The Bible contradicts it self?

Read the last three sentences of the #79.

The use of the term "day" to explain creation is contradictory. There were no days before creation, so how are there days?

That's even worse than saying "The definition of angry is being angry"

 

Okay, fair enough.

You must admit that even in English the word “day” does not always mean a 24 hour period. We speak of “day and night” where day means the length time the sun can be seen from sunrise to sunset and that length varies through out the year. Also we can speak of “back in your Grandfather’s day” where a day could be 60 or 70 years or more. So we can see that a day is just a period time and that length can vary with usage.

Also 2 Peter 3:8 says: "However, let this one fact not be escaping YOUR notice, beloved ones, that one day is with God as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day". So it can be seen that God is not bound by what we think a day might be.

Where as I do not deny that God if he wanted to, could have made the universe and us as well, instantaneously, he is God after all but I believe longer periods were involved. Some will say that each creative day was 7,000 years long but right now there is no hard evidence for exactly how long the creative “days” were.

I don’t know if you think this answers your question but the use of the word “day” for the time periods of creation does not seem to be a Biblical contradiction as there really isn’t any thing else said in the Bible the contradicts it.

 

EXACTLY!!

Even with this little example, there is not even a contextual hint as to what this word might mean. The word "day" is used in the Bible, and yet it imparts absolutely no knowledge to the reader. We don't know to take it literally or symbolically, and if it is meant symbolically we are imparted with no knowledge as to what it could potentially mean. What is the point of having ultimate truth if we are not given the tools to decipher it? If the Bible has a 1000 different potential meanings then it is no more closer to truth than any guess I might deduce myself.

Yet, people who read the Bible will read over passages like this and believe it word for word. They don't even second guess it, or take the time to understand the nature of passages like this. This is the basis of their faith/knowledge.

Sure, maybe "The Bible is actually 100% true but we may fail to see it" could be an answer. But if we can't become One with Truth, then we are Untruth. And you are a reflection of Untruth.

Here's another question.

Do we have free will in heaven? If there's only good and eternal life in heaven, do we have the potential to do bad? Could I bang my neighbor's wife, or take a jewel from his mansion jewel encrusted walls? Or are we so close to God that the goodness radiating from him is so unimaginably GOOD that it would be purely illogical to disassociate ourselves from God with such a filthy act?

Don't give me a debatable answer. You say that the WHOLE Bible is 100% true, so I want the Word of God straight from his mouth. Pray on it, fast for a day, and meditate on this question. I'll be praying with you (honestly).

Cuz if you can't deliver this, then guess what.

You're in the same boat as most of the scientists, agnostics, atheists, economists, and politicians who choose their philosophies to guide them through life.

God is timeless. God is Unspeakable Love. God is all there is. All these I believe with every ounce of my being. Defending the WHOLE BIBLE, all of the additions/mistranslations/varied authors, that is blasphemy. Just as much as preaching these words without intimate understanding.

 

mmmm....I've never heard that before, but it does fit the scriptures. Jesus did say that in heaven people would be like angels. Thanks.

 

As I’ve already told you, the word day means a period of time, and that period of time varies with context.

As to what the context says about this particular day, it says that on the seventh day God rested and later in the Bible says that we are still in that day of rest and so the last day has been at least six thousand years so far.

But it really makes very little difference how long the days were, the sense of what is being said is that God progressively prepared the Earth for human habitation over a number of time periods called days and it’s as simple as that.

I believe you are over thinking this, the truth is very simple. Jesus said you should become like a child in your understanding and that the truth would be hidden from those who think they are wise and intellectual.

Maybe the Bible is 100% true? And you say you think you are ONE with the truth, I guess I would have to ask what truth that would be?

Yes there is free will in Heaven.

Is there the potential to do bad in Heaven? The Bible says that is where Satan comes from and so I would say that he used his free will to do bad while still in heaven.

As for “Could I bang my neighbor's wife, or take a jewel from his mansion jewel encrusted walls?” It doesn’t seem that you understand the nature of Heaven, there are no physical bodies in Heaven, no male and female as we know it, no marriage as we know it and thus no sex either, so your question has no basis in fact and so, no, you could you could not bang your neighbor's wife, or take a jewel from his mansion jewel encrusted walls.

Actually in this thread, I’ve not said that I believe the Bible is 100% true, I have only said that I don’t think the Bible is contradictory and that is what I’ve been discussing.

Intimate understanding? If you don’t mind, can I ask where you got this intimate understanding? Because the Bible says the Satan is turning himself into an angel of light and is misleading the entire inhabited Earth, so without using the Bible to determine what is true or not how do you know that the intimate understanding you have is from God or not?

 

Hey Howdy! Im sorry for buttin in with nothing more than a comment but its all I got. We need to pray to the Lord for this. We need to seek His Kingdom first. It says that if we seek Him diligently we'l get what we need. We need to pray to God Almighty.

