Why, after almost 2,000 years of writing and rewriting, are there still too many basic contradictions?

Question

Christian religions?

From a Catholic point of view, Jesus sits at the right hand of God, but he is part of the Trinity that is God. How can he sit spearately from God if he is God? Does God have a right hand? Why should god be sitting, does he have human form like the Greek gods?

Answer 1

Must be something lost in all the translations - the writes, and rewrites, ya reckon???

Answer 2

The trinity was made up long after the new testament was written, and then an attempt was made by church fathers to insert it in the dogma like it had always been there. They needed a way to deifiy Jesus, but remain monotheistic.

Most Christians will try to explain it by saying that there's one God with 3 aspects... but why only 3 aspects, or why not just one aspect? And why pray to Jesus? Why not just pray to the overgod? And did the Father and the Holy Spirit die when Jesus died? If not, doesn't this suggest three seperate beings?

Here's another one to ask trinitarians: "I'm human, you're human. Does this mean we are the same being? A being called humanity?

Answer 3

You have answered your own question.
The trinity is God in three seperate forms yet having the same divinity in themselves. Why do you want God to be standing all the time? How does that make you feel better about him?

As far as writing re-writting:

We have more than 14,000 manuscripts and fragments of the Old Testament of three main types: (a) approximately 10,000 from the Cairo Geniza (storeroom) find of 1897, dating back as far as about AD. 800; (b) about 190 from the Dead Sea Scrolls find of 1947-1955, the oldest dating back to 250-200 B.C.; and (c) at least 4,314 assorted other copies. The short time between the original Old Testament manuscripts (completed around 400 B.C.) and the first extensive copies (about 250 B.C.) — coupled with the more than 14,000 copies that have been discovered — ensures the trustworthiness of the Old Testament text. The earliest quoted verses (Num. 6:24-26) date from 800-700 B.C.



The same is true of the New Testament text. The abundance of textual witnesses is amazing. We possess over 5,300 manuscripts or portions of the (Greek) New Testament — almost 800 copied before A.D. 1000. The time between the original composition and our earliest copies is an unbelievably short 60 years or so. The overwhelming bibliographic reliability of the Bible is clearly evident.



The eyewitness document test (“E”), sometimes referred to as the internal test, focuses on the eyewitness credentials of the authors. The Old and New Testament authors were eyewitnesses of — or interviewed eyewitnesses of — the majority of the events they described. Moses participated in and was an eyewitness of the remarkable events of the Egyptian captivity, the Exodus, the forty years in the desert, and Israel’s final encampment before entering the Promised Land. These events he chronicled in the first five books of the Old Testament.



The New Testament writers had the same eyewitness authenticity. Luke, who wrote the Books of Luke and Acts, says that he gathered eyewitness testimony and “carefully investigated everything” (Luke 1:1-3). Peter reminded his readers that the disciples “were eyewitnesses of [Jesus’] majesty” and “did not follow cleverly invented stories” (2 Pet. 1:16). Truly, the Bible affirms the eyewitness credibility of its writers.



The external evidence test looks outside the texts themselves to ascertain the historical reliability of the historical events, geographical locations, and cultural consistency of the biblical texts. Unlike writings from other world religions which make no historical references or which fabricate histories, the Bible refers to historical events and assumes its historical accuracy. The Bible is not only the inspired Word of God, it is also a history book — and the historical assertions it makes have been proven time and again.



Many of the events, people, places, and customs in the New Testament are confirmed by secular historians who were almost contemporaries with New Testament writers. Secular historians like the Jewish Josephus (before A.D. 100), the Roman Tacitus (around A.D. 120), the Roman Suetonius (A.D. 110), and the Roman governor Pliny Secundus (A.D. 100-110) make direct reference to Jesus or affirm one or more historical New Testament references. Early church leaders such as Irenaeus, Tertullian, Julius Africanus, and Clement of Rome — all writing before A.D. 250 — shed light on New Testament historical accuracy. Even skeptical historians agree that the New Testament is a remarkable historical document. Hence, it is clear that there is strong external evidence to support the Bible’s manuscript reliability.

Answer 4

Because when the phrase "sitting a the right hand of the father" was written the Trinity was not yet a Christian doctrine. That happened about 200 years later.

Answer 5

"Sitting at the right hand of.." is an idiom describing the power of God. Only way we can begin to understand or relate to God is through His Son Jesus Christ. This idiom is from the Hebrew text. It simply means that we understand God through Jesus, because Jesus is the only way we can communicate our worship to Him (Jesus paid the penalty for our sins so we can communicate with God), He also is the personification and our perspective on the power of the Trinity.

Answer 6

Yah, we'll go with that. Jesus is spiritually god, but there's also the body. But since when can the BODY of Jesus be in heaven? aren't there only supposed to be spiritual things in heaven? So maybe Jesus is literally his right hand, rather than sitting at it.

The small stuff and semantics isn't what is going to (nor is it what should) disprove Christianity.

Answer 7

Everything is all relative to what our tiny human minds can comprehend. Seeing god as manlike (in that he has a gender, can sit, etc.) is just easier than comprehending the vastness of him.

That said...CATHOLIC? We could have a whole library dedicated to Catholic contradictions.

Answer 8

We were created in the image of God, so we know that we favor him somewhat. As for the other questions, if I knew them I would be God:) Some things are best left unanswered, it adds to his wonderful mystery.

Answer 9

It's a matter of faith and that's what I have in the Bible. You don't sound like you want to believe and you're trying to find reasons not to believe. I just know that it's true and anything that I don't understand in this life, I will understand perfectly in the afterlife.

Answer 10

If you're referring to the bible, it's probably because 90% of it is imaginative storytelling. You're not meant to live and base your entire life upon it.
If you're just referring to the different religions and beliefs, it's because we were born with the right to choose what we want to believe in. We're all different, and we all have different perspectives.