contradictions in the bible???

[Scuba Pete]

O.K., so if I understand you correctly, an inner voice, which you may call Spirit, Counselor, or conscience, guides you as to which scriptures are accurate? And you can also use reasoning of a sort to figure out whether those scriptures lead to love, joy, peace, patience, etc., and if they don't, they're probably wrong? Is that an accurate summary?

And for the third time, how did you know whether to rely on the scripture that tells you to rely on the Spirit?

You answered your question in your assertion. Take a deep breath and read it once more.

 

[Quiddity]

Try this:
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/christianity/22941-biblical-contradictions-answered.html

 

[Autodidact]

Thank you, Poison. So does it bother you that G-d commands his followers to slaughter innocent children?

 

[Poisonshady313]

For the sake of staying on topic... I pointed out a contradiction on page 39... a contradiction affirmed by scuba pete and midnightblue as a contradiction... does anyone else have any thoughts about it?

For those who don't know, here it is:

Did Jesus die before, during, or after Passover?

(For current purposes, we'll say that Passover refers to the night of the feast of unleavened bread, not the whole 7 days.)

Matthew Mark and Luke say after, suggesting that the Last Supper was a Passover Seder (feast of unleavened bread).

John says it was the preparation of the passover. This could either mean only a few hours before passover began, or only a few hours before the sabbath during the week of Passover.

John also calls it a "great sabbath". There is only one "great sabbath"... and that is the sabbath BEFORE Passover...

So what's the deal? When did Jesus die in relation to the passover?

 

[Autodidact]

You answered your question in your assertion. Take a deep breath and read it once more.

Don't want to leap to conclusions. What is your answer, for the 4th time?

As an aside, I try not to leap to conclusions about groups of people, but it is very common that I have to repeat my questions to Christians and ask them to answer them. What is this rude behavior about and why is it so common among Christians?

 

[Poisonshady313]

Thank you, Poison. So does it bother you that G-d commands his followers to slaughter innocent children?

Past tense, auto... commanded. God does not expect anyone in this day and age to go about slaughtering anybody.

Does it bother me that God commanded his followers to annihilate Amalek? No.

It would have bothered me if God commanded his followers to slaughter ONLY the children... but Amalek was dealt with on a national level.

Besides... would you prefer that the kids be left parentless and alone, to starve and die in the desert? Doesn't that seem a bit more cruel than the alternative?

 

[Poisonshady313]

Try this:
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/christianity/22941-biblical-contradictions-answered.html

Your site fails to properly address the three days three nights problem I brought up in this thread... and doesn't even touch at all on whether Jesus died before or after the passover seder.

 

[Scuba Pete]

Don't want to leap to conclusions. What is your answer, for the 4th time?

an inner voice, which you may call Spirit, Counselor, or conscience, guides you as to which scriptures are accurate

As an aside, I try not to leap to conclusions about groups of people, but it is very common that I have to repeat my questions to Christians and ask them to answer them. What is this rude behavior about and why is it so common among Christians?

I guess that I will have to wonder if all atheists have as hard a time with comprehension of an answer as you? Say it ain't so!

 

[Autodidact]

Past tense, auto... commanded. God does not expect anyone in this day and age to go about slaughtering anybody.

How do you know? In any case, O.K., it doesn't bother you that you are worshipping a God who commanded (past tense) his followers to take their swords and slice apart little babies?

Does it bother me that God commanded his followers to annihilate Amalek? No.

It would have bothered me if God commanded his followers to slaughter ONLY the children... but Amalek was dealt with on a national level.

So as long as it's actual genocide it's O.K. with you?

Besides... would you prefer that the kids be left parentless and alone, to starve and die in the desert? Doesn't that seem a bit more cruel than the alternative?

Well, you do have to go back to the whole idea of murdering their parents who had done nothing wrong--it was their ancestors who attacked Israel. That's just as horrible. But once you slaughter all the parents in cold blood like that, you do have to take care of their children somehow. You can't think of any other options besides murdering them? Adoption? Foster care? Asking for help? Nothing?

 

[Autodidact]

an inner voice, which you may call Spirit, Counselor, or conscience, guides you as to which scriptures are accurate

O.K., so a scripture tells you to listen to your Spirit that tells you to believe the scripture that says to listen to your Spirit? Is that right? See a problem there at all with circular logic?

I guess that I will have to wonder if all atheists have as hard a time with comprehension of an answer as you? Say it ain't so!

It's hard to comprehend an answer that isn't given.

 

[Scuba Pete]

O.K., so a scripture tells you to listen to your Spirit that tells you to believe the scripture that says to listen to your Spirit? Is that right? See a problem there at all with circular logic?

It's circuitous in nature as are MOST things in life. However, it is not a fallacy, since I am not trying to PROVE a construct with it. You are mixing disciplines here with poor results.

