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Bible Contradictions

My Top Ten FavoriteBy Doug Krueger

Ten Contradictions

1. Jesus Lied to the High Priest

2. What Must We Do to be Saved?

3. Can You Divorce and Remarry?

4. God Can’t Count Sons5. The Mary Magdalene

Problem

6. Will God Always Be There for You?

7. The Josiah Problem8. David and the

Showbread9. Jesus’ First

Conversions10. Was Jesus God?


During his hearing before the high priest, Jesus says, "I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing." John 18:20, NKJ

Two Claims

1. Jesus always taught in the synagogues and in the temple, and

2. Jesus shared all of his teachings with his public audiences; he never kept important parts of his teachings a secret.

Always?• Jesus states, "I always taught in synagogues and in the temple.”• The word in John 18:20 being translated as "always" is the

Greek word "pantoteh." This Greek word at John 18:20 it has Strong's Greek number 3842. (Strong's list is the standard, scholarly reference list of Hebrew and Greek words from the Bible.)

• This word is a combination of “pas,” meaning “all” or “every,” and “hoteh,” meaning “when” or “while.”

• Here is what Strong's Greek dictionary says that this word, #3842, means in Greek:Definition: 1) at all times, always, ever.

Preached Other Places TooOn a mountainside:Matthew 5:1-2: Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His

disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying…

On a boat (Matthew 13:1-35)Matthew 13:1-3: That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds

gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying…

On a plain:Luke 6:17-18: He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples

was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.

And in houses too:Luke 5:18-19): Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to

lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

Jesus claimed, “In secret I have said nothing.”Mark 4:2-12: He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: "Listen! A

farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

“When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, "`they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'“ [Here Jesus quotes parts of Isaiah 6:9-10]

Another Occasion• Matthew 13:34-52:

34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world."[Psalm 78:2] 36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field." 37 He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one…

51 "Have you understood all these things?" Jesus asked. "Yes," they replied.

So Jesus did teach in secret.

So Jesus is Depicted as Lying• So Jesus lied that he:

1. always taught in the synagogues and in the temple, and

2. shared all of his teachings with his public audiences.

• New Testament scholars will explain this as the collision of two different and incompatible traditions about Jesus.

• But Biblical inerrantists are stuck with the clear depiction of Jesus lying to the high priest.

A Contradiction

• Proverbs 6:17-19 tells us that God hates a lying tongue and a false witness. So lying is evil.

• If Jesus is God, and God cannot do evil (Ps. 18:30: “As for God, His way is perfect…”), then Jesus cannot do evil. Jesus was either God or he lied, but not both.

• The Bible says that Jesus was God and he lied, so here the Bible contains a contradiction.

Mark 16:16: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

Not just he who believeth, but he who believeth AND is baptized shall be saved.

John 3:5: “...except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

1 Peter 3:21: “...this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also...”

So it would seem that to be saved one must believe and be baptized.


St. Paul Disagrees• Romans 10:9-10:– 9”…the word of faith we are

proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

– 10”For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

Jesus is Lord.

God raised Jesus from the dead.

Faith Alone is Enough

• Some verses are quite clear that we are saved by faith alone.– Gal. 2:16: “…a man is not justified by the works of the law,

but by the faith of Jesus Christ...not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified"

– Romans 3:20: "a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."

Faith Alone is Not EnoughBut the New Testament also says we are NOT

saved by faith alone.In Matthew 7:21, Jesus says: "Not everyone that saith

unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

James 2:17: "faith by itself, if it not accompanied by action, is dead."

James 2:20: "faith without deeds is useless." James 2:24: "You see that a person is justified by what

he does and not by faith alone.” Romans 2:13: "not the hearers of the law are just before

God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.”

What About Women?1 Tim. 2:15: “…women will be saved through

childbearing—…if they continue in faith, love and

holiness with propriety.” So a woman must not only have faith, she must

conduct herself well, with love and holiness, and she must bear a child in order to be saved.

