Bible contradicting itself?? All that know bible please help?

Question

I was shown this:

Theological doctrines:
1. God is satisfied with his works, Gen 1:31
God is dissatisfied with his works. Gen 6:6

2. God dwells in chosen temples 2 Chron 7:12,16
God dwells not in temples Acts 7:48

3. God dwells in light Tim 6:16
God dwells in darkness 1 Kings 8:12/ Ps 18:11/ Ps 97:2

4. God is seen and heard Ex 33:23/ Ex 33:11/ Gen 3:9,10/ Gen 32:30/ Is 6:1/ Ex 24:9-11
God is invisible and cannot be heard
John 1:18/ John 5:37/ Ex 33:20/ 1 Tim 6:16

5. God is tired and rests Ex 31:17/ Jer 15:6
God is never tired and never rests Is 40:28

6. God is everywhere present, sees and knows all things
Prov 15:3/ Ps 139:7-10/ Job 34:22,21
God is not everywhere present, neither sees nor knows all things Gen 11:5/ Gen 18:20,21/ Gen 3:8

7. God knows the hearts of men Acts 1:24/ Ps 139:2,3
God tries men to find out what is in their heart Deut 13:3/ Deut 8:2/ Gen 22:12

8. God is all powerful Jer 32:27/ Matt 19:26
God is not all powerful Judg 1:19

9. God is unchangeable
James 1:17/ Mal 3:6/ Ezek 24:14/ Num 23:19
God is changeable
Gen 6:6/ Jonah 3:10/ 1 Sam 2:30,31/ 2 Kings 20:1,4,5,6/ Ex 33:1,3,17,14

What do you think of this?

Answer 1

What do I think? I think cutting and pasting really doesn't require much thought or imagination.

You're comparing scriptures that were written thousands of years apart -- people's understanding of who God is, and humanity's relationship with God has changed over the course of 2,000-4,000 years between the time some of these scriptures were written.

The Bible is a collection of 66 different books, some history, some poetry, some songs, some letters, as well as the rules of an ancient religion . . . written over the span of thousands of years. Problems arise when people can't tell one from another, and confuse them into each other.

Problems arise when you try to take a rule written for and by a certain group of people, and apply it to your life today (taking your disobedient child to the gates of the city to stone him, for example).

People tend to focus on the words in the Bible, and miss the message behind the story. The creation story of Genesis 1 and 2, for example, are poetry, the message is that God is powerful, neither of which is a history lesson.

Adam and Eve is a metaphor -- not literal history. It's poetic parable -- not the literal story of two people, for example.

The Bible is a fantastic collection of stories written by, about, and for the followers of the God of Abraham, and the followers of Christ.

The Bible is an anthology, not one book.

Here's the thing . . . non-believers look at "contradictions" and think they can't believe anything in the Bible. But, if everything made perfect, edited sense -- the Gospel according to John on it's own, for example -- then you'd claim that that Book of the Bible was edited and can't be believed. So, non-believers have it covered, either way.

Godspeed.

Answer 2

The only way to see contradictions in these passages is to adopt a hyper-anthropomorphic concept of God. I don't even know where to begin!

First, the God of the Old Testament is best characterized as Providence. Now, this is a concept that is relatively foreign to modern readers. In short, the Jews interpreted human history as a revelation of God.

Second, the God of the Old Testament was transcendent. There was no similarity between God and creation, no way for Deity to interact directly with humanity, and no way for man to conceive God. Try expressing that in terms that people can understand. No wonder they said that God dwelled in infinite darkness or infinite light - both imply the Ain Soph Aur, or the complete and utter unknown. The Jews got around this with the idea of Metatron or the Angel of Yahweh, who was both God (transcendent) and not-God (mundane) at the same time. The Greeks used Hermes or Helios for the same purpose, the Christians used the Logos, later Jewish philosophers used Sophia (divine Wisdom), the Romans used Sol Invictus, etc.

Third, much ancient terminology was meant to refer to metaphysical concepts. "Rest" and "Act," for example, referred to the Aristotelian ideas of potential and actualization, Matter and Form, Being and Becoming.

That should point you in the right direction. If you read the Bible like you would read the daily newspaper or a Stephen King novel, you will completely miss the point. You have to read it like you would read Plato.

Answer 3

Matt 24:25, Mark 13:30, Luke 24:32 ". . . this technology shall not bypass till those style of issues be executed." Jesus substitute into telling his disciples that "temple could be destroyed, wars, calamities, fake prophets, and then he could seem above the cloud in triumph throughout the time of the tip days, till now the death of his disciples." those style of have been reiterated in each and every of the three gospels. yet his disciples died 2000 years in the past. end days did not take place, and Jesus lied approximately it or the gospel writers lied approximately it. despite the case, that's the main suitable contradiction of all. by way of fact Jesus isn't a god in any different case how ought to a god be incorrect approximately his very own prophecy? Or the bible is only a e book of lies! EDIT: do not attempt to apply sophistry on on line communicate board. THIS technology pronounced the technology of his disciples, and there is no different which potential. Such denials as quickly as lower back proves that Christians lie just to justify their god.

Answer 4

Christians always find ways to explain these & many more contradictions. They still say they believe in the whole Bible. Sorry they can not believe in the whole thing - for example from your point #1 how can they believe that God is satisfied with work and believe that he is not satified with his work. This is what I fought with for 11 years. I even got into some agruement with Pastors and a few times ask to leave the church. One Pastor even skipped the State when I questioned him on the topic over tithing.

