Are There Contradictions, Errors and Inconsistencies in the Bible?

The Bible has withstood the test of time. Luther’s Bible (1534). Image courtesy of Torsten Schleese.

Joel Kontinen

British writer Paul Philips sees contradictions, errors and inconsistencies in the Bible. He believes that the church is very reluctant to disclose this and “apologists of sorts are well-funded and have huge networks... including mainstream media sources with their lies and cover ups.”

I wonder where he gets this information, as the mainstream media tend to publish various kinds of challenges to the Bible.

Mr. Philips is not a theologian and some of his views resemble those of other new age advocates, who embrace an alternate view of the world.

Recently, he listed ten ways in which the Bible cannot be taken at face value. As far as I know, all of them have been addressed elsewhere.

Several arguments deal with God’s character, some with our conduct. Not a single one of them is a real contradiction:

· God was pleased with the initial creation (Genesis 1:31) but displeased with sin (Gen. 6:6).

· He loves peace (Romans 15:33) but punishes sinners (Exodus 15:3).

·We should do good deeds (Matthew 5:16) but we should not make a public show of our good deeds (Matt. 6:3-4).

·God is all-powerful (Jeremiah 32:27, Matt. 19:26), but the Israelites could not defeat the Canaanites (Judges 1:19). This is no contradiction at all since the Israelites were not all-powerful.

· Other examples include Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew and Luke that have different ancestors. There is no contradiction, however, as one of them follows Jesus’ earthly ancestors through Joseph’s lineage and the other through Mary’s.

Source:

Philips, Paul A. 2014. Bible Contradictions, Errors and Inconsistencies. Ezinearticles.com

“God Was Never on a Cross as the Spirit Cannot Be Killed”, Sceptic Claims

The cross is a source of hope.

Joel Kontinen

Norma Holt is an Australian author who believes that at an early stage, Christianity became corrupted and that Emperor Constantine established the Roman Catholic Church in AD 325.

In a recent article, she claims:

“God was never on a cross and everyone who ever lived is now back in their bodies because of reincarnation. That is why there is massive overpopulation. This was promised in Daniel 12:13 and elsewhere in the Old Testament. The Spirit is separating its people from the idols and false gods and there is a great falling away from traditional religions as it happens.”

Ms. Holt asserts that a spirit (that she always writes with a capital S) disclosed the conspiracy led by Constantine in the early church. She sees her mission as urging people to return to real Christianity.

I’m a bit sceptical about this “spirit”.

Holt believes that Christianity is not as unique as the followers of Christ assume but has actually borrowed many of its elements from pre-Christian religions and ideologies.

How credible is this? Not credible at all. It reminds me of fact-free Darwinian storytelling. Christ’s empty tomb caused sceptics to invent a conspiracy theory, and since then sceptics have come up with a number of stories that attempt to explain why Jesus could not have risen from the dead.

There was no time for legends to be concocted since the Apostle Paul wrote his first letters within 20 years after the resurrection. All the evidence suggests strongly that the gospels were eyewitness accounts of the events in Jesus’ life.

Early historians tend to agree.

What about the claim that a spirit cannot be killed? Jesus was both God and man. As a human being, He could and did die, but as God He was immortal. Ms. Holt has ignored this very pertinent distinction.

Source:

Holt, Norma. 2014. God Was Never on a Cross As The Spirit Cannot Be Killed. Ezine articles.