Childbirth a necessary condition for a woman to be saved. Together, these four qualities are sufficient conditions.

And baptism for women? Not required. Doing “works”? Is that part of “holiness”? Not

explained.

The Bible is all over the place, contradicting

itself regarding the

requirements for salvation.

• Mark 10:9-12: “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder…Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.” Luke 16:18 reiterates this rule.

• So you cannot divorce. This is why the Catholic Church doesn’t allow divorce, only annulment.


Yes, You Can Divorce• Other Christian denominations cite Matthew

19:9 to allow divorce: – “And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away

his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery; and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.”

• So divorce is permitted, apparently, if the cause is “fornication.”

Yet Another View

• 1 Corinthians 7:10-11: “And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord: Let not the wife depart from her husband: but and if she depart, let her remain unmarried.”

• And Romans 7:2-3: “For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress.”

• So divorce is permitted, but not remarriage? Until the husband is dead?

Old Testament on Divorce• Some Christian denominations allow divorce and

remarriage based on Deuteronomy 24:1-2: – “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come

to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife.”

• How can we know the Biblical position on divorce and remarriage?

• The Bible is hopelessly contradictory about whether one can divorce and remarry.

4. God Can’t Count SonsJust when Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac, he is stopped by an angel of the Lord. The angel, speaking for God, says to him:

Genesis 22:12: "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

“…you have not withheld from me” shows that the angel is speaking for God.

“Your Only Son”?God refers to Isaac as Abraham's "only son" several times in Genesis chapter 22.

2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.“

15 “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—

But wait a second…• Note Genesis 16, six chapters earlier:

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

[Abram is Abraham, recall.]

• Isaac was not born until five chapters later, when Ishmael would have been 13 years old. Genesis 21:1 Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised.2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.

• So Isaac was not Abraham’s only son. Oops…

5. The Mary Magdalene Problem• Mary Magdalene in the synoptic gospels goes to the tomb

of Jesus. (Eg., Matthew 28:1 -10)• She sees an angel or angels at the tomb, heard him or

them announce the resurrection of Jesus.• She actually encountered Jesus and worshiped him as she

was running from the tomb to tell the disciples what had happened.

• In John's gospel, however, Mary Magdalene is presented as having found the tomb empty, after which she ran to Peter and the disciple "whom Jesus loved" and told them that the body had been stolen.

Two Incompatible Versions

• Mary Magdalene and another Mary are the ONLY two women mentioned in Matthew's version.– Suddenly Jesus met THEM and said,

"Greetings!" And THEY came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to THEM, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

• So Jesus meeting “them” means Jesus met Mary Magdalene.

I Met the Resurrected Jesus! But His Body Has Been Stolen!??

• But then in John 20 Mary Magdalene did not meet Jesus before talking to the apostles:– Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to

the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

• If the resurrected Jesus met Mary, she would not be in a panic about where Jesus’ dead body is located.

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Psalm 145:18-20 says:

The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.

Deuteronomy 31:6 says:

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Never Means Never. Right?• God will NEVER forsake his followers. Never. In the first

book of Joshua, God tells Joshua the same thing:

Joshua 1:5: There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

• Hebrews 13:5 repeats that God does not forsake people:

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Except Sometimes People Are Forsaken• Matthew says (KJV): 27:46 “And about

the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

• Mark says (KJV): 15:34 “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi,Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

7. The Josiah Problem

• When King Josiah of Judah was warned that God was angry at him and his nation, he and his people:– Swore to keep God’s covenant (2 Kings 23:3). – Got rid of the idolatrous priests (2 Kings 23:5).– Destroyed or defiled places of worship of other

gods (2 Kings 23:8-15).– Held the Passover better than anyone (2 Kings

23:21-22).

Very Pious

• The Bible says that never before or since has there been any king who “turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses” (2 Kings 23:25).