I truly believe, and have pondered this in my mind for quite some time: alot of preachers are Athesists but they use the Bible to bribe money out of people.

Answer 5

i dint believe in what the bible says personally, but i think the bible is there just to guide people with stories of good will. The bible possesses stories of which people should attempt to bring into their lives and better themselves with the guidance of the bible and faith. When u look through the bible and see these things about God and his divinity etc, it should not matter whether god is visible and heard or not. What matters is what the bible teaches you. Religion is a good thing as it guides people to do things for the better, but when you need to argue about the small facts that the Romans put in thousands of years ago to scare people into the belief and to convert people, you end up with an amount of corruptness in something so helpful and charitable. Nearly all religion teaches you not to kill, or harm others, but thanks to people believing in every single word that these books preach, you end up with war and upset between religion.

So really these contradictions don't matter compared to the amount of good the rest of the book causes.

Answer 6

I'd say you need to buy a new Bible, because the Scriptures you list you are misquoting.

For example, you claim that this statement is to be found in the following scriptures: "God is not everywhere present, neither sees nor knows all things "

As you can see below, these passages do not say what you are claiming here.

Genesis 3:8 (King James Version)

8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.


Genesis 11:5 (King James Version)
And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

Genesis 18:20-21 (King James Version)
20And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

Answer 7

The bible was written and edited by many men for 1000 years or so, to control other men. Since each chapter was written in different times by different groups, it is a wonder there are not more contradictions. Maybe later editors took them out.

Answer 8

The interesting thing to note here is the rationalizations going through the christian mind. EG When asked for proof of their religion they state,"The bible is all the proof I need as it is the perfect written word of god."
But wen presented with inconsistencies it is all of a sudden."Mistranslated, and messed up by the hand of man."

I really dont get those folks at all its either one or the other the perfect word of god or the screwed up word of men... cant have it both ways.

Answer 9

They are all example of why you have to read the suronding text.
I will help you with the first cause it can be confusing.
Gen 6:5 Consequently Jehovah saw that the badness of man was abundant in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time. 6 And Jehovah felt regrets that he had made men in the earth, and he felt hurt at his heart.

See how it says he saw that the badness of man was abundant in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time.
There was no good in those poeple. That is why God felt regret about making man.
But he could have Killed everyone,but he spared a few. Because he loves us.

Answer 10

What you gave are really very VERY general statements.

If you really read not just those passages but the context they are in, I think you'll see how they really aren't contradicitons.

The first one, for example. God is pleased with what he created. He just finished it and it was all good. Everything was clean, healthy, vibrant with life. He walked and talked with Adam in the Garden of Eden. God is grieved, not with what He had initially created, but with what had evolved. Man has turned away from Him, totally ignores Him, does thing detestable in His sight. They are conceited and vulgar. So He is grieved. Not a contradiction.

God resting is not b/c He needs resting. God is almighty. He's on call 24/7. But He does rest on the 7th day as an example to His children to do as He does. Humans DO need rest. So many people are SO busy, they don't have time to rest. Really rest. Demanding jobs, demanding families, undone chores... So God takes a rest so that we will follow suit.

1 Tim 6:16. God in Heaven lives in unapproachable light. The face of God is so bright that anyone on earth who sees it will instantly die. (Gen) In Heaven, God lives in light. 1 Kings: God is not living in darkness. His spirit filled the temple in a dark cloud. That's now where God lives, that's how he presented himself to the priests and Soloman in the temple. Ps 18: Again, not where he lived. He came down from the heavens and covered himself with dark clouds. that isn't dwelling. Ps. 97 again, same thing. A covering. Not a dwelling.

God is seen and heard on a personal level to individuals. He is seen and heard by way of senses and answered prayers or miracles. But God is not a physical being to seen and heard as you or I.

In the Old Testament, God chose to meet with His people in a tabernacle. That is where His spirit rested to be among them. But that is not His permanent residence. And even that changed in the New Testament with the coming of Christ.

God knows the hearts of men. He knows our motivations, our innermost desires and thoughts. He knows our character, the heart of who we are. But to make it shine through, He tries us. We don't know what we are really made of until we are put into a situation. Then, our true nature comes out and that is what God "finds". Not because He didn't know it was there. God knew. But it wasn't made clear, real. It doesn't become a "fact" til then.

God is everywhere, does see and know all things. In Gen 3, before the fall of man, God walked with Adam and Eve. Not b/c he didn't know or isn't everywhere. But b/c he chose to.
He asks us questions to give us an opportunity to answer in truth and in faith. Sometimes He acts so that we will react. Not because He doesn't know or doesn't see or isn't there. But for our benefit. Parents and teachers do that all the time with children. And we are God's children. He does that with us.

Sometimes, God presents himself in terms we understand, in a perspective we understand because we cannot fully understand him. We have an infant's understanding compared to God.

Also, words are very easily manipulated. I'm sure you're well aware of that. So many words and phrases can have multiple meanings. Put in different context, the same word, the same phrase can mean something entirely different. Or, regardless of context, can simply be misunderstood.

I really encourage you to read the whole section the "contradicting" verses in and see for yourself.