Biblical Inconsistencies

[KirbyFan101]

Whilst discussing the bible with a Christian friend, we bumped into this little web-page:

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/donald_morgan/inconsistencies.html

I checked over the references, and the ones that I did bother to view are actually there.

This rather large list of inconsistencies makes me wonder just how intelligent the people writing the Bible actually were...

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? People questioning their faith maybe... :jiggy:

 

[may]

Whilst discussing the bible with a Christian friend, we bumped into this little web-page:

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/donald_morgan/inconsistencies.html

I checked over the references, and the ones that I did bother to view are actually there.

This rather large list of inconsistencies makes me wonder just how intelligent the people writing the Bible actually were...

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? People questioning their faith maybe... :jiggy:

the fact that this list is mentioned, just goes to prove that some people do not have an accurate knowledge of the bible ,to those with an accurate knowledge of the bible there are no inconsistencies because they are cleared up . so they are not getting their questions answered by the ones with accurate knowledge are they.i found that these questions were cleared up when i went to the right source but that is for individuals to do themselves.., if they are seeking accurate knowledge .
Now we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that have been kindly given us by God. These things we also speak, not with words taught by human wisdom, but with those taught by [the] spirit, as we combine spiritual [matters] with spiritual [words]......1 corinthians 2;12-13

So, if any one of YOU is lacking in wisdom, let him keep on asking God, for he gives generously to all and without reproaching; and it will be given him ....james 1;5

 

[CMIYC]

Whilst discussing the bible with a Christian friend, we bumped into this little web-page:

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/donald_morgan/inconsistencies.html

I checked over the references, and the ones that I did bother to view are actually there.

This rather large list of inconsistencies makes me wonder just how intelligent the people writing the Bible actually were...

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? People questioning their faith maybe... :jiggy:

It clearly states in Psalms 82:1 God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods.

Elohiym; means the mighty ones, El mans the almighty or father….I think this alone should indicate there are more gods and each assisting El.

There is more evidence that gods do exist. Just a few ; Joshua 22:22 The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)

1 Samuel 4:8 Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.

1 Chronicles 16:25 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods.

Psalms 86:8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.

Daniel 2:47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.

Daniel 4:8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of

my God, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying,

Daniel 4:9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.

Daniel 4:18 This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.

Daniel 5:11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;

Daniel 5:14 I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.

Daniel 11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.

1 Kings 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.

htis is a realy good one 1 Samuel 28:13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.



It is quite possible, other gods that were assisting our god might have caused the conflict in the scripture.

 

[ThisShouldMakeSense]

It clearly states in Psalms 82:1 God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods.

Elohiym; means the mighty ones, El mans the almighty or father….I think this alone should indicate there are more gods and each assisting El.

There is more evidence that gods do exist. Just a few ; Joshua 22:22 The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)

1 Samuel 4:8 Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.

1 Chronicles 16:25 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods.

Psalms 86:8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.

Daniel 2:47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.

Daniel 4:8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of

my God, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying,

Daniel 4:9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.

Daniel 4:18 This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee.

Daniel 5:11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;

Daniel 5:14 I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.

Daniel 11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.

1 Kings 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.

htis is a realy good one 1 Samuel 28:13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.



It is quite possible, other gods that were assisting our god might have caused the conflict in the scripture.

not sure what you point is. like you've shown, the are more 'gods' according to the bible, however, they are lifeless, idols, etc, made objects of wroship by man. there is only one true living God, and that is God almighty. Psalms 83:18 'That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.'

 

[CMIYC]

not sure what you point is. like you've shown, the are more 'gods' according to the bible, however, they are lifeless, idols, etc, made objects of wroship by man. there is only one true living God, and that is God almighty. Psalms 83:18 'That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.'

Yes, I do agree with you in a way, but when it talks about Idols it actually says Idols.
I get these things wrong sometimes, however, to me it also says “there are many gods but only one creator”

 

[ThisShouldMakeSense]

Yes, I do agree with you in a way, but when it talks about Idols it actually says Idols.
I get these things wrong sometimes, however, to me it also says “there are many gods but only one creator”

but do you agree that they 'other gods' are not real, as in, they are not alive and are powerless? (getting off topic...)

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

... ,to those with an accurate knowledge of the bible there are no inconsistencies because they are cleared up .

Great! Finally! Could you please give me a date for the Exodus/Conquest that is both viable and consistent with scripture?

 

[Mister Emu]

From experience, most of them will be trash. I might find one or two gems that will make me actually think beyond a few moments, maybe.

If you wish to bring up Biblical inconsistencies, do so, I love strengthening, growing in, and learning more about my faith. However I detest preposterously large lists, and would appreciate a one by one basis

 

[KirbyFan101]

From experience, most of them will be trash. I might find one or two gems that will make me actually think beyond a few moments, maybe.

If you wish to bring up Biblical inconsistencies, do so, I love strengthening, growing in, and learning more about my faith. However I detest preposterously large lists, and would appreciate a one by one basis

Certainly. However, I neither have the biblical knowledge, nor the will, to analyse such a comprehensive list and pick out these "gems".

Sorry. :bounce

If someone else is up for the challenge, by all means...