• 2 Chronicles 34:33 tells us that Josiah had all his subjects swear loyalty to God, and that the people followed god without fail for the rest of Josiah's life.

They Never Failed to Follow the Lord

2 Chronicles:34:32-33:"Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to it; the people of Jerusalem did this in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.“Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel serve the LORD their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the LORD, the God of their fathers."

God PromisesJeremiah 18:7-8:

"If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.“

God threatened Josiah’s kingdom, but the people repented of their evil and then “did not fail to follow the LORD.”

So God should have spared them, right?

But…

• Despite all this, God still decided to destroy Josiah and the nation of Judah anyway because of the things which Josiah’s grandfather, Manasseh, had done.

• 2 Kings 23:26 "Nevertheless, the LORD did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke him to anger."

Just for Completeness

• Note too that God violated his rule in Deuteronomy 24:16:– Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor

children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.

• And Ezekiel 18:19-20:– The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not

share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.

8. David and the Showbread• When Jesus and his cronies were caught plucking grain on the

Sabbath, which seemed unlawful, the Pharisees questioned Jesus, and Jesus defended his actions in this way:

• Mark 224The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" 25He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." 27Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

David Gave Bread to His Companions?Let’s Look at the Story

• In 1 Samuel, Saul is trying to kill David. • At one point, David hides in a field alone, awaiting word to see

whether it is safe to attend a banquet or whether he should make a run for it.

• Saul’s son Jonathan was supposed to tell David how things stood (1 Sam. 20 1-23).

• Jonathan gives David the news that Saul is intent on killing David (v. 39), and after a tearful farewell, Jonathan returns home while David starts running for his life.

• That is the end of 1 Samuel, chapter twenty. • Chapter twenty-one picks up with David on the run alone.• David goes to the place called Nob, and to the priest there.

David Lies• 1 Samuel:

1 David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he met him, and asked, "Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?" 2 David answered Ahimelech the priest, "The king charged me with a certain matter and said to me, 'No one is to know anything about your mission and your instructions.' As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find."

The Lie Worked. But It’s a Lie.• David was alone, not with his companions, as Jesus stated. • When David meets with Ahimelech, David lies and states

that he and some men are on a mission for the king in order to be able to get the sacred bread.

• Since the king, Saul, was trying to kill David and not send him on a mission, it is clear that David is lying to try to get supplies.

• The lie works, and he gets the bread and a weapon (which is Goliath’s old sword).

• Jesus did not read his Bible carefully. He thought David was telling the truth.

9. Jesus’ First ConversionsWere Simon Peter and Andrew converted before or after John the Baptist was imprisoned?

• Mark 1:14-18 say they were converted after John the Baptist was imprisoned.

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.15 "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" 16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

18 At once they left their nets and followed him.

But Another Version of the Story• John 1:40-42 and 3:22-24 show it was before John the

Baptist was imprisoned.

1:40 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter.)

And Two Chapters Later:

Later, in John 3:22-24, we see this:

22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized.23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.)

A Clear Contradiction

• So does the bible tell us that Simon Peter and Andrew were converted?

Yes.• Does the bible also tell us about this conversion

within a time frame in relation to the imprisonment of John the Baptist?

Yes.• Can the Bible then show me which event preceded

the other without contradiction?No.

10. Was Jesus God?

• In John 10:30 Jesus says "I and my father are one.“

• This is taken to mean that Jesus IS God.

• God and Jesus are the same one being.

However…

• Leibniz’s Law: If two things are identical, then they must have all properties in common.

Not the Same

”Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.” John 14:28

“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the father.” Mark 13:32

How Can God Have a God?

• “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them. I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” John 20:17

• Clearly, this verse says that Jesus is not God.

Ten Contradictions




4. God Can’t Count Sons5. The Mary Magdalene

Problem


7. The Josiah Problem8. David and the

Showbread9. Jesus’ First

Conversions10. Was Jesus God?