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Is the Bible too Contradictory for All of it to be True?
- Thread starter Sunstone
- Start date
True?
Factually true or metaphorically true.
How can metaphors be too contradictory?
Skwim
Veteran Member
Yes, it is far too contradictory to be true.
2KI 24:8
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
2CH 36:9
Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
Ezra 2:15
The children of Adin, four hundred fifty and four.
Nehemiah 7:20
The children of Adin, six hundred fifty and five.
2 Samuel 8:4
And David took from him a thousand chariots and seven hundred horsemen.
1 Chronicles 18:4
And David took from him a thousand chariots and seven thousand horsemen.
1 Machabees 4:28
Lysias gathered together threescore thousand chosen men, and five thousand horsemen.
2 Machabees 11:2
Lysias ... Gathered together fourscore thousand men, and all the horsemen, and came against the Jews.
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Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
2CH 36:9
Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
Ezra 2:15
The children of Adin, four hundred fifty and four.
Nehemiah 7:20
The children of Adin, six hundred fifty and five.
2 Samuel 8:4
And David took from him a thousand chariots and seven hundred horsemen.
1 Chronicles 18:4
And David took from him a thousand chariots and seven thousand horsemen.
1 Machabees 4:28
Lysias gathered together threescore thousand chosen men, and five thousand horsemen.
2 Machabees 11:2
Lysias ... Gathered together fourscore thousand men, and all the horsemen, and came against the Jews.
.
I have not heard it said about the Bible that some contradictions make the whole thing false.
I have heard many, many, many people say that some truth in it makes the whole thing true.
Here I have two contradictions that I have been posting about forever that nobody seems to care about.
Proverbs 3:5 as read by the whole world:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding
People really do believe in leaning on other people's understanding. They lean on the understanding of the person who heard the word of God to write it down. They lean on the understanding of the copyists. They lean on the understanding of the people who explain what it all means.
The other thing they believe in is that Jesus commanded people to make other people believe in him.
Matthew 28:19 as read by most people:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations
What is wrong with that? Every other idea they glean from scripture is backed by other scripture. It is how they know what it means. Matthew 28:19 has no supporting scripture. So.......either Bible texts need no other assenting scripture or they have Matthew 28:19 wrong.
Proverbs 3:5 as read by the whole world:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding
People really do believe in leaning on other people's understanding. They lean on the understanding of the person who heard the word of God to write it down. They lean on the understanding of the copyists. They lean on the understanding of the people who explain what it all means.
The other thing they believe in is that Jesus commanded people to make other people believe in him.
Matthew 28:19 as read by most people:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations
What is wrong with that? Every other idea they glean from scripture is backed by other scripture. It is how they know what it means. Matthew 28:19 has no supporting scripture. So.......either Bible texts need no other assenting scripture or they have Matthew 28:19 wrong.
Tumah
Veteran Member
In my opinion, the contradictions, grammatical inconsistencies and other assorted technical language issues in Tanach are what 3/4 of Judaism is built on. I always point out, the very first word of Genesis is already a grammatical error in conjunction with the rest of the verse.
Skwim
Veteran Member
You mean that contradictions such as
2 Samuel 8:4
And David took from him a thousand chariots and seven hundred horsemen.
1 Chronicles 18:4
And David took from him a thousand chariots and seven thousand horsemen.
And David took from him a thousand chariots and seven hundred horsemen.
1 Chronicles 18:4
And David took from him a thousand chariots and seven thousand horsemen.
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Neo Deist
Th.D. & D.Div. h.c.
Yes.
I think that there is a difference between the Bible too contradictory for all of it to be true and the Bible too contradictory for any of it to be true.
Also, I think that the Bible isn't about being true, I am sure it is about finding the truth.
Do some contradictions in it ruin it for finding the truth? I do not think so.
Do you believe that this obvious copyist error indicates that the verses are FALSE and that David did not, in fact, take any chariots or horses from "him"?
You are conflating TRUE with FLAWLESS and are not even close to proving it 'too contradictory to be true'.
Skwim
Veteran Member
Doesn't make any difference how the mistake arose. A mistake is a mistake. And what it points up is the fact that any statement in the Bible could be a mistake. Were it not for the contradiction between any of those I pointed out, aside from other considerations, there would be no reason to suppose the Bible is mistaken in any of its other scriptures. But there is a reason to suspect there are other mistakes: it's happened before. Right here with the number of horsemen David took.
Of course not. The only error is in how many horsemen he took---and maybe the horses they rode.
Not at all. It's only your hope.
Now you've got me questioning your understanding of the concept of contradictory. Here:
Definition of contradictory
plural
contradictories
plural
contradictories
- : a proposition so related to another that if either of the two is true the other is false and if either is false the other must be true
Get it? You can't take both seven hundred horsemen and seven thousand horsemen. But . . . .then again . . . maybe you don't get it.
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Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
Contradictions in religious text happen all the time. I don't see how spelling errors and words and things like how many days the earth was being created means anything at the scheme of things.
There was a thread in the jokes forum with a picture I like. I wish I can post it on my Facebook Page but I know my family would hate me. But it got me laughing. Contradictions like this are ones I'd be a bit annoyed about.
Other contradictions, meh.
Toss them. It's all in context.
I think we can understand that, there is an error after thousands of years of history...which does nothing to the big picture.
I think it was written by many hands over much time and this is a predictable consequence (contradictions). I don't know how important it is to be perfectly consistent unless you are a Biblical literalist.
Skwim
Veteran Member
Guess this depends on what scripture one chooses to be inerrant. What has to be right so as to back up and sustain one's faith. In any case, all I was addressing was the OP title question.
Is the Bible too Contradictory for All of it to be True?
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Last edited:
Milton Platt
Well-Known Member
yep......
If there is only one real contradiction in the Bible it can't all be true.