Can you check your attitude at the door and provide me with examples of logical contradictions in the Bible?

Question

Ground rules:
1) Please do not flood me with a copy/paste from an Atheist website. I'm talking about what you consider to be the most glaring contradiction.

2) Please understand what a contradiction is. As Aristotle said “One cannot say of something that it is and that it is not in the same respect and at the same time" or by definition "A logical contradiction is a logical incompatibility between two or more propositions. It occurs when the propositions, taken together, yield two conclusions which form the logical inversions of each other."

3) Please understand what a contradiction is not. If I told you "Joe came over my house last night", and then later I told someone else "Some friends came over my house last night" - have I contradicted myself? No, I merely emphasized to you one of my friends that came over.

Please explain why what you have offered is a contradiction. I am looking for an in-depth answer not a shotgun "you are an idiot" answer, can we agree to that?

Answer 1

I don't have my Bible in front of me but I believe it says that no one has ever seen God and that God appeared to Moses.

This is a clear contraction of "A has never occurred and A occurred."

Answer 2

Glaring contradictions:
Jesus says not to worry about money, clothes, where you will live or what you will eat because he will provide for you. Other parts of the bible say that he who does not work does not eat: This one is obvious, as even though Jesus says he'll take care of everything, there isn't a single christian that can afford it that wouldn't get health insurance, car insurance, a 401k, and other precautions to ensure that if something happens to them, they'll be covered. This is a surprising display of lack of faith in Jesus' ability to keep his word. Also, there is not a christian besides preachers, that will rely on Jesus to clothe them. Or feed them. But then again the bible says not to, which is a contradiction. I may not have room for the rest, so here is a quick synopsis.

Jesus says that his believers will be able to do greater miracles than he has because he will go BEFORE THE FATHER. Jesus says he who has seen me has seen the father. Jesus says that he will sit at the RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER. Jesus and the father are ONE: These not only contradict eachother as to Jesus' identity, but they prove that no christian has faith the size of even a mustard seed.

the commandment not to kill, then the direct order to kill all of the people of several nations, on several occasions. TO KILL EVEN THE BABES, WITHOUT PITY! All the while saying God is good.


I can go on and on, but I'd rather not. You know where to find the contradictions. You know where to find a list of them. But more important than the contradictions are the outright lies. When was the last time you heard a scientist say that the stars could fall from the sky? He/She wouldn't, because stars are BIGGER than the sky, yet there it is in black and white... and getting anything you ask for in prayer is not the same as getting nothing you ask for in prayer unless it's in god's will. But these results are to be expected. The bible is a pagan religion written by pagan men who decided to start their own religion and base it on scoundrel that was crucified. Notice that none of the bibles stories are written during the time that the events take place? Notice that most of the things attributed to Jesus just happen to have predecessors in other religions of that area? A history of world religion course at a reputable non-christian university will teach you that. I highly recommend you take one.

Answer 3

I can think of several examples:

Was Jesus peaceable? John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." says one thing,and Matthew 10:34 "Think not that I come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." says another.

Was Jesus trustworthy? John 8:14 "Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true." against John 5:31 "If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true."

When was Jesus crucified? Mark 15:25 "And it was the third hour, and they crucified him." against "John 19:14-15 "And about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out...crucify him."

You can also look at the story of Easter for a case study of contradictions. As examples (all pertaining to Easter):

IN Matthew, the stone in front of the tomb is rolled away by an angel in front of two women. In Mark, it says that happened before the women arrive.

Luke says the resurrection happened in Jerusalem, while Matthew says it happened in Galilee.

These are but a few of many examples.

Answer 4

Genesis 1:11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. (sixth day)

.....

Genesis 2:4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- 7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

....

okay, so first it says he created plants/vegetation on the 3rd day... then in the very next chapter it says there were not yet any shrubs/plants sprung up on the earth when he creates man, which according chapter 1 happened on the 6th day? And in chapter 1 he simply creates both man & woman, but in chapter 2 he first creates man, then later forms woman from a piece of man?

That don't make no sense. Perhaps not "the most glaring contradiction" or a "logical" contradiction, but pretty obviously two contradictory versions of one story, and pretty early on.

Never mind that all of this contradicts the actual FACTS of the physical world/universe.....

Answer 5

I'm sure there are plenty of literary contradictions (i've seen them but don't remember where), but if you take it from the Jewish perspective, most of the Toarah (OT) is supposed to be allegory, therefore it can't really be a contradiction if it never happened.

Answer 6

There are lots of classic difficulties.
Take one, at the URL below, complete with an "answering" of it which I find very unsatisfactory...

Has anyone seen God?
Yes, according to some bible verses,
No, according to others.

Answer 7

Well I don't have a cut and paste from an Atheist web site.....but I do have a rather long list that I have personally been compiling for awhile. I have to run right now, but I would be happy to send it to you, with my favorites highlighted for ya. Just drop me a note and I'll get it to you this weekend.

BTW nicely worded with specifications....I completely respect that! This threatens to ruin my rep as a christian hater.....LOL

Answer 8

Where to start.The bible is full of contradictions.There are too many to post on here