Why do Christians deny there are contradictions in the bible even when shown examples?

Question

Who is the father of Joseph?
MAT 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

LUK 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.

Is Jesus equal to or lesser than?
JOH 10:30 I and my Father are one.

JOH 14:28 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.

Jesus' last words
Matt.27:46,50: "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?" ...Jesus, when he cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost."

Luke23:46: "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, "Father, unto thy hands I commend my spirit:" and having said thus, he gave up the ghost."

There are many more but I' ll stop here.

Answer 1

To answer your questions:

Who is the father of Joseph?

Jacob was the natural father of Joseph, Heli was actually his father-in-law, Mary's father. The discrepancy can be resolved by noting that the genealogies of Luke and Matthew diverge after David, Luke tracing the lineage of Jesus through his son Nathan (Luke 3:31), and Matthew tracing Jesus lineage through Solomon (Matt. 1:6,7). Luke evidently shows Jesus natural descent from David through Mary whereas Matthew traces Jesus legal right to the throne of David through Joseph his adoptive father.

Frederic Louis Godet wrote regarding these two genealogies: “This study of the text in detail leads us in this way to admit—1. That the genealogical register of Luke is that of Heli, the grandfather of Jesus; 2. That, this affiliation of Jesus by Heli being expressly opposed to His affiliation by Joseph, the document which he has preserved for us can be nothing else in his view than the genealogy of Jesus through Mary. But why does not Luke name Mary, and why pass immediately from Jesus to His grandfather? Ancient sentiment did not comport with the mention of the mother as the genealogical link. Among the Greeks a man was the son of his father, not of his mother; and among the Jews the adage was: ‘Genus matris non vocatur genus [“The descendant of the mother is not called (her) descendant”]’ (‘Baba bathra,’ 110, a).”—Commentary on Luke, 1981, p. 129.

So, present sociocultural traditions dictated that the genealogies be based on male lineage, even when the male was, in fact, only a son-in-law.

Is Jesus equal to God or lesser than?

Trinitarians often use John 10:30 to support that Jesus is God. However, this leads to much confusion when there is an attempt to reconcile this with the rest of the Bible. The explanation that the second scripture you referenced was Jesus speaking in a "human nature" is not supported by any scriptural citations and just leads to further confusion as to how he could be at once God and man, yet, be lesser than the father.

To understand the correct meaning of John 10:30, simply continue reading to John 17:20-23 where Jesus states, "20 'My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.'" (NIV) It should be noted that the Greek word (hen) translated here as "one" is the same as that found in John 10:30. It is clear that the meaning of Jesus statement is one of unity in purpose and thinking not oneness of being. Otherwise, we would have to assume that Jesus prayer at John 17:20-23 was for his disciples to become part of the trinity along with God and himself.

Support of this is found in Jesus’ own words at John 8:16-18 "16 But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me." (NIV) Here, Jesus quotes the mosaic law that two separate witnesses must be in agreement if a matter was to be viewed as truthful. He compares that to how he and his Father are two distinct witnesses that agree in their testimony.

In light of this, John 14:28 would be understood as it is plainly stated - that the Father is greater than the Son in every sense of the word. To support this notice some other scriptures:

John 1:18 - "No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." (KJV) How could John state that no one has seen God at any time and yet the entire Gospel details the life of Jesus while on earth - witnessed by countless individuals.

Mark 10:18 - "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone." (NIV)

Mark 13:32 - "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (NIV)

John 20:17 - "Jesus said, 'Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" (NIV)

These next two are written after Jesus ascended to heaven and would have been one with God Almighty if the Trinity were true:

1 Corinthians 11:3 - "Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God." (NIV)

1 Corinthians 15:24-28 - "Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." (NIV)

As the previous evidence indicates, the contradiction does not exist in the Bible but in doctrines not found within.

Jesus' Last Words

In this case, one can not say that there is a clear contradiction. Matthew does not explicitly state that the words "Eloi, Eloi,[a] lama sabachthani?" and only these were Jesus' "last words". In fact, after Matthew quotes Jesus here, he states that "And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, 'This man is calling for Elijah.' Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. But the rest of them said, 'Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.'" (NASB) Obviously enough time passed between Jesus' statement as recorded in Matthew and his crying out for the final time for one of the bystanders to offer him a sponge of sour wine. It is only after this that Matthew then records "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit." (NASB). Jesus' crying out again is surely the same as referred to by Luke which has the accompanying words "’Father, unto thy hands I commend my spirit:’ and having said thus, he gave up the ghost." Rather than contradicting each other, the Bible writers chose to focus on different elements of the event which can be used together complimentarily in order to get a clear picture of the episode in its entirety.

I hope that these explanations, if nothing else, help show that many alleged contradictions can be clarified with some support from secular sources and the Bible itself.

Answer 2

It is a fair question and the solution, as usual, lies within the problem. How does one talk about something as big or inconceivable as God? If Mattel toys could think would they wonder if a factory made them or if it really existed? The quick answer is either you believe or you do not. There is no evidence that can help you either way really. While no one can prove there is a God, there is certainly no one who can prove there is not. Most people I know who do not believe in God don't atten church or ask ministers or clergy, so how will they find out? I think the question you should ask is why do so many people bet their lives on this belief? It is one thing to believe you will get soda when you put a quarter in the machine. It is quite another to believe that your parachute will open when you are skydiving. On some things we bet our lives. And it is not like we have a choice in believing. All humans believe in something even if it is just that that they doubt. How strange that they do not acknowledge that they believe in the power of doubt. Also, Nothing is true unless truth be in it. And if there is a truth then there is the truth.
Also, ask knowledgeable people! Rest assured that those who believe in God have nothing to fear from the depths of understanding. The continued existence, not only of the belief in God but the Bible, point to a strength and longevity it could not have it it was just another book. For more specific answers to the some of the questions you wrote, I refer you to the study of the mystery of the Holy Trinity. God in three offices with none diminished by the presence of others. If you are having a hard time understanding, welcome to the club. Some of the greatest minds of our history have wrestled with this. The end result has come through centuries of debate and 7 councils. Consult with some ministers, pastors, reverends, or the internet on the subject. One last thing:the last thing a fish notices is the water.

