The Bible does have seemingly contradictory passages concerning Salvation....
1. "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will condemned."
(Mark 16:16)
..........The man asked him, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"
You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven."
(Luke 18:18-22)
3.He chose us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight he predestined us
(Ephesians 1:4-6)
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on G-d's mercy.
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore G-d has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
One of you will say to me: "Then why does G-d still blame us? For who resists his will?" But who are you, O man, to talk back to G-d? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' " Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
(Romans 9:13-21)
1. Mark said that if you believed in Jesus and were baptized, you would be saved. There's no mention of obeying commandments or giving up your money.
2. Luke said that if you obeyed the commandments and gave up your riches to the poor, you would be saved. There's no mention of believing Jesus or being baptized.
If G-d really did want us to believe that we could be saved by believing in Jesus, being baptized, obeying the commandments, and giving up our money to the poor, why didn't he use his infinite powers to make sure that Mark and Luke each gave us the same message? The answer appears to be that the two writers had different backgrounds and different beliefs about what the "word of G-d" was.
The problem is much worse than this, however, as can be seen in the third column in the table above.
3. Paul says that no matter what man does, he cannot alter G-d's plan for him. G-d predestined each man either to be cast into the fiery pits, or else to live evermore in his kingdom of heaven. Nothing man can do can change his fate. Sincere faith and all the good works in the world will not save the man who's been predestined by G-d to be one of the "pots" for common use, who will be cast aside. Likewise, nothing man does can prevent himself from being saved, for he was created a "noble" pot, and his fate was sealed long before, at the time of creation!
Why did G-d deliberately make flawed men whom he would cast aside, while making "noble" ones who would enter heaven, no matter what they did? Well, according to Paul, G-d does this for the same reason he made the Pharaoh flawed: so that G-d could rain plagues down on him to show off for the people his great power. For that same reason, Paul said,G-d makes men flawed who will not be saved, no matter what might be their "desire or effort," all for the purpose of having an excuse to cast them into the pits of hell to show off to the people how powerful he is.
What a preposterous, childish notion Paul had about his god! Why should a being who is infinitely powerful have to put on a display of his powers? If he wanted mankind to behave in a certain way, why could he not have just made it happen with his infinite powers? If putting fear of G-d into the minds of mankind really were the intention of this god, why could not this infinitely powerful being have just embedded into the DNA of all humans at conception an innate and instinctive awareness of the great power of G-d , and an instinctive understanding of G-d 's messages? The all-powerful G-d described in the Bible would have had the power to do that, wouldn't he?
Thus, Luke contradicts Mark, and Paul contradicts both Mark and Luke, with a ridiculous teaching about G-d 's need to display his power. Mark and Luke teach that man can be saved by faith, baptism (Mark), or by obeying the commandments and giving up wealth (Luke). In other words, Mark and Luke teach that man's desire and efforts could lead them to salvation, but Paul says that man's fate was sealed at the time of creation, and that their salvation does NOT depend on "man's desire or effort."
Taken fom Skeptical Views of Christianity and the Bible by Joseph Francis Alward
What Gives? why the contradictions?
1. "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will condemned."
(Mark 16:16)
..........The man asked him, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"
You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven."
(Luke 18:18-22)
3.He chose us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight he predestined us
(Ephesians 1:4-6)
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on G-d's mercy.
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore G-d has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
One of you will say to me: "Then why does G-d still blame us? For who resists his will?" But who are you, O man, to talk back to G-d? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' " Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
(Romans 9:13-21)
1. Mark said that if you believed in Jesus and were baptized, you would be saved. There's no mention of obeying commandments or giving up your money.
2. Luke said that if you obeyed the commandments and gave up your riches to the poor, you would be saved. There's no mention of believing Jesus or being baptized.
If G-d really did want us to believe that we could be saved by believing in Jesus, being baptized, obeying the commandments, and giving up our money to the poor, why didn't he use his infinite powers to make sure that Mark and Luke each gave us the same message? The answer appears to be that the two writers had different backgrounds and different beliefs about what the "word of G-d" was.
The problem is much worse than this, however, as can be seen in the third column in the table above.
3. Paul says that no matter what man does, he cannot alter G-d's plan for him. G-d predestined each man either to be cast into the fiery pits, or else to live evermore in his kingdom of heaven. Nothing man can do can change his fate. Sincere faith and all the good works in the world will not save the man who's been predestined by G-d to be one of the "pots" for common use, who will be cast aside. Likewise, nothing man does can prevent himself from being saved, for he was created a "noble" pot, and his fate was sealed long before, at the time of creation!
Why did G-d deliberately make flawed men whom he would cast aside, while making "noble" ones who would enter heaven, no matter what they did? Well, according to Paul, G-d does this for the same reason he made the Pharaoh flawed: so that G-d could rain plagues down on him to show off for the people his great power. For that same reason, Paul said,G-d makes men flawed who will not be saved, no matter what might be their "desire or effort," all for the purpose of having an excuse to cast them into the pits of hell to show off to the people how powerful he is.
What a preposterous, childish notion Paul had about his god! Why should a being who is infinitely powerful have to put on a display of his powers? If he wanted mankind to behave in a certain way, why could he not have just made it happen with his infinite powers? If putting fear of G-d into the minds of mankind really were the intention of this god, why could not this infinitely powerful being have just embedded into the DNA of all humans at conception an innate and instinctive awareness of the great power of G-d , and an instinctive understanding of G-d 's messages? The all-powerful G-d described in the Bible would have had the power to do that, wouldn't he?
Thus, Luke contradicts Mark, and Paul contradicts both Mark and Luke, with a ridiculous teaching about G-d 's need to display his power. Mark and Luke teach that man can be saved by faith, baptism (Mark), or by obeying the commandments and giving up wealth (Luke). In other words, Mark and Luke teach that man's desire and efforts could lead them to salvation, but Paul says that man's fate was sealed at the time of creation, and that their salvation does NOT depend on "man's desire or effort."
Taken fom Skeptical Views of Christianity and the Bible by Joseph Francis Alward
What Gives? why the contradictions?
