# Biblical Contradictions



## atlashunter (Mar 23, 2011)

I'm branching this off of the justice thread. The topic of whether or not the bible contains contradictions has come up numerous times. I just came across this and wanted to share. It's a visual representation of some biblical contradictions with the contradiction and relevant scriptures noted. Click on the pdf link to see the version large enough to read.







http://www.project-reason.org/bibleContra_big.pdf


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## ambush80 (Mar 23, 2011)

Gotta admit it, Atheists make fancy graphics.


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## dawg2 (Mar 23, 2011)

My wife is contradictory, she must not be real.  LOL


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## atlashunter (Mar 23, 2011)

dawg2 said:


> My wife is contradictory, she must not be real.  LOL



Real but not inerrant. Don't let her know that though.


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## dawg2 (Mar 23, 2011)

atlashunter said:


> Real but not inerrant. Don't let her know that though.



I always let her know.  I usually laugh, but she fails to find the humor


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## atlashunter (Mar 23, 2011)

dawg2 said:


> I always let her know.  I usually laugh, but she fails to find the humor



I can relate!


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## 1gr8bldr (Mar 23, 2011)

Somebody spent alot of time putting that together. I scanned over it.


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## dawg2 (Mar 23, 2011)

1gr8bldr said:


> Somebody spent alot of time putting that together. I scanned over it.



You have to zoom in at 500% to see the text.  They should do an analysis of our Constitution and reality.  I bet it would crash a server.


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## 1gr8bldr (Mar 23, 2011)

dawg2 said:


> You have to zoom in at 500% to see the text.  They should do an analysis of our Constitution and reality.  I bet it would crash a server.



heheI don't even know what a server is


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## CAL (Mar 23, 2011)

dawg2 said:


> I always let her know.  I usually laugh, but she fails to find the humor



yep,yep,yep, and ya next avatar ain't gonna have no teefe in it!!!!!!


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## drippin' rock (Mar 31, 2011)

I tend to see condradictions in the Bible as well.... I guess the best question for that is--- Do these discrepancies errode the message, or should they just be overlooked?  Is there a way to explain these contradictions?  They [condradictions] would seem to be a stumbling block for new believers, so if the Bible is the definitive Word of God, shouldn't there be less unanswerable questions?


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## vowell462 (Apr 1, 2011)

I just have to butt in....Drippin Rock, that is a GREAT  quote in your sig line.


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## drippin' rock (Apr 2, 2011)

Thanks, bro.  My grandaddy was my hero.


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## Grey Man (Apr 14, 2011)

drippin' rock said:


> I tend to see condradictions in the Bible as well.... I guess the best question for that is--- Do these discrepancies errode the message, or should they just be overlooked?



Good question. I think the answer varies from person to person. Personally I think that if your faith is in the bible, you're in trouble. It's a book, and it has contradictions. My faith is not in the book, though the book informs my faith tremendously. If that makes sense.


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## 1gr8bldr (Apr 15, 2011)

Grey Man said:


> Good question. I think the answer varies from person to person. Personally I think that if your faith is in the bible, you're in trouble. It's a book, and it has contradictions. My faith is not in the book, though the book informs my faith tremendously. If that makes sense.


Hello Grey Man, Same here


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## Six million dollar ham (Apr 15, 2011)

Here's one-
James 2:10 - For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all

Acts 16:31 - ...believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...

One says you can struggle all you like to attain the impossible goal of perfection and if (when) you screw up....




Forever.

The other says just believe and you're cool.


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## stringmusic (Apr 18, 2011)

Six million dollar ham said:


> Here's one-
> James 2:10 - For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all
> 
> Acts 16:31 - ...believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...
> ...


I'm not seeing where James 2:10 says something about obtaining anything. I see it saying, even one single sin misses the mark of perfection. Acts 16:31, believe and have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and that one sin, or that million sins, will not keep one apart from the Holy God.


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## Six million dollar ham (Apr 18, 2011)

stringmusic said:


> I'm not seeing where James 2:10 says something about obtaining anything. I see it saying, even one single sin misses the mark of perfection. Acts 16:31, believe and have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and that one sin, or that million sins, will not keep one apart from the Holy God.



Funny because I didn't say that.  I mentioned attaining,i.e., achieving.  In this case it's the impossible task of perfection.  The part of the verse in reference is the one about keeping the _whole _law.  Do you keep the whole law?


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## stringmusic (Apr 18, 2011)

Six million dollar ham said:


> Funny because I didn't say that.  I mentioned attaining,i.e., achieving.  In this case it's the impossible task of perfection.  The part of the verse in reference is the one about keeping the _whole _law.  Do you keep the whole law?



No I do not keep the whole law, however, Jesus Christ does.


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## DavidB (Apr 20, 2011)

There is no contradiction between James 2:10 and Acts 16:31.
James is simply saying that if you break any of the law you are as guilty as one who has broken all of them. Another words the punishment is the same. But what law is he referring to? The Mosaic law. That which was given to Moses by God to present to the people.

In Acts 16:31 Paul was asked just prior by the jailer "what must I do to be saved". Verse 31 was Paul's response. The next verse says " Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all of the others in his house". 
So what was that "word of the Lord". It wasn't the law, but the Gospel of Jesus. That is to say, the commandments which  Jesus spoke during the Sermon on the mount. This is found in the book of Matthew chapters 5-7.

