This is to supplement mathguyNTulsa's current diary: Intellectual Diversity and Inerrancy of the Bible. I've said before, quoting a Methodist minister friend of mine, that the Bible is a religious, not a science, text. Wow. What a concept.
At any rate, several comments in mathguyNTulsa's diary (including mathguyNTulsa) note that there are many contradictions in the Bible. And, with contradictions, come errors -- by definition. So, in this diary, I wish to highlight several of those contradictions, and invite others to add their own, not to "debunk" the Bible, but, rather, to hold it up as a text about the Spirit, and not about "the Flesh" or the material or scientific world.
Below the fold . . .
I. First of all, the Bible is a sacred text. It is a religious text. It is not a science text. Here's the First Grand Contradiction: many of those who profess "faith" in the Bible and Jesus seem to be quite subject to apoplexy when confronted with the fact that there are more than a few contradictions in the Bible regarding the physical or material world, or regarding the text itself. These people seem to me to be the least faithful of all the Christian flock! Go figure.
But let's move on to several plain old contradictions. Remember now, if the Bible is "inerrant", then contractory texts/can't both be true.
II. Genesis
There are two (2) different creation stories. Both can't be true. The first one runs from Genesis 1:1 ("In the beginning...") and the second one runs from Genesis 2:5.
We'll skip the talking snake and move right on to Noah and Genesis 6:19, 20 --
19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
Well, at least according to this Wiki entry, there are currently 5,743 amphibians, 8,240 reptiles, 9,799 birds, and 5,416 mammals (with all numbers dropping... alas.) totalling 29,198 species x 2 = 58,396 animals to be brought on board the ark and fed and maintained. Oh, and 950,000 insects x 2 = 1,900,000. (wished Noah'd forgotten about the mosquitoes!).
Of course, not all of these animals could fit on the ark. Not without some miraculous intervention. But, then, were that the case, then we're talking about faith in a miracle, and not science. "Poof!" the Bible's no longer a science text, and we're not even out of Genesis, yet! Or, just perhaps, the Flood story is an allegory! No! Really? And, for a nice accounting of the several authors and oral traditions from which the current Biblical story comes, see this article.
Let's skip on over to the New Testament. . .
III. "The Sermon on the Mount"
Right Wing Fundagellicals can be forgiven for not being overly familiar with the Sermon on the Mount, as this was Jesus' Sarnath Moment and contains The Beatitudes which, by definition, are wholly at odds with Right Wingism and pretty much everything the Republican Party currently stands for.
At any rate, beginning with the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 5, Verse 1 we read: "1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain: and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto him: 2 and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . . ."
Yet, two Gospels away we read in Luke Chapter 6: "17 and he came down with them, and stood on a level place, and a great multitude of his disciples, and a great number of the people from all Judaea and Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; 18 and they that were troubled with unclean spirits were healed. 19 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed are ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. . . ."
So, which was it: "up into the mountain", or "on a level place"? Does it matter? Of course to me, and many like me, it certainly matters not one whit; what matters was and continues to be the message, not the fact that there is a gross contradiction regarding the place where the sermon was given. And, remember, Matthew's gospel was written between the years 70-100, while Luke was written around the year 100, roughly the same time as Matthew, but both being written anywhere from 50-70 years after the "Sermon on the Mount".
IV. My Lord! My Lord! That's Just Bad Science!
In [ Matthew 13:31] it is attributed to Jesus that He called the mustard seed "the least/smallest of all seeds".
One "Christian Answer site" addresses the "alleged problem" of the mustard seed by noting, that, indeed, the orchid seed (among others) is quite smaller than the mustard seed, but then goes on to say (correctly, I might add):
"The context of Matthew 13 makes it quite clear that Jesus was addressing a local lay audience, not an international conference of botanists."
However, I believe that this site and explanation (again, with which I agree) misses a larger point: the Bible is Not Literally True, no matter how Spiritually true it may be. To the Right Wing Fundagellicals, this is blasphemy. To me it's yawn-making.
V. Scarlet or Purple
This is just a little one:
(Scarlet) Matt. 27:28 "And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe."
(Purple) Mark 15:17 "And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head."
(Purple) John 19:2 "And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe."
One of these is, by definition, incorrect. Does that matter? Not to me. To the Right Wing Fundagellicals, though, this is the thing that'll make one's head spin and make 'em sputter with anger at anyone who points it out. Why? Because these are, at the end of the day, not people of faith, but people who need "all the answers" and can't live with the notion of contradiction in their lives.
VI. Copy Editor Messes Up Big Time
Jesus' geneology in Matthew and Luke, going back to David, are all out of whack with one another. I mean way at odds.
So, there's an error. "Poof!" goes inerrancy.
VII. Last one: Faith or Works?
Ephesians 2:8-9 "8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; 9 it is not from works, so no one may boast."
compare...
James 2:17 "17 So also faith, if it have not works, is dead by itself."
These do not necessarily contradict one another, but, rather, compliment each other, I think. But the point is that, guess what!, the Bible contains nuances!
O.K., so these are but a very, very, very few of the multitudes of contradictions contained in the Bible. Again, I don't write this to "prove" the Bible is "wrong" -- far, far from it. I merely post this diary to note that the Bible (as I've said over and over) is 1 not a science text and 2 contains contradictions (rendering it not "inerrant").
Thus Christians, and anyone else who chooses to read or study the Bible, are obliged to think, which, of course, is an anathema to Right Wing dogma and doctrine.
BenGoshi
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