Bible contradiction #1: God is good to whom?

Question

In an effort to understand how a person could believe in the Bible fully, I'm going to post some Biblical contradictions. I invite Christians to explain them to the rest of us. I am specifically choosing quotes that are direct and clear so as to avoid talk of "interpretation."

Please do not tell us about this "interpretation" or that "interpretation." Anything can be "interpreted" through any number of different filters. If the Bible is the infallible word of God, nothing within it should need to be "interpreted."

First one:

PSA 145:9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

JER 13:14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.

Mainworry: Your answer makes no sense. Are you going to try to answer the question or should I just go ahead and assume that the Bible's direct contradictions make it fallible?

I hope you're not implying that I need to study the Bible. Obvioulsy, that's what I am doing. And I don't need your approval, thanks.

Answer 1

Apparently being treated without pity and mercy... and being dashed against one another... being destroyed.... is "good".

Answer 2

It is evident above that God was seen. But, considering the "can't-see-God" verses, some would understandably argue that there would be a contradiction. Once explanation offered is that the people were seeing visions, or dreams, or the Angel of the LORD (Num. 22:22-26; Judges 13:1-21) and not really God Himself. But the problem is that the verses cited above do not say vision, dream, or Angel of the LORD. They say that people saw God (Exodus 24:9-11), that God was seen, and that He appeared as God Almighty (Exodus 6:2-3). At first, this is difficult to understand. God Almighty was seen (Exodus 6:2-3) which means it was not the Angel of the Lord, for an angel is not God Almighty, and at least Moses saw God, not in a vision or dream, as the LORD Himself attests in Num. 12:6-8. If these verses mean what they say, then we naturally assume we have a contradiction. Actually, the contradiction exists in our understanding, not in the Bible--which is always the case with alleged biblical contradictions. The solution is simple. All you need to do is accept what the Bible says. If the people of the OT were seeing God, the Almighty God, and Jesus said that no one has ever seen the Father (John 6:46), then they were seeing God Almighty, but not the Father. It was someone else in the Godhead. I suggest that they were seeing the Word before He became incarnate. In other words, they were seeing Jesus. If God is a Trinity, then John 1:18 is not a problem either because in John chapter one, John writes about the Word (Jesus) and God (the Father). In verse 14 it says the Word became flesh. In verse 18 it says no one has seen God. Since Jesus is the Word, God then, refers to the Father. This is typically how John writes of God: as a reference to the Father. We see this verified in Jesus own words in John 6:46 where He said that no one has ever seen the Father. Therefore, Almighty God was seen, but not the Father. It was Jesus before His incarnation. There is more than one person in the Godhead and the doctrine of the Trinity must be true.

Answer 3

Okay - first explanation:
The Bible is not the Word of God. It holds the Word as the manger held Jesus. (Luther).
You pick and choose - called proof texting its such an old game - as your interpretation but then Christians are not supposed to interpret? That's like calling Aces High after you deal yourself 5.
Of course the Bible is no more infallible than the manger was w/o slivers. If the Bible was perfect, why would God be needed.

Now as far as the hand picked interpretation you selected. Read all of Jeremiah and its context in 2 Chr. and you will see how it fits your Psalm de jour.

Answer 4

First
You're taking both quotes out of context
Second
Both quotes are from the Old Testament
Yes, it is the basis for Christianity (Jesus being a Jew and all) but the rules of Christianity that piss people off are supposed to be based off the teachigns of Christ in the New Testament
Third
These are two separate quotes from two separate books by two or more people at different times and in different places because of this there are hundreds of contradictions within the bible as a whole!
fourth
I don't want you to think any of what I have written was an attack
i'm very liberal (for a catholic) went to catholic school and my father is a conservative italian catholic
i thought your question was well-thought-out, it's just one that's asked a lot for many reasons and thus is a source of easy aggravation
good luck finding more peaceful answers from others
i'm sure there's at least one somewhere

Answer 5

The problem usually is, is that the whole passage isnt read. You can take one sentence from ANY writing and make it appear contradictory to something else. Read all of Pslam 145. Because you will get to 19 and 20 that say 19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.

20 The LORD watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

God IS Good to all, He provides the same good things for everyone, sunlight, air, food, water, He will save those who love Him, but those who don't, He will destroy.

Which is why those folks in Jeremiah wont see mercy. He offers is, they reject Him... He destroys them. I dont think it's hard to understand at all.