Answer 3

Christians (and religious people in general) interpret life through their religious worldview. A typical Bible-is-inerrant Christian was usually either a) taught to be Christian from a very early age b) had a really bad life or emotional event and was able to turn it around / make it better by embracing religion. If it's the former, that Christian does not have the capability of doubting their beliefs, because they don't see them as beliefs to begin with. It's how they interpret the world. The indoctrinated Christian's beliefs are not one among many -- they are the context in which all other beliefs and knowledge are interpreted. Therefore, when presented with a piece of evidence that contradicts their worldview, they have two choices: 1) abandon their worldview 2) assume that the contradiction does not exist for some unknown reason (out of context, bad translation, lying heretic, etc...) Choice 1 is very hard for anyone to do, so most go with Choice 2. They'll say the quote is taken out of context, but won't usually take the time to actually investigate if that's true. For the other Christian who's religion is based on emotionally-important events, their faith is tied to powerful feelings of good, and to doubt it (to them) is to risk returning to the previous state of their lives in which this good does not exist. This fear is more than enough to push any doubts out of their mind. It should be noted that this critique applies to all beliefs based on emotion rather than facts -- including die-hard atheists who are atheists because (for example) they hate their Christian parents. In reality, belief in a supernatural power is done because people want to feel supernatural. I think it's funny that belief in god is rewarded with god-like immortality -- it says something about why we believe.

Answer 4

Let's work it out:

First:

Mt 27 Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, eli, lama sabachthani?"

Then after that, He cried out again with a loud voice, "Father, unto thy hands I commend my spirit:"

What's so hard about that one?

Second,

"I and the Father are one." ... you assume means that they are equal. Why would you make this assumption?

Yes, they are One. But so are me and my wife, in the biblical sense. So are we equal? Yes, but in what ways, and in what ways are we not?

Clearly we are different in some ways. Still in other ways we are alike. And yet in Christ I have more authority than she. Not only that, physically I have more strength.

Are we then NOT one, because we aren't equal in every way?

Third, what if I don't have an answer to this one...or what if you bring to me 100 so-called contradictions, and I can readily answer only 90 of them, but not the last 10. What does that mean?

The fact that you can manufacture more questions than I have time to seek out and write out for you convincing answers does not prove that these are unanswerable contradictions.

The fact that 2 out of 3 can be so easily refuted is a sign to me at least that you have not yourself given very serious consideration to the obvious, before dismissing the Bible as Divinely inspired.

My guess is that you want nothing to do with being held accountable to anyone other than yourself.

Understandable, but the apostle Paul understood something you ought to consider: (1Cor5:10) "For we must all appear before the jugdement seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good of bad.

Answer 5

Well the Bible was written by man and not God first of all. Was the Bible written by God? The only bible that supposedly does not have errors in it is the Jesuit Bible. Second grow up and if you are going to quote me make sure you don't add in your own swear words. If you want direct answers to your questions ask God since you are so holy. According to Christianity the Earth is 6000 years old? Tell me exactly where that says that in the bible and what bible. Well I'm a Christian but I go by Jewish texts not a religion based from a Roman Catholic point of view. If you read in the Bible we are worshiping the Living God, the God of Abraham and Jacob. He is the God of the Jews and will always favor them over every other race. If you are going to quote me again please please use copy and past. If you are going to insult me make sure to hurt my feelings also. Jim Darwin is a complete moron BTW which you are probably him.

Answer 6

I can see how people see contradictions. Einstein wasn't a Christian yet his beliefs seem contradictory. But when you have a complex belief, especially all nashing together stories written by different people, sure, it may seem contradictory in places. But you got to take it for the whole. Summation of the bible, treat others as you would yourself, love thy neighbor, etc. Don't look into the details trying to discount every word. Believe what you may. If you think people these days have more morals than Jesus, than I think you misunderstand the bible.

Answer 7

These are not contradictions... just misunderstandings.

Matthew's lineage of Jesus was taken from traditional Jewish custom. Joseph was Jesus'
guardian father was he not? So this is ok.

His real father is in heaven as Jesus is the son of God. Mark 1:1.

Answer 8

These are not contradictions, you just don't understand what you are reading. And I don't mean that to be insulting, but it is the truth.

You can read the words off the page, like you have done, or you can read with the spirit. Try the second sometime, it makes a lot more sense.

Answer 9

Jesus is both God and Man. He prayed to God like men, but forgave sins because he is God. He suffered like men, but cured the sick being God. He is God and Man, A perfect man who was humble by saying the father is greater than him, also he is God by saying that he is one with the father to whom he prayed to as a man. God Bless hope this Helps.

Answer 10

Why do people continually LOOK for contradictions in the Bible even after they are refuted...
here are many that have been explained..usually a bad translation or the person reading lacked understanding..
An example is your first question...Heli is not a man's proper name it is a description...Heli means an "Israelite"

look at my response here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsUOfFs0GwbGIRe1szjzgLfsy6IX?qid=20060615012055AADD4yo

Answer 11

Joseph was his human father( in a sense his step father who cared for his earthly needs), God was his true father( fufilled his Spiritual needs)