 

[Fluffy]

After looking at the first 50 or so, most of these inconsistencies were either too small to provide anything meaningful (such as Noah entering the Ark twice), easily explainable (such as God doing things which he condemns) or factual inconsistencies (such as different accounts of the same thing eg Genesis or David's census) which are fine if one remembers that the Bible is not written by a single author and does not take it 100% literally.

 

[khan1955]

One must remember that the jewish people were living in a midst of people who worshiped many gods not one God,so what looks like a or multiple inconsistencies is really drawing attention to the fact the ball or jupiter or astorth were not "real",but that there is a real God who was using the jewish people to show the world.Like a lot of people back then as well as now they still don't see,being blinded they seek their own answers and ingnore what is plain.

 

[dorsk188]

Well, if I may:
Of course the old testement mentions YHWH as the best god among all (presumably real) gods. Any serious scholar and historian will tell you that early hebrew people were polytheists, believing in several gods, including YHWH, his wife (whose name escapes me) and their son, Baal.

I believe they did this historically for a long time, so that later, especially during the Exile (in Babylon, not the one in the OT itself) they picked up traits of the Zoroastrians, particularly monotheism. When they returned to Israel, they condemned all other gods but YHWH as false gods and idols, but much of the polytheistic roots of Judaism remain. (I may have some of the details off, but Ithink that's all about right.)

Through revisionist history, Baal is no longer a Hebrew god, son of YHWH, but he is instead an idol that led to the Israelite defeat at the hands of the Babylonians (notice that this was only "discovered" after the Israelites were wondering why they lost the war...)

Someone made an important point: If you understand that the Bible is just a book, written by primitive people, with little understanding of the natural world, who didn't scrutinize their religious texts as we tend to now, then you have no problem with these inconsistencies, but you're probably not going to seek revelation from them either...

Hardcore believers who demand that this stuff be taken literally have a problem, because there are a lot of tiny errors, and a few large ones, that the big editor in the sky probably wouldn't allow. They have to rely on revisionist history or seight-of-hand translations to make sure their faith remains unshaken.

Case in point: We know Matthew and Luke were being written, separately, at about the same time. Turns out, both contain a complete geneology of Jesus, all the way back to David (to prove Jesus was the messiah), but the two geneologies are different. To counter this, literalists have claimed that one geneology is of Joseph and the other is of Mary. There are problems with this as well, you can look it up yourself, if you are interested. One problem not even poised, is why is Joseph's geneology relevant to Jesus if he was immaculately concieved? The point is, these books are ancient texts, warped through time and translation.

 

[Mister Emu]

Any serious scholar and historian will tell you that early hebrew people were polytheists, believing in several gods, including YHWH, his wife (whose name escapes me) and their son, Baal.

Cite some please. I have never heard this.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Cite some please. I have never heard this.

Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel
From Epic to Canon: History and Literature in Ancient Israel
Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts
Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel

 

[dorsk188]

Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel
From Epic to Canon: History and Literature in Ancient Israel
Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts
Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel

:woohoo: Thanks a lot, Deut. What I had posted earlier was all that I could remember from my World Religion's class about it, and I was dreading finding sources, though I found a couple of reliable mentions, nothing too scholarly.

Unless I'm wrong, Yahweh was a thunder god, Baal was his son and I believe had a bull's head. Regardless of the details, archeological evidence backs up the Bible, which both say ancient Israelites worshipped many gods. Later generations labeled them false idols, but their worship is indiputable, I believe.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

YHWH was likely a local diety with roots in the South. There is an Egyptian reference linking YHW with the Shasu, a bedu-like group associated with Biblical Edom. The result of a long period of henotheism was the merging of YHWH and El (of the North), with Ba'al being linked to the latter.

 

[Mister Emu]

Edit; nevermind.

 

[enton]

Whilst discussing the bible with a Christian friend, we bumped into this little web-page:

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/donald_morgan/inconsistencies.html

I checked over the references, and the ones that I did bother to view are actually there.

This rather large list of inconsistencies makes me wonder just how intelligent the people writing the Bible actually were...

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? People questioning their faith maybe... :jiggy:

I don`t see any inconsistensies in the Bible as I do understand the passages by the help of the Holy Spirit.

 

[JerryL]

I don`t see any inconsistensies in the Bible as I do understand the passages by the help of the Holy Spirit.

Good. Then you can answer for me a simple question.

According to Chronicles (2:15) and 2Samuel (24:9), King David asked Joab to do a survey of his fighting men. How man men did Joab tell David that there were?

 

[enton]

Good. Then you can answer for me a simple question.

According to Chronicles (2:15) and 2Samuel (24:9), King David asked Joab to do a survey of his fighting men. How man men did Joab tell David that there were?

1Ch 2:15 Ozem the sixth, David the seventh:

1 Ch 2:15 Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants:

or

1Ch 21:5 And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.


2 Sam 24:9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.

How about if this?

1 Samuel 17:12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.

1 Chronicles 2:15 Ozem the sixth, David the seventh:

1Samuel 17:14 And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul.

Want more?

http://www.angdatingdaan.org/segments/seg_contra_1.htm