10 Bible Contradictions That Aren't

[trigger89]

listverse.com/2013/03/20/10-bible-contradictions-that-arent/

[Bellatrix]

I really like yo style, gurl. Posting lonely links like "whatever!".

[MrsYoungie]

Well whoop-de-doo. Want to tackle the rest of them?

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/ ... tions.html

[Bellatrix]

Well whoop-de-doo. Want to tackle the rest of them?

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/ ... tions.html

"No."

[dawbs]

And the takeaway message from the old testament? yay incest!

1-cain's wife. Hey, folks, don't worry about the biblical contradiction--it's not a creationism flaw, it's that Cain married his sister. See, problem/contradiction solved!

2-Lot's daughters. See, it was a big deal when someone threatened to rape angels but incest is just icky, not sinful, problem solved!

3-Inbreeding. Well, ignore what we said in point #1, it's not LITERAL...you guys didn't think I meant it THAT way, did you?

[MrsYoungie]

Actually the random little apparent contradictions are not what bother me. It is the huge overwhelming thematic contradictions.

God loves everyone - - - but not you, you and especially not YOU.

God is perfect and all his creations are perfect - - - but the world in incredibly imperfect and somehow that's our fault?

God made us, cursed us, then sent himself to sacrifice himself to himself to save us from himself.

Those are the contradictions I care about. I don't care if some old goat herder thought Pi was 3, or that the world was flat. God's inherent character in the Bible bothers me.

[formergothardite]

Do you have an opinion? Not sure the point of just posting links. All three of your posts are just links.

[Bellatrix]

3-Inbreeding. Well, ignore what we said in point #1, it's not LITERAL...you guys didn't think I meant it THAT way, did you?

So, basically, the Bible's all literal. Except when it's symbolic, ya know.

[slickcat79]

Context, you don't haz it.

Yes, yes, different people interpret the bible in different ways. Most "normal" christians accept the importance of metaphor, historical context, and translation error when reading the bible. Yawn.

I take issue with number 9 though, which is listed as "God Allows Incest", then follows with:

The contradiction: Faced with a city of homosexuals, God flies into a rage and blows the whole place up. Faced with his servant Lot having drunken sex with his daughters, God has no problems with it.

Why it’s not: Because the sodomites tried to rape God’s angels, people have used this story as evidence that God firebombed the place because he hates gay people. Only the Bible doesn’t say that. Ezekiel 16:49 makes it pretty clear the people of Sodom were killed for being greedy and inhospitable to the poor, as does Amos 4:1-11 and Jeremiah 23:14. In the original passage, the angels are traveling around ancient Canaan disguised as hobos, taking hospitality where they find it. Now, kindness to strangers and poor people is obviously a big theme in the Bible. So when the holy hobos move on to wealthy Sodom and only local immigrant Lot offers them his hospitality, it says more about the place than any same-sex action ever could. This isn’t just my opinion by the way; plenty of scholars have come to the same conclusion. The contradiction only arises if you come at it from an anti-gay standpoint.

While I appreciate the author is not trying to justify anti-gay bigotry, what does that have to do with incest? Lot's daughters got their father drunk, molested him while he was under the influence, and got knocked up. God was so pleased that he made their children the leaders of nations. Of course, all this was after Lot offered up his virgin daughters to be raped by an angry mob. It's a pretty fucked up story, regardless of any anti-gay implications.

[keen23]

So even God himself didn’t intend Genesis to be read literally.

So, you shouldn't take Genesis literally, but yes, the rest of the Bible is 1000000% true and correct and God's and/or Jesus's direct words never mind that hundreds of translations and edits have taken place over the passing millennia?

[debrand]

The contradiction: Faced with a city of homosexuals, God flies into a rage and blows the whole place up. Faced with his servant Lot having drunken sex with his daughters, God has no problems with it.

Why it’s not: Because the sodomites tried to rape God’s angels, people have used this story as evidence that God firebombed the place because he hates gay people. Only the Bible doesn’t say that. Ezekiel 16:49 makes it pretty clear the people of Sodom were killed for being greedy and inhospitable to the poor, as does Amos 4:1-11 and Jeremiah 23:14. In the original passage, the angels are traveling around ancient Canaan disguised as hobos, taking hospitality where they find it. Now, kindness to strangers and poor people is obviously a big theme in the Bible. So when the holy hobos move on to wealthy Sodom and only local immigrant Lot offers them his hospitality, it says more about the place than any same-sex action ever could. This isn’t just my opinion by the way; plenty of scholars have come to the same conclusion. The contradiction only arises if you come at it from an anti-gay standpoint.

I love the story of Lot because it is so twisted. Why was Lot-who lived in a city of rapists-able to sit at the city gates? Why did the angels, who came from an all knowing god, not just appear to Lot or arrived in the guise of a talking animal like the talking donkey in the bible? Why was Lot's wife punished for looking back but Lot's daughters could rape him? Why didn't the angels, from an all knowing god, tell Lot's daughters that the world wasn't ending so they wouldn't have to sleep with their drunk dad? The angels told Lot's wife not to look back but they couldn't hang around long enough to say, "Hey, don't have sex with dad?" Did his daughters get pregnant the first time they had sex? I find it difficult to believe that the girls got pregnant on the first try. Which brings up the question, why the hell did Lot keep drinking when he must have known his daughters would rape him?

The bible does put a lot of emphasis on helping the poor. Which brings up another question? Why are modern day American, right leaning Christians able to avoid seeing those many verses on the poor but can see the few verses about the sin of homosexuality?

[VooDooChild]

Nice try. But you'll have to better than that.

