son also of her..." -- Genesis 17:15-16




ON TRUSTING GOD
"A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD..." -- Proverbs 12:2

Now consider the case of Job. After commissioning Satan to ruin Job financially and to slaughter his shepherds and children to win a petty bet with Satan. God asked Satan: "Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause." -- Job 2:3




ON THE HOLY LIFE-STYLE
"Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart..." -- Ecclesiastes 9:7

"...they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not..." -- 1 Corinthians 7:30




ON PUNISHING CRIME
"The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father..." -- Ezekiel 18:20

"I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation..." -- Exodus 20:5




ON TEMPTATION
"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." -- James 1:13

"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham..." -- Genesis 22:1




ON FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
"Honor thy father and thy mother..."-- Exodus 20:12

"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. " -- Luke 14:26




ON RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
"...he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. " -- Job 7:9

"...the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth...." -- John 5:28-29




ON THE END OF THE WORLD
"Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. " -- Matthew 16:28

"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. " -- Luke 21:32-33

"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." -- Romans 13:11-12

"Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." -- James 5:8

"Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time." -- 1 John 2:18

"But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." -- 1 Peter 4:7

These words were written between 1800 and 1900 years ago and were meant to warn and prepare the first Christians for the immediate end of the world. Some words are those supposedly straight out of the mouth of the "Son of God." The world did not end 1800 or 1900 years ago. All that generation passed away without any of the things foretold coming to pass. No amount of prayer brought it about; nor ever so much patience and belief and sober living. The world went on, as usual, indifferent to the spoutings of yet another batch of doomsday prophets with visions of messiahs dancing in their deluded brains. The world, by surviving, makes the above passages contradictions.

You asked for it! There were many more, but they probably all couldn't fit.

 

[linwood]

Is there enough storage space on this sites server?

 

[Mister Emu]

I will respond to these in turn. If it takes me a bit to get to them all, please understand

I'll start with the first paragraph.

Gen 2 takes place on the sixth day.

The first story has trees made on the 3rd day and man formed 3 days later (1:12-13 and 26-31). In the second version man was made before trees

Incorrect, it specifically says all the plants and herbs were there. They just weren't grown yet.

Gen 2:5

I took care of the rest in a discussion with Linwood,

Synopsis

1) Man was created after the animals.
2) The animals in the garden were more of already created animals
3) No where in Gen 1 does it say they were created at the same time.

IN GENESIS, the long discredited description of the heavens as a "firmament" is a fundamental contradiction in the Bible of the known realities of astronomy today. Biblical stars, sun and moon are all embedded "in" this firmament. (The meaning, during biblical times, of the word "firmament," was a "solid" body or orb, or the solid concentric domes holding the heavenly bodies ~ Webster's Third International Dictionary.) We are told there are waters below the firmament, and told waters are "above" it, too (1:7). Really!!

If someone mis-interpretted the Bible it is not God's fault. Has anyone ever seen the edges of the universe?

 

[linwood]

I took care of the rest in a discussion with Linwood,

Well I heard your reasoning but I don`t agree with it as it seems like Biblical gymnastics to me.
I just dropped it because I figured it was yet another interpretation we couldn`t come to an agreement on so there was no sense in continuing.

 

[Mister Emu]

"but could not drive out those in the valley "because they had chariots of iron."

Wrong, Judah could not drive them out. If God wanted him to win that battle, he would have.

 

[Mister Emu]

Well I heard your reasoning but I don`t agree with it as it seems like Biblical gymnastics to me.
I just dropped it because I figured it was yet another interpretation we couldn`t come to an agreement on so there was no sense in continuing.

I gave a perfectly viable interpretation, that is all that matters

 

[Pah]

Wrong, Judah could not drive them out. If God wanted him to win that battle, he would have.

19 And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.

-pah-

 

[Mister Emu]

I have read it pah.

Your interpretation is that the Lord stays with him, my view is that the Lord does not, because if God was with him then nothing could have stood in his way, not modern day tanks, much less chariots of iron.

 

[Feathers in Hair]

Something that I've always been curious about, what about the two conflicting creation stories?

 

[Mister Emu]

Something that I've always been curious about, what about the two conflicting creation stories?

I suppose you are reffering to genesis chapters 1 & 2?

They do not conflict. Genesis chp. 2 is on the sixth day

 

[Pah]

I have read it pah.

Your interpretation is that the Lord stays with him, my view is that the Lord does not, because if God was with him then nothing could have stood in his way, not modern day tanks, much less chariots of iron.

You have nothing to substantiate that view. He certainly could not stop two airplanes on 9/11 in this nation "under God". Did he leave then too? Jerry and Pat seemed to think so.


Judges 1:4 And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand:
Judges 1:22 And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them.
Exodus 33:2 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:
Exodus 34:11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

It seems God was very active.

-pah-

 

[Feathers in Hair]

I suppose you are reffering to genesis chapters 1 & 2?

They do not conflict. Genesis chp. 2 is on the sixth day

Thanks for answering! I'd have to check, but I don't think that's what I'm referring to. Let me do some research, and I'll update the question.

