One thing and possibly the only thing the Bible contradicts—is those who look for and want to find contradictions in the Bible.
1Th 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
The Bible, not once, tells us to disprove anything.
I hope the Christian community will not be a party to this thread.
Blessings
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Well, why in the bloody world would something be written to instruct people to LOOK for thrice-cursed contradictions, especially when some of the said people want to control weaker-minded beings?
Funny, isn't it, how people who look for and find contradictions are the ones who already have a shred of doubt that the Bible isn't all-knowing, as it claims to be. But how is that the one and possibly only thing (according to you) that the Bible contradicts? May I redirect you to the beginning of Genesis - man is created last by God, and then is recreated first! Which is it?
1Th 5:21 instructs believers to test all things; and I did, I tested the bible and it failed miserably. 1Th 5:21 also instructs one to hold on to that "which is good". Does this mean that subjects that fail the reality or believability test are "good"? Why would your god want his followers to believe that which doesn't pass the test?
A partial list of just a small portion of the contradictions:
In several places, the Bible says that later generations will be punished for the sins of their fathers. In several other places, it says that each individual is responsible for his sins only.
Some stories have God changing his mind, yet in other places it says that God never changes his mind.
Through the Bible some individuals are called righteous, yet Paul says that no man is righteous.
Some of the very early stories have people seeing and talking to God. Later it says that no one can see God and live.
In the Old Testament, God's covenant is to be "forever," not just until the Messiah comes along as the Christians insisted later.
Just within Psalms there are passages indicating that the earth will last forever and passages saying that it will pass away.
Oh, the contradictions are there, lightwait, you, like most other Christians, just refuse to see them.
Well, it contradicts with the Deuteronomy and Leviticus, to say the least. Moreover, can you reconcile "God is love" and the image of the OT?. Admittance is the first step.
The bible contradicts itself (as per szenah 's post), as well as observable reality.
When myth contradicts reality, I'll take reality, thanks.
Anti-nonsense is 100% correct about "prove" meaning "test". Yet another example of why fundies need to be careful about using the KJV unless they actually know Early Modern English.
Fundies throughout the ages have worked hard to explain the discrepancies, usually by some bizarre speculation. For example, when John lists Nathaniel instead of Bartholomew as one of the twelve disciples, they reason that Bartholomew/Nathaniel must have been the same person with two different names, even though they generally believe that the authors of John and Matthew were both among the twelve, and this would have the ridiculous effect of having two of the disciples calling one of their fellow disciples by two different names. They have no evidence of this - they just reason backwards to make the Bible right.
Fundies say there are no discrepancies by definition , so they just pull far-fetched explanations out of the air and say "this must be true because the Bible is never wrong".
Even rational Christians will admit that the Bible contradicts itself in numerous places.
Luckily, it is these Christians whom we atheists can get along with, because, unlike Fundies, they try to emulate Jesus by being thoughtful and caring individuals instead of claiming to follow Jesus then slaughtering anyone different.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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