[Buzzard]

I love the story of Lot because it is so twisted. Why was Lot-who lived in a city of rapists-able to sit at the city gates? Why did the angels, who came from an all knowing god, not just appear to Lot or arrived in the guise of a talking animal like the talking donkey in the bible? Why was Lot's wife punished for looking back but Lot's daughters could rape him? Why didn't the angels, from an all knowing god, tell Lot's daughters that the world wasn't ending so they wouldn't have to sleep with their drunk dad? The angels told Lot's wife not to look back but they couldn't hang around long enough to say, "Hey, don't have sex with dad?" Did his daughters get pregnant the first time they had sex? I find it difficult to believe that the girls got pregnant on the first try. Which brings up the question, why the hell did Lot keep drinking when he must have known his daughters would rape him?

The bible does put a lot of emphasis on helping the poor. Which brings up another question? Why are modern day American, right leaning Christians able to avoid seeing those many verses on the poor but can see the few verses about the sin of homosexuality?

You know what always bothered me? Where did the booze come from? They're fleeing a city that god is about to firebomb and they bring... wine? Enough of it to lay him on his ass? Did they take nothing else but a Donkey with a barrel?

[VooDooChild]

You know what always bothered me? Where did the booze come from? They're fleeing a city that god is about to firebomb and they bring... wine? Enough of it to lay him on his ass? Did they take nothing else but a Donkey with a barrel?

Maybe the wine skins were in the bug out bag? Lot was a prepper?

[debrand]

Buzzard that is a good point about the wine. What did they do about food? I just read Voodoo Child's comment. Lot had to be a prepper

[slickcat79]

Um, if god can turn a woman into a freaking pillar of salt, I'm sure he can magic up some food and wine. I can just see Lot's daughters running around the cave, turning rocks into bread "I Dream of Jeannie" style.

[Buzzard]

Buzzard that is a good point about the wine. What did they do about food? I just read Voodoo Child's comment. Lot had to be a prepper

The thought of a biblical basis of the prepper movement actually terrifies me... :?

[debrand]

Um, if god can turn a woman into a freaking pillar of salt, I'm sure he can magic up some food and wine. I can just see Lot's daughters running around the cave, turning rocks into bread "I Dream of Jeannie" style.

:D But why not just tell the girls that the world wasn't ending? It seems like such a simple solution for an all powerful god who could see into the future.

The biggest contradiction for Christianity is the idea that god is all anything. An all knowing god who sees into the future, is all loving, is all powerful, is all every single positive attribute known to human, should not make mistakes and should be held to higher standard than we humans.

For example, if god is all loving, why did he set human kind up to fail? He put two humans in a garden. These individuals were like little kids without knowledge of right and wrong. He set up a trap for them in the guise of a tree and let a malicious being wander the garden to tempt the two to do wrong. What loving parent would do that? When the two fail-of course they would- god doesn't just punish them but future humanity, the earth and the animals. Even the poor snakes, who didn't volunteer to let their form be used were punished. And why wasn't Eve surprised by a talking snake? Was she used to talking animals? Was she that childlike?

I don't understand how religious people can see the bible as literal and still view their god as kind or loving.

[debrand]

The thought of a biblical basis of the prepper movement actually terrifies me... :?

Let's don't give them ideas

[ILoveJellybeans]

I love the story of Lot because it is so twisted. Why was Lot-who lived in a city of rapists-able to sit at the city gates? Why did the angels, who came from an all knowing god, not just appear to Lot or arrived in the guise of a talking animal like the talking donkey in the bible? Why was Lot's wife punished for looking back but Lot's daughters could rape him? Why didn't the angels, from an all knowing god, tell Lot's daughters that the world wasn't ending so they wouldn't have to sleep with their drunk dad? The angels told Lot's wife not to look back but they couldn't hang around long enough to say, "Hey, don't have sex with dad?" Did his daughters get pregnant the first time they had sex? I find it difficult to believe that the girls got pregnant on the first try. Which brings up the question, why the hell did Lot keep drinking when he must have known his daughters would rape him?

The bible does put a lot of emphasis on helping the poor. Which brings up another question? Why are modern day American, right leaning Christians able to avoid seeing those many verses on the poor but can see the few verses about the sin of homosexuality?

That is the most messed up thing I have ever read...this sounds like some kind of rule 34 weird fanfiction instead of a Bible story :shock:

I wonder what fundies do about these parts when they encourage their kid to read the Bible all the way through over and over again.

Surely they cant censor or change the word of God, but they also dont want their child exposed to sex, especially rape and incest.

[gravelmonkey]

Fundies probably don't read the Bible critically. Especially those that read it cover to cover every 90 days. Rather, they read it quickly, cherry pick the parts that make sense with them and trot them out when necessary. Asking the question "why?" never seems to cross their mind.

[FeministShrew]

Fundies probably don't read the Bible critically. Especially those that read it cover to cover every 90 days. Rather, they read it quickly, cherry pick the parts that make sense with them and trot them out when necessary. Asking the question "why?" never seems to cross their mind.

Exactly. I used to skim over the boring parts (begats, lists of names, etc.) & ignored the violent, batshit crazy parts. I was told, "Don't worry about that now. It might not make sense now, but it will all be clear once you get to heaven."

[keen23]

If you think about it, the Old Testament God was a total sociopath and a bit of an asshole. The Flood. The Tempting. The nit picky rules. He doesn't mellow out until he knocks up Mary.

[Joan of Snarc]

The part where the omnipotent creator of the universe knocks up a teenage virgin was always my favorite part.

:lol:

[So Many Lies]

Exactly. I used to skim over the boring parts (begats, lists of names, etc.) & ignored the violent, batshit crazy parts. I was told, "Don't worry about that now. It might not make sense now, but it will all be clear once you get to heaven."

Yes! I was also told I just need more "faith" which really means "wilfully ignore".