 

It took me over 18 years of searching to even get a glimpse of any type of evidence of "truth" pertaining to any religion/spirituality.

What you call the "Holy Communion". It was during what you call "prayer" focused on God. It was basically a sudden eruption in my body, from the base of my spine to the top of my head, to around the area of my forehead. Then a sudden pumping sensation, and an orgasmic type bliss that spread from my forehead to every cell of my body. I had no sense of time, it was like being drunk with euphoria.

I don't know how long it lasted, but after it happened my mind was completely changed. It felt like my whole life had led up to that moment, for this experience, the experience which every human searches for their whole life. Perfect love (for everything), serenity, peace, joy. You could be getting tortured and still be in perfect joy, because it was THAT powerful and pervasive. It was better than the best ecstasy pill you could take (by 3x+), it was the joy that bubbles from the deepest parts of your body and makes you cry tears. And everytime you focused on this feeling you would get another dose of this amazing feeling. All emotional scars of the past were irrelevant, the only thing that existed was this overpowering feeling.. Truly divine. That night I led one of my friends to the exact same experience.

It lasted for days, every interaction with people was filled with joy. I talked to so many people because I radiated this feeling.

How to actually have this experience is VERY simple. How it happened to me (step for step) is a well-documented religious meditation which is thousands of years old.

That was my first insight into the truths of religion. Prior I had been Christian for 13 years, agnostic for 3, and hardcore intellectual "atheist" for 2 more.

Now I'm a firm believer in God, but not in the way most Christians believe.

 

Very interesting.

 

Now does anyone have any other seeming Bible contradictions they would like to discuss?

 

Haven't read the whole thread... but what about the earth stopping or was it the sun... you know the verse

 

Yes, I know the verse but it is not strictly speaking the Bible contradicting itself, whereas it may be a contradiction of the laws of physics as we know them, it is just not the Bible contradicting itself.

 

I love you brother.... I knew you were going to say that .. and you nailed it

Drink Deep my friend.... may you never thirst

 

I think Hush Bull had a couple of laundry lists of contradicitons on the first page of this thread. Have you disposed of all those yet?

 

If you would please read the OP, in it I said one at a time.

A couple of "laundry lists" is not one at a time.

I have even explained why I will discuss them only one at a time. (posts#16 and 28 for example)

If you find one in the "laundry lists" that you want discussed please feel free to bring it up, with a few words as to why you think it is a contradiction, as others have already done.

 

.

 

Ok, can you show where it contradicts itself?

So you are saying that you believe the Bible was written by men rather than by God.

If it can be shown that the Bible has no contradictions and were written by multiple 'people' across the ages of all kinds of status, what then?

As for 'the holy spirit was only meant to be a metaphor for love'. What exactly do you mean by love and how do you know that this love isn't the holy spirit? I am not talking about romantic love, but the love that you feel when you are connected to the now.

Musicians, writers, dancers, even atheists discuss of this guiding force behind their lives. What do you suppose this is exactly? Some call it the force, and some call it whatever, but they all agree that it is there, except for the ones that feel distant in reality and those people usually suffer problems in their lives.

But let's keep it on topic, where exactly are the contradictions? So far you are just discussing theories and what some people believe, but where are the facts?

 

I agree with def zeppelin, It's nice that you gave your opinion of the Bible and that you say it contradicts itself but that is what this thread is about.

I've found that so many assume that the Bible is contradictory but have no actual proof that it is.

If the Bible is so contradictory there must be at least one really obvious contradiction, that can't be easily resolved.

So instead of just saying the Bible is contradictory, how about picking out one contradiction that you feel best shows the Bible to be contradictory and we'll discuss it.

PS Hush Bull gave a whole "laundry list" earlier. If you want, you can use one of those but please only one and say a few words as to why you think it's a contradiction.

 

Let's take 'em from the top, starting with the second list.
24. Robbery commanded
Ex 3:21,22/ Ex 12:35,36
Robbery forbidden
Lev 19:13/ Ex 20:15

I don't think this is really a contradiction, since in my version of the Bible, at least, it appears that the Israelites are asking the Egyptians for stuff, not just taking it, and God is somehow inducing the Egyptians to come up with it. Can you add to that?

 

.

 

I think this is all such a tempest in a teapot. The Old Testament, on the one hand, is an monumental amalgamation of history and myth ... and the best definition I know for the word "myth" is that it's something that's true, even if it never happened.

The Gospels, on the other hand, were written independently by guys several decades after the life of Jesus ... guys who weren't even there at the time Jesus lived. How could you expect them all to be in absolute agreement?

That there are four gospels that differ from each other in so many details instead of having one "definitive" Gospel, is part of the mystery of Christianity. I think everyone has to reconcile it for themselves.

In any case, if you're looking for 100% factual accuracy in either the Old Testament or the Gospels, without contradiction or questionable history, you're going to be sorely disappointed. That's just how it is. But so what? That doesn't diminish the message of Jesus, or the authority of the Old Testament as the heart of Jewish law.