Bible Contradictions

by lamb_neo 27 Replies latest jw friends

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  Leolaia

  The bible does not contradict itself. The people who read and interpret it does!

  Or....Some people who read and interpret it adopt harmonizing interpretations that overlook contradictions that arise when 66 originally independent books are brought together into an anthology and treated as a single volume. These harmonizations are automatically preferred no matter the actual merits of the interpretation, even if it is less likely to represent the view of the author than the non-harmonizing perspective. Usually, if a harmonization is merely possible, this is taken as ipso facto proof that the contradiction does not exist.

  It is certainly true that some contradictions do not lie in the text and result from the way the text is interpreted. But most, if not all of them? I believe most instead are simply due to the ecclectic nature of the text itself.
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  googlemagoogle

  the bible does not contradict itself.
  
  skeptics often cite seemingly contradicting accounts, but when looking closer, these "contradictions" can be solved easily.
  
  one example skeptics often use is comparing scriptures like
  
  num.23:19, 1 sam.15:29, ezek.24:14, mal.3:6, jas.1:17
  
  that imply that god does not repent or change his mind to verses like
  
  gen.6:6, ex.32:14, dt.32:36, 1 sam.15:11, 1 sam.15:35, 2 sam.24:16, 1 chr.21:15, is.38:1-5, jer.15:6, jer.18:8, jer.26:3, jer.26:13, jer.26:19, jer.42:10, am.7:3, jon.3:10
  
  where god does repent. skeptics read the bible with an evil heart and with the motive to find errors. thus they can't understand the deeper meanings of such texts and the bible as a whole.
  
  a true believer with the right heart-condition can safely say that god's word, the holy bible, is factual and does not contradict even once in the slightest.
  
  googlemagoogle, born again bible judeochristian.
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  Leolaia

  skeptics read the bible with an evil heart and with the motive to find errors. thus they can't understand the deeper meanings of such texts and the bible as a whole.

  An evil heart? Does a literary critic have an evil heart when she compares the different views of morality between William Blake or John Stuart Mill, or different ideas on God between Thomas Carlyle and Alfred Tenneson? Or is it a love of the text and the ideas contained therein that she wants to take a text on its own terms and understand what it says vis-a-vis other ideas and perspectives of the time?

  It is when the "Bible" is treated as a single unitary work that natural differences between authors become "contradictions" within a single work. Harmonizing such texts can indeed produce new, "deeper" insights and readings that advance theology in new directions. The development of both Arian christology and trinitarian thought are good examples of this. But the endeavor of trying to understand each work on its own grounds and listening to what each individual author has to say is not "evil" or involves a fault-finding "motive". For many who do love the text, it's simply honoring, even celebrating, the diversity that is already there.
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  AlmostAtheist

  There are several places where the Bible describes the same event twice and gives different numbers (people in attendance, number of soldiers involved, number killed, etc), but it's hard to care about stuff like that. So what? It's easy to attribute such things to "scribal error" anyway.

  The bigger contradiction in my opinion is between the "loving" nature of God and the things he is reported to have done or authorized. For instance, how does a loving God tell the Israelites to kill women and children in order to let them take over the land? Or drown babies in the flood?

  Dave
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  googlemagoogle

  evil-minded skeptics and so-called "scholars" provide thousands of websites - one of those is www.skepticsannotatedbible.com - to destroy the weak believer's faith and drag them to satan, the devil.
  
  skepticism includes dismissing prophecies like the one in gen.15:13 that foretells israel to be 400 years in egypt by citing ex.12:40 and gal.3:17 where israel is said to have been in egypt for 430 years.
  
  verses like these have to be read using discernment. by intesive praying and the will to please the almighty and loving god, we can erase doubts and continue true worship.
  
  googlemagoogle, born again bible judeochristian
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  googlemagoogle

  how could someone believe that our most holy god would let a scribal error happen to his own word that he gave us, the holy bible?
  
  there are no errors in the holy bible, not even a scribal error. there are things our almighty god can't do: lie and err.
  
  skeptics try to poison our minds with sentimental approaches to stumble true believers. like: why did god drown babies and slaughter innocent people? or why did god punish all living beings only because the first humans ate a fruit?
  
  don't fool yourself - who are you to question our loving father? prayer, worship and theocratic activity will help you to stay on track.
  
  googlemagoogle, true born again bible christian
• 

  AlmostAtheist

  *sniff* *sniff*

  Is that sarcasm I smell?
• 

  kid-A

  "don't fool yourself - who are you to question our loving father? prayer, worship and theocratic activity will help you to stay on track."

  Dude, honestly, you need some professional help.
• 

  zen nudist

  how could someone believe that our most holy god would let a scribal error happen to his own word that he gave us, the holy bible?
  there are no errors in the holy bible, not even a scribal error. there are things our almighty god can't do: lie and err.
  skeptics try to poison our minds with sentimental approaches to stumble true believers. like: why did god drown babies and slaughter innocent people? or why did god punish all living beings only because the first humans ate a fruit?
  don't fool yourself - who are you to question our loving father? prayer, worship and theocratic activity will help you to stay on track.
  googlemagoogle, true born again bible christian

  hollowed are the ORI and blessed are all those who accept their ways.
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  googlemagoogle

  kid-a, i'll pray for your lost soul. maybe you can be spared if you change your ways.
  
  googlemagoogle, true bible believing christian