 

[Autodidact]

It's circuitous in nature as are MOST things in life. However, it is not a fallacy, since I am not trying to PROVE a construct with it. You are mixing disciplines here with poor results.

I don't know about most things in life, but I think you are asserting that the way to tell whether a Bible passage is correct is by relying on the Spirit, right? And you know to rely on the Spirit because a Bible passage tells you so. Call it what you will, you have failed to support your assertion.

Now, different Christians get quite different guidance from their Spirit, do they not? Some get that the whole Bible is inerrant, some that the important thing is to love one another, others that God is a God of hatred and vengeance as well as mercy and compassion, others that the central message of the Bible is to follow God's commandments, others that it is forgiveness of our sins through Christ's sacrifice, etc. True?

 

[Dirty Penguin]

an inner voice, which you may call Spirit, Counselor, or conscience, guides you as to which scriptures are accurateI guess that I will have to wonder if all atheists have as hard a time with comprehension of an answer as you? Say it ain't so!

I understand quite well............I usually just don't agree...

 

[Poisonshady313]

You can't think of any other options besides murdering them? Adoption? Foster care? Asking for help? Nothing?

So they can grow up to kill you? No thanks.

 

[Scuba Pete]

I don't know about most things in life, but I think you are asserting that the way to tell whether a Bible passage is correct is by relying on the Spirit, right? And you know to rely on the Spirit because a Bible passage tells you so. Call it what you will, you have failed to support your assertion.

Christianity is a REVEALED religion. It was indeed the Spirit that led me to the scriptures and enabled me to understand them. The scriptures are a tool of the Spirit and not the authority for the Spirit.

Now, different Christians get quite different guidance from their Spirit, do they not? Some get that the whole Bible is inerrant, some that the important thing is to love one another, others that God is a God of hatred and vengeance as well as mercy and compassion, others that the central message of the Bible is to follow God's commandments, others that it is forgiveness of our sins through Christ's sacrifice, etc. True?

You say this like it is a bad thing. Even the scriptures recognize this as reality. Everyone understands truth a bit differently. That doesn't change the truth: only our perception of it.

 

[Autodidact]

So they can grow up to kill you? No thanks.

What makes you think that would happen? Do you believe that there is some kind of racially inherited evil in human beings?

 

[Autodidact]

Christianity is a REVEALED religion.

Yes, it is. What does that mean to you?

It was indeed the Spirit that led me to the scriptures and enabled me to understand them. The scriptures are a tool of the Spirit and not the authority for the Spirit. You say this like it is a bad thing. Even the scriptures recognize this as reality. Everyone understands truth a bit differently. That doesn't change the truth: only our perception of it.

How do you know it was the spirit that led you?
What is the authority for the Spirit? How do you know that the right way to understand scripture is via the Spirit?
But when they contradict each other--only once can be correct, right?

*btw, do you have any idea how funny and primitive it sounds to a non-believer to hear you're guided by the Spirit? It sounds kinda like, "The goat's entrails told me the will of the Gods" or something.

 

[Autodidact]

So Shady, are you saying that ordering soldier to stab babies to death, either because their remote ancestors attacked your ancestors, or so you can take their land, is moral?

 

[Scuba Pete]

Yes, it is. What does that mean to you?

That God loves me and has been trying to talk to me for a long time. I am now just beginning to listen.

How do you know it was the spirit that led you?

It's the consistency of love. Nothing else really matters.

What is the authority for the Spirit?

God

How do you know that the right way to understand scripture is via the Spirit?

God

But when they contradict each other--only once can be correct, right?

You're starting to catch on.

*btw, do you have any idea how funny and primitive it sounds to a non-believer to hear you're guided by the Spirit? It sounds kinda like, "The goat's entrails told me the will of the Gods" or something.

Yeah. I am quite used to being made fun of, and much of that is on this forum.I have already quoted this in this thread, but it bears repeating:

I Corinthians 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. NIV

Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. NIV

I have been blessed beyond measure.

 

[Autodidact]

That God loves me and has been trying to talk to me for a long time. I am now just beginning to listen. It's the consistency of love. Nothing else really matters. God God You're starting to catch on. Yeah. I am quite used to being made fun of, and much of that is on this forum.I have already quoted this in this thread, but it bears repeating:

That's what it means to you that Christianity is a revealed religion? If something else were revealed, then it wouldn't be? That doesn't sound right. Isn't revelation about the means of communication, and love about the content?

I Corinthians 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. NIV

Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. NIV

I have been blessed beyond measure.[/quote]

O.K., so we agree that different Christians' Spirit's lead them to contradictory interpretations of scripture, right? And that they can't both be right if they contradict each other. So the Spirit cannot be leading both of them, can it?