Answer 6

well lets see you are breathing and alive so first of all he is good to you. PSA 145:9 is speaking of the miricales that he performed. Secondly JER 13:14 is speaking of sinners that sin. Heres a good one for you read Revolations. I feel sorry for you, and i pray that when the time comes the Lord you speak badly against does have Mercy on you.

Answer 7

Once you get some basic Bible knowledge, come back and see if you still have this question. Just like any text you have to think about the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. Who said it, Who was being spoken to, What were they speaking about, When were they speaking, Where is this all taking place, and How did it come to this conversation. You can't just take a verse by itself, you have to understand the CONTEXT just like in any other book or document or in anything else you read.

Answer 8

God is good to all of us!! We and the animals and everything else on this planet are His works! We all benefit from all these things, right down to YOU taking the next breath.
God has always said "Vengence is mine, saith the Lord God" in the verse you quote, this is true. If you hurt, destroy or harm in any way, one of His People, you will pay dearly for it.
God especially wants YOU to know that if you turn your back on his offer to you, he will destroy YOU as well.

Answer 9

Okay, first of all THIS WILL BE FUN.. you should email me... I have studied over 300 POSSIBLE contradictions and not ONE stood, so BRING IT ON!!!!

Most 'contradictions' start with the ignorance of the reader NOT reading the CONTEXT of the passage in question. And NOT comparing Scripture with Scripture.

Define what HIS WORKS are....??? ??? ???? other than that read on....
Here is the verse IN CONTEXT:

Read this: and pay attention to verse 17 ... ... 12 ¶ Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.
15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.
16 Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’S flock is carried away captive.


We read in the Bible that God will have mercy on whom He wil have mercy and compassion on whom He will have compassion.. the Bible also talks about ALL things will work together for GOOD to those who LOVE HIM!

If you HATE God, why should He give you blessings??

Second refutation of this 'contradiction'... GOD IS good for He sent His ONLY BEGOTTEN Son to die on the cross for ALL MANKIND... so really God is good to all by providing that FREE GIFT of SALVATION to ALL... but those who want to refuse it and curse God... then they bring JUDGMENT upon themselves.

SO ... NO CONTRADICTION HERE... try another.

Answer 10

I can see you're getting frustrated by alot of the stuff being posted here...........

Let me try to help clear up your confusion on this "contradiction" by taking you to another Psalm. Psalm 7
9 God, you do what is right. You know our thoughts and feelings. Stop those wicked actions done by evil people, and help those who do what is right.

10 God protects me like a shield; he saves those whose hearts are right. 11 God judges by what is right, and God is always ready to punish the wicked. 12 If they do not change their lives, God will sharpen his sword; he will string his bow and take aim. 13 He has prepared his deadly weapons; he has made his flaming arrows. 14 There are people who think up evil and plan trouble and tell lies. 15 They dig a hole to trap others, but they will fall into it themselves. 16 They will get themselves into trouble; the violence they cause will hurt only themselves. 17 I praise the Lord because he does what is right. I sing praises to the Lord Most High.

God's #1 plan - show us love and forgiveness and mercy. He really wants to do that, but we have to want it and we have to want to recieve it. The conditons set down here are.....we turn away from our sins...God extends his forgiveness to us. plain and simple. If we don't then there are consequences (Hebrews Chap 6, 2 Peter Chap 3)

The scripture you are quoting from the Book of Jeremiah is as the 2nd Captivity is upon the Israelites. THE 2ND CAPTIVITY! earlier on in Isaiah they are going throught the 1st captivity to the Assyrians because they did not listen to the Lord or follow his ways. Now they are going through the 2nd captivity to the Babylonians and this one would be for 70 years.

God will not allow us to continue in our sins and walk in ways that are unpleasing to Him. He waited and waited and waited for the Israelites to wise up and turn back to Him, but they did not. Bringing the harm on them that they encountered.

God wants to forgive us and He will.
But we have to do this on His conditions, not our own.

Hope that helps some

Jesus Loves You

Answer 11

The BIBLE never contradicts itself. You need to read the entire portion and see when it is happening,what are the circumstances and to whom it is speaking. You do not want to understand the BIBLE you just want to try and make believers defend themselves and their beliefs. Greater is HE who is in me than he who is in the world. The BIBLE tells us that it is ridiculous to argue with a fool and that the Word of GOD is foolishness to the un-believer. No body is going to be able to give you answers that satisfy you unless they are willing to say "Oh,yea. You are right. GOD is not real and I have been an idiot to believe it"
NOT GONNA HAPPEN BUD!
GOD IS GOD and you are not. You should try JESUS out,if you don't like HIM...Don't worry cause the devil will always take you back.