In John14:23 Jesus said " If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching".

In 1John 2:3-6 John says, "We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says " I know him", but does not keep what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 

Finally Jesus says in Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Profits; I  have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them".

So it would appear to me that the verses quoted do not contradict but rather compliment one another.

There are a lot of apparent contradictions in life.  The term jumbo shrimp appears to be a contradiction. We usually refer to it as an oxymoron.  I assure you that to the salad shrimp the jumbo shrimp is a big boy. However, when taken out of its context, it appears to be a contradiction. Swamp gas is often identified by people as a UFO. Is that the swamp gases fault? I don't think so. 

Saying something contradicts something else presupposes that the one claiming the contradiction understand the context of those things in the first place. One should keep that in mind.


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## Six million dollar ham (Apr 21, 2011)

stringmusic said:


> No I do not keep the whole law, however, Jesus Christ does.



According to James 2:10, this will be you:


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## stringmusic (Apr 21, 2011)

Six million dollar ham said:


> According to James 2:10, this will be you:



If not for Jesus Christ, that might be true.


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## stringmusic (Apr 21, 2011)

Six million dollar ham said:


> According to James 2:10, this will be you:



Did you by any chance read DavidB's post? It was pretty good.


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## atlashunter (Apr 22, 2011)

stringmusic said:


> If not for Jesus Christ, that might be true.



Not according to Matthew. He has Jesus saying in chapter 5 that not one jot or tittle of the law will change until heaven and earth pass and that you won't enter heaven unless you are more righteous than the pharisees.


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## DavidB (Apr 23, 2011)

atlashunter said:


> Not according to Matthew. He has Jesus saying in chapter 5 that not one jot or tittle of the law will change until heaven and earth pass and that you won't enter heaven unless you are more righteous than the pharisees.



That is true. And every person who does not receive Jesus as Lord and Savior and lives by His commands as put forth in Matthew Chapters 5-7 will be judged by the Law. Those who receive Him and do so will not. That is the point in a nutshell.


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## atlashunter (Apr 23, 2011)

Where does he say that David?


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## DavidB (Apr 23, 2011)

Well one place is in Romans 3:19-26
(NIV)
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world be held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather through the law we become conscious of sin.

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Profits testify.This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.There is no difference, for  all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished- he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies the man who has faith in Jesus.


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## atlashunter (Apr 23, 2011)

Are those the words of Jesus or someone else?


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## DavidB (Apr 24, 2011)

Well, now that you ask, no they aren't the words of Jesus. The book of Romans was written by Paul. Didn't you know that, or did you think I didn't? You know it's amazing to me that you and others love to criticize, make fun of and otherwise deride those who have faith in the Bible and what is written within. Most of the time it is quite apparent that you haven't a clue about that which you would pretend to be an authority on.  I pity you. It's like you are poor of spirit and pass by a gold mine every day on your way to collect cans by the side of the road.

Too bad Murry Rothbard didn't have a similar statement you could quote about those who are ignorant about the Word of God!


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## bullethead (Apr 24, 2011)

Well it IS the A/A/A forum. If we wanted to constantly praise the bible and use it to give meaning to our every day lives we would be in another forum don't you think?

There is lots of fools gold in those mines too.


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## atlashunter (Apr 24, 2011)

DavidB said:


> Well, now that you ask, no they aren't the words of Jesus. The book of Romans was written by Paul. Didn't you know that, or did you think I didn't? You know it's amazing to me that you and others love to criticize, make fun of and otherwise deride those who have faith in the Bible and what is written within. Most of the time it is quite apparent that you haven't a clue about that which you would pretend to be an authority on.  I pity you. It's like you are poor of spirit and pass by a gold mine every day on your way to collect cans by the side of the road.
> 
> Too bad Murry Rothbard didn't have a similar statement you could quote about those who are ignorant about the Word of God!



You responded to my point about what Matthew has Jesus saying with something that would contradict what he said according to Matthew. I asked you where HE said it and your response was with something Paul said.

So what we have are books written by two different authors saying two different things. According to Matthew 5:19, Paul would be called the least in the kingdom of heaven for his teachings.

If you are going to get sour when a contradiction is pointed out in the bible it's probably best that you avoid threads titled Biblical Contradictions.


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## atlashunter (Apr 24, 2011)

bullethead said:


> There is lots of fools gold in those mines too.



Yep. And some folks sit on piles of it crowing about how rich they are for what they've found and how they pity those too ignorant to see what they have. There are only so many ways to say "You've been duped.".


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## DavidB (Apr 24, 2011)

bullethead said:


> Well it IS the A/A/A forum. If we wanted to constantly praise the bible and use it to give meaning to our every day lives we would be in another forum don't you think?
> 
> There is lots of fools gold in those mines too.



Missing the point seems to be a habit with you Bullethead. I am not asking nor expecting you to praise the Bible, just pointing out that if a person decides to criticize something, he could at least know something about that which he is criticizing. That person being the one I was answering, by the way. Seems pretty clear, don't you think?


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## bullethead (Apr 24, 2011)

I think Atlas is WELL versed. I don't think you understand his angle. I got the point spot on, I am not sure you do.


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