The Bible is not a reliable guide to Christ’s teachings. Mark, the oldest of the Gospels, was written at least 30 years after Christ’s death, and the newest of them might have been written more than 200 years after his death. These texts have been amended, translated, and re-translated so often that it’s extremely difficult to gauge the accuracy of current editions—even aside from the matter of the accuracy of texts written decades or centuries after the death of their subject. This is such a problem that the Jesus Seminar, a colloquium of over 200 Protestant Gospel scholars mostly employed at religious colleges and seminaries, undertook in 1985 a multi-year investigation into the historicity of the statements and deeds attributed to Jesus in the New Testament. They concluded that only 18% of the statements and 16% of the deeds attributed to Jesus had a high likelihood of being historically accurate. So, in a very real sense fundamentalists—who claim to believe in the literal truth of the Bible—are not followers of Jesus Christ; rather, they are followers of those who, decades or centuries later, put words in his mouth.
19. The Bible, Christianity’s basic text, is riddled with contradictions. There are a number of glaring contradictions in the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, and including some within the same books. A few examples:
". . . God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man."
(James:1:13)
"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham."
(Genesis 22:1)
". . . for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever."
(Jeremiah 3:12)
"Ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn forever. Thus saith the Lord."
(Jeremiah 17:4)
"If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true."
(John 5:31, J.C. speaking)
"I am one that bear witness of myself . . ."
(John 8:18, J.C. speaking)
and last but not least:
"I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."
(Genesis 32:30)
"No man hath seen God at any time."
(John 1:18)
"And I [God] will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts . . ."
(Exodus 33:23)
Christian apologists typically attempt to explain away such contradictions by claiming that the fault lies in the translation, and that there were no contradictions in the original text. It’s difficult to see how this could be so, given how direct many biblical contradictions are; but even if these Christian apologetics held water, it would follow that every part of the Bible should be as suspect as the contradictory sections, thus reinforcing the previous point: that the Bible is not a reliable guide to Christ’s words.
2006-09-02 15:27:29 · 26 answers · asked by Hashiman S 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Hashiman S
Level 1
Read this!!! and make a Reaction!!!?
I would say: Hashiman S, is a Level 1, with no signs of progressing.
Bummer.
.
2006-09-02 15:36:48 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
My reaction, I disagree. All the Gospels were written within a period of 30 years or so from the crucifixion. Evidence to that is what is written in the text, and also what is left out. The Gospels talk about the temple as still standing, which was destroyed in 70 AD. There was the Jewish revolt in 68 AD. James, the brother of Jesus, and the head priest of Jerusalem, was killed in 64 AD. None of the important events were mentioned in the Gospels. Why? They hadn't occurred yet.
The earliest manuscripts we have found show that today's translations are nearly 100% correct, despite what your cut and paste heresy says. There are no contradictions in the Bible, but you have to read them in the context where they are found. And no reputable Christian apologist ever used the excuses you gave. I suggest you read the Bible, and not the lies that are corrupting your mind.
2006-09-02 15:45:41 · answer #2 · answered by ted.nardo 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Actually, the LAST book to be written was written in 96 A.D. by the Apostle John of Patmos. This is not the same John of "Matthew, Mark, Luke and John" but another elderly man who received a vision and wrote it down for the churches in the Middle East. So, we know for a fact that the lastest was written in 96 A.D., thanks for trying to mess with people's heads tho!
#1 - Actually James 1:13 reads: When under trial, let no one say; "I am beind tried by God." For with evil things God cannot be tried nor does he himself try anyone.
And God didn't try individuals, he used satan's to do that work (see Job 1:12; Heb. 4:15; Heb. 5:8; 1 Pet. 1:7).
#2 - Also, the verses in Jeremiah are a warning to Israel that they should listen to their God and serve him and not for HIM TO SERVE THEM. He was begging them to return to His worship and we see in Chapter 17 we see Jehovah finally giving them up because he refuses to be "their servant when they should be His."
When he said "he would NOT KEEP HIS ANGER FOREVER, that WAS ON CONTINGENT THAT THEY RETURN TO HIS WORSHIP! This is in no way a contradiction!!! He was saying "return to me and all will be forgotten." They didn't, so personally, as God it was within his right to cast them off.