 

[Feathers in Hair]

Thanks for answering! I'd have to check, but I don't think that's what I'm referring to. Let me do some research, and I'll update the question.

I was wrong, that was exactly what I was referring to! My apologies!

What I meant by asking the question, is one reads Genesis 1.1 to 2.2, it conflicts more than slightly with Genesis 2:4 to 2:25. The former says that creation happened in seven days, whereas the latter infers it took only one. ("These [are] the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens..."). Genesis 1:20 also elaborates on how God had "the waters bring forth ...fowl". This is as opposed to in Genesis 2:19 in which God formed them "out of the ground".

Also, what about Sophia, or Gods' aspect of Divine Female Wisdom?

 

[Mister Emu]

("These [are] the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens...").

Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation. At the time when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens

NAB.

Genesis 1:20 also elaborates on how God had "the waters bring forth ...fowl". This is as opposed to in Genesis 2:19 in which God formed them "out of the ground".

As I have said before I believe that the majority of Gen. Chp. 2 is on the sixth day. It is my view that God brought forth more birds and animals from the ground.

Also, what about Sophia, or Gods' aspect of Divine Female Wisdom?

I have never heard of this, could you elaborate.

 

[Feathers in Hair]

I have never heard of this, could you elaborate.

I get the impression that the early Christians took certain verses in Proverbs, namely (KJV) Proverbs 8:22-31, to imply that that God had created a female aspect whom he gave the attributes of Divine Wisdom.

8:22 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

8:23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

8:24 When [there were] no depths, I was brought forth; when [there were] no fountains abounding with water.

8:25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:

8:26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.

8:27 When he prepared the heavens, I [was] there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:

8:28 When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:

8:29 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

8:30 Then I was by him, [as] one brought up [with him]: and I was daily [his] delight, rejoicing always before him;

8:31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights [were] with the sons of men.

These passages were later attributed to Jesus, the opening verses of The Gospel According to John being an adaptation of this. So, instead of Sophia being the wisdom & voice of god, or Logos, the word, these qualites were given to Jesus, who never claimed these things for himself. (This is if one sees John 3:16-18 as obviously not having been spoken by him, unless he'd suddenly decided that speaking in the third person was in vogue.)

I have no problem with the deification of Jesus, obviously. But I wonder why the early Christians decided that they needed to meld a wondeful female aspect of the Divine with him, when he seems incredible enough unto himself.

 

[Pah]

I get the impression that the early Christians took certain verses in Proverbs, namely (KJV) Proverbs 8:22-31, to imply that that God had created a female aspect whom he gave the attributes of Divine Wisdom.



These passages were later attributed to Jesus, the opening verses of The Gospel According to John being an adaptation of this. So, instead of Sophia being the wisdom & voice of god, or Logos, the word, these qualites were given to Jesus, who never claimed these things for himself. (This is if one sees John 3:16-18 as obviously not having been spoken by him, unless he'd suddenly decided that speaking in the third person was in vogue.)

I have no problem with the deification of Jesus, obviously. But I wonder why the early Christians decided that they needed to meld a wondeful female aspect of the Divine with him, when he seems incredible enough unto himself.

I also understand that in Genesis there is a mixing of male/female words but I can't for the life of me remember which one.

-pah-

 

[Ardhanariswar]

http://home.freeuk.net/jesusmyth/page9.htm

"In addition to the genealogies, problems abound in the story of Jesus' birth. Luke 2:5 says that Joseph and Mary were only engaged as they travelled to Bethlehem, but Matt has Joseph being called her husband and Mary referred to as his wife, before the birth in 1:19 and 1:20. Moreover, the virgin birth of Jesus appears to be unknown in certain parts of Luke, e.g., both Joseph and Mary are referred to as Jesus' 'parents' in 2:27,41,43, and 'his father and his mother' in 2:33. In Luke 2:48 when Mary speaks to Jesus, she refers to Joseph as his 'father'. As so often occurred, when the text disagreed with later church teaching, Luke 2:43 has been amended by a copyist resulting in some MSS having not 'parents' but 'Joseph and his mother' when referring to Jesus.
It should not pass unnoticed that one ancient MSS has in Matt 1:16 'Jacob begat Joseph; Joseph to whom was espoused Mary the virgin, begat Jesus, who is called the Christ', making Joseph the natural father of Jesus."

"
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[Mister Emu]

Good lord Gerani, did you have to make the page so big?

problems abound in the story of Jesus' birth. Luke 2:5 says that Joseph and Mary were only engaged as they travelled to Bethlehem, but Matt has Joseph being called her husband and Mary referred to as his wife, before the birth in 1:19 and 1:20

Actually the greek word that KJV translates as husband can also be translated as a betrothed or future husband. Mat. 1:20 the word translated as wife can also be a betrothed woman or a woman of any age, whether virgin, married, or widowed.

 

[Melody]

You have nothing to substantiate that view. He certainly could not stop two airplanes on 9/11 in this nation "under God". Did he leave then too? Jerry and Pat seemed to think so.

God "doesn't leave" but humans do lose their faith.

You're making the assumption that God wanted to stop the two airplanes. Perhaps there is a greater good here....one we have difficulty seeing because we're only human and can't see the big picture.