Godless (40 page)
Mark 15:25 “And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.”
versus
John 19:14-15 “And about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out… crucify him.”
It is an
ad hoc
defense to claim that there are two methods of reckoning time here. It has never been shown that this is the case.
ad hoc
defense to claim that there are two methods of reckoning time here. It has never been shown that this is the case.
I Peter 2:13 “Submit yourself to every ordinance of man…to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors.”
Matthew 22:21 “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s.”
See also Romans 13:1, 7 and Titus 3:1.
versus
Acts 5:29 “We ought to obey God rather then men.”
Genesis 6:19 “And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark.”
Genesis 7:8-9 “Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth. There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.”
Genesis 7:15 “And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.”
versus
Genesis 7:2 “Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.”
Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
versus
Genesis 2:18, 23 “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him… And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
Genesis 1:12-31 “And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind:… And the evening and the morning were the third day… And God said, Let us make man in our image… And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
versus
Genesis 2:5-9 “And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground… And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground… And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food.”
II Samuel 6:23 “Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.”
versus
II Samuel 21:8 “But the king took the two sons of Rizpah…and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul.”
I Kings 4:26 “And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.”
versus
II Chronicles 9:25 “And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.”
Acts 9:7 “And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.”
versus
Acts 22:9 “And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.”
See Chapter 14 for a deeper analysis of this contradiction.
Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?”
Matthew 19:26 “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
versus
Judges 1:19 “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.”
I Timothy 6:15-16 “…the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach…”
James 1:17 “…the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
John 12:35 “Then Jesus saith unto them,… he that walketh in darkness knoweth not wither he goeth.”
Job 18:18 “He [the wicked] shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.”
Daniel 2:22 “He [God] knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.”
See also Psalm 143:3, II Corinthians 6:14 and Hebrews 12:18-22.
versus
I Kings 8:12 “Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.” (Repeated in II Chronicles 6:1)
II Samuel 22:12 “And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies.”
Psalm 18:11 “He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.”
Psalm 97:1-2 “The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice…clouds and darkness are round about him.”
Deuteronomy 12:31 “Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.”
versus
Genesis 22:2 “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”
Exodus 22:29 “For thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors; the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.”
Judges 11:30-39 “And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hand, 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. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon… and the Lord delivered them into his hands… And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed.”
II Samuel 21:8-14 “But the king [David] took the two sons of Rizpah… and the five sons of Michal…and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest… And after that God was intreated for the land.”
Hebrews 10:10-12 “…we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ… But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.”
I Corinthians 5:7 “…For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.”
Matthew 1:16 “And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus.”
versus
Luke 3:23 “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli.”
The above list is a very small portion of the thousands of biblical discrepancies that have been catalogued by scholars. See Chapter 15 and Chapter 16 for additional discrepancies specific to the birth narratives and resurrection of Jesus. All of these contradictions have been carefully studied, and when necessary the original languages have been consulted. Although it is always important to consider the original languages, why should that be necessary with the “word of God?” A respectable deity should have made his crucial message unmistakably clear to everyone, everywhere, at all times, in all languages. No one should have to learn a dead tongue to understand God’s message, especially an ancient language about which there is scholarly disagreement. If the English translation is flawed or imprecise, then God failed to get his point across to English speakers. A true fundamentalist should consider the English version of the bible to be just as inerrant as the original because if we admit that human error was possible in the translation, then it was equally possible in the original writing. (Some fundamentalists do assert that the King James Version is perfect. One preacher reportedly said, “If the King James Version was good enough for the Apostle Paul, then it’s good enough for me.”)
While examining these contradictions, be aware of the fact that some modern translations have dishonestly changed the meaning of words to make the discrepancies disappear. (See Chapter 14 for a specific example.) I am using the King James Version not because I think it is the best English translation, but because it tends to be honest in portraying these discrepancies at face value—more honest than some of the later translations that try to paper them over. It is a good idea to consult a number of versions for comparison, especially if you don’t read the Hebrew or Greek.
Why should it surprise us that the bible is contradictory? Pick up any newspaper and you will find contradictions. You can probably find one in this book, and the same person wrote all the chapters. (Of course, I am not claiming divine inspiration.) The bible was written by dozens of authors with diverse agendas, most of whom did not know each other, over hundreds of years. They were human beings. Human beings make mistakes. The bible does contain some truth, but no honest person can pretend it is a perfect book. Combined with the exaggerations, scientific inaccuracies, borrowings from pagan sources, evidence of tampering and clearly irrelevant passages aimed at bygone, primitive, superstitious people, the contradictions underscore the fact that, on balance, the bible is not a reliable source of truth.
Chapter Fourteen
Understanding Discrepancy
In the 9th chapter of Acts, Luke tells the story of the conversion of Saul, saying that “the men which journeyed with him stood speechless,
hearing a voice,
but seeing no man.” (Acts 9:7, emphasis mine.) In the 22nd chapter of the same book, Luke quotes Paul’s own words regarding the same experience: “And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they
heard not the voice
of him that spake to me.” (Acts 22:9, emphasis mine.) There is an apparent contradiction here: Luke says “hearing a voice” but Paul says “they heard not the voice.” If the translation is correct, then Luke has made a mistake.
hearing a voice,
but seeing no man.” (Acts 9:7, emphasis mine.) In the 22nd chapter of the same book, Luke quotes Paul’s own words regarding the same experience: “And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they
heard not the voice
of him that spake to me.” (Acts 22:9, emphasis mine.) There is an apparent contradiction here: Luke says “hearing a voice” but Paul says “they heard not the voice.” If the translation is correct, then Luke has made a mistake.
There are two approaches that defenders of the bible have used to try to clear up this discrepancy. The first claims that “hear” should be translated as “understand” in Acts 22:9, meaning that although the men heard the voice, they did not
hear
(understand) the voice. The second defense claims that the word “voice” should really be translated as “sound” in Acts 9:7, meaning that the men heard
something
, but did not know it was a voice.
hear
(understand) the voice. The second defense claims that the word “voice” should really be translated as “sound” in Acts 9:7, meaning that the men heard
something
, but did not know it was a voice.
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