#3 - There is/was a law that you needed 2 witnesses to an event, so Christ could not witness for himself. This scripture (John 5:31 also refers to Luke 10:16) LOL, NICE TRY, instead of starting at John 8:18 were going to start at John 8:17 where it says: 17 Also, in your own Law it is written, "The witness of two men is true." 18 I am one that bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me." (see John 5:37; 2 Pet. 1:17; 1 Jo. 5:9).
So again, no cigar, but nice try. There were two this time to be witnesses.
#4 - This last one is just too simple. The fact is every Christian knows to this day that NO ONE HAS SEEN GOD BUT THE RISEN CHRIST.
All others who have seen God have seen his representative Angels, Messengers coming "in his name." In essence, when they come, they ARE GOD because He says they come in His name, therefore they have His authority and command and His FORCE behind them. For all intents and purposes I would treat them as I would God Himself unless they told me otherwise. And they always do.
The fault doesn't lie in the translation, IT LIES WITH YOU. You simply WISH for something to be true so much that you will make it so, even if you have to "force facts to your will."
2006-09-02 15:59:26 · answer #3 · answered by AdamKadmon 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah and neither is the Qu'ran a reliable account of Mohammed's words because he did not did not write the Qu'ran.
It was also written by men claiming they knew what the will of God was.
One could say the same on all counts about the Qu'ran that it is full of falsehoodsand contradicitions. like the division of inheritance where the fractions do not add up to a whole.
And I suppose you will say this verse is a mistranslation as well,
"Fight and slay the Unbelievers wherever ye find them. Seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war."
Qur'an, Sura 9:5
2006-09-02 15:35:23 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
my reaction is this, I think you are trying to disprove something that cannot be disproved. Just because you didn't find the answers you are searching for, doesn't mean that they are not there. Pray to God to find your answers. Satan is everywhere, disguising himself as a spiritual being. He knows the Bible better than anyone. He was God's chosen angel. He can also use it to his advantage. A Jesus seminar? I sounds to me like these people are doing satan's job quite well. Spreading lies and hate and discontent. Satan's playground is all it is. Lies, hate, and discontent.
2006-09-02 15:50:09 · answer #5 · answered by tessababyboo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ok...so a person who writes about ancient Egypt in this day and age.....taking information from others who have written about it.....this person is just full of it? We are to not believe anything they say, right? One could make this arguement about any historical texts. Most were written and retranslated many times over and are heavy on opinion. I don't know why we don't have this arguement about all of history, and not just the Bible.
2006-09-02 15:37:20 · answer #6 · answered by Lilah 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
You have entirely too much time on your hand. If you believe the lies perpetrated by the so called Jesus seminar then I'll bet your as big a nerd as you are an imbicile and probably need to do something about that terrible skin condition....get a life weenee
2006-09-02 15:33:17 · answer #7 · answered by messenger 3 · 3⤊ 2⤋
All you blind "believers" think about this......God did not give you a brain to follow blindly. You were given a brain to think, question, wonder....and to not know for sure. It's o.k. to say, "I don't know". If God wanted us to know for sure, he would make it totally obvious. There are many religions in the world, how do you know that your's is the right one? Because your mom said? Nothing worse than a 20 something year old idiot that says they know for sure......HA!
2006-09-02 15:53:28 · answer #8 · answered by the_knower_of_all_knowledge 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get yourself a Bible and then get a Strong's Concordance and read, see how accurate it is then. But get a good Bible, not one that has been written in plain English.
2006-09-02 15:39:56 · answer #9 · answered by pooh bear 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The Bible is also a written book.
Where is your LIVING account of what God does in your life everyday and the things He speaks to your heart and the things He teaches you and how He leads you each day?
God is a LIVING GOD.
If He is not your God, you would not understand this. You can't.
2006-09-02 15:35:52 · answer #10 · answered by pinkstealth 6 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Is this supposed to be a question?
It seems you're just trying to invalidate Christianity.
Please stop trying to take the Christ out of Christianity, that's what the anti-Christ does.
Also, please stop disguising your preaching and evangelism in the form of a question. That is a violation of the Yahoo Q&A Community Guidleines and is considered abuse. In fact, I won't be surprised if this "question" generates many abuse reports. Please play by the rules. If you have a question, ask it. If you're just trying to refute someone's religion to promote your own, you might want to reevalute your own religion.
Peace
2006-09-02 15:33:39 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