The Bible contradicts itself about whether any man has ever seen God.
(The author of the Gospel of John and Paul the Apostle say no one has *ever* seen God)
(John 1:18 NRSV) *No one has ever seen God*…
(1 Tim 6:16 NRSV)
…*whom no one has ever seen or can see*;
(Here Moses sees the God’s backside)
(Exo 33:20 NRSV) But," he said, "you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live."
(Exo 33:23 NRSV) then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen."
(And here Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, Issac, Jacob, and Amos get a full frontal view)
(Exo 24:9-10 NRSV) Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.
(Gen 26:2 NRSV) The LORD appeared to Isaac and said…
(Gen 32:30 NRSV) So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved."
(Amos 9:1 NRSV) I saw the LORD standing beside the altar…
The author of Matthew and the author of Luke contradict each other on their lists of 12 disciples.
The author of Luke has Judas the son of James instead of the author of Matthew’s Thaddaeus.
(Luke 6:13-16 NRSV) And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
(Mat 10:2-4 NRSV) These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
The author of Matthew and the author Luke composed completely different birth stories for Jesus.
The gospels of Matthew and Luke were written ~70 years after Jesus was supposed to have been born.
It is probably not a well known fact, but Christian tradition has combined the two stories of the gospel of Matthew and the gospel of Luke to form the story told at Christmas time today (gospels of Mark and John have nothing to say about Jesus’ birth).
But the stories in the gospel of Matthew and the gospel of Luke only agree on 2 points:
1) Mary and Joseph are the parents
2) Jesus was born in Bethlehem (placed there to make him look messianic)
Otherwise they are completely different.
(from the first two chapters of the gospels Matthew and Luke)
The author of Luke’s genealogy doesn’t match the one in Genesis.
(Note: Arphaxad is Arpachshad)
(Luke 3:35-36 NRSV) …
son of Shelah, son of Cainan, son of Arphaxad, …
(Gen 11:12 NRSV) When Arpachshad had lived thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah;
The bible contradicts itself on how old Abram was when he left Haran.
205 Terah’s age when he died 70 Terah’s age when Abram was born —- 135 How old Abram was when Terah died
The Bible says that Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran *after* Terah died.
(Gen 11:26 NRSV) When Terah had lived seventy years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
(Gen 11:32 NRSV) The days of Terah were two hundred five years; and Terah died in Haran.
(Gen 12:4 NRSV) So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
(Acts 7:4 NRSV) …After his father died, God had him move from there (Haran) to this country in which you are now living.
The author of Numbers says God does not change his mind. The prophet Jeremiah says he does.
(Num 23:19 NRSV) God is not a human being, that he should lie, or a mortal, that he should change his mind.
Has he promised, and will he not do it? Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
(Jer 26:19 NRSV) …and did not the LORD change his mind about the disaster that he had pronounced against them? …
In their accounts on a census of Israel, the census numbers of 1 Chronicles and 2 Samual do not agree.
Israel Judah 1 Chronicles says: 1,100,000 470,000 soldiers. 2 Samual says: 800,000 500,000 soldiers.
(1 Chr 21:5 NRSV) Joab gave the total count of the people to David. In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and in Judah four hundred seventy thousand who drew the sword.
(2 Sam 24:9 NRSV) Joab reported to the king the number of those who had been recorded: in Israel there were eight hundred thousand soldiers able to draw the sword, and those of Judah were five hundred thousand.
How old was Jehoiachin when he started to reign?
2 Kings says he was eighteen and 2 Chronicles says he was only eight.
(2 Ki 24:8 NRSV) Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign; …
(The Hebrew words for 18 are "shemoneh" for 8 and "asar" making the number 18)
083. shemoneh, shem-o-neh’; or shemowneh, shem-o-neh’; fem. shemonah, shem-o-naw’; or shemownah, shem-o-naw’; appar. from H8082 through the idea of plumpness; a cardinal number, eight (as if a surplus above the "perfect" seven);
also (as ordinal) eighth:–eight ([-een, -eenth]), eighth.
6240. ‘asar, aw-sawr’;
for H6235; ten (only in combination),i.e. -teen; also (ordinal)
-teenth;–[eigh-, fif-, four-, nine-, seven-, six-, thir-] teen (-th), + eleven
(-th), + sixscore thousand, + twelve (-th).
(2 Chr 36:9 NRSV) Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign; …
(The Hebrew word for 8 here is again "shemoneh" but the accompanying word "asar" that would make it 18 is missing, beware, the NIV mistranslates this as eighteen to avoid the contradiction)
How many men did Kind David’s warrior Jashobeam kill at one time (with just a spear no less)? One account says he "only" killed three hundred and the other says eight hundred.
(1 Chr 11:11 NRSV) This is an account of David’s mighty warriors: Jashobeam, son of Hachmoni, was chief of the Three; he wielded his spear against three hundred whom he killed at one time.
(2 Sam 23:8 NRSV) These are the names of the warriors whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the Three; he wielded his spear against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.
1 Chronicles says that Satan incited King David to take a census and 2 Samuel says God incited him.
(2 Sam 24:1 NRSV) Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go, count the people of Israel and Judah."
(1 Chr 21:1 NRSV) Satan stood up against Israel, and incited David to count the people of Israel.
1 Samuel says David killed Goliath and 2 Samuel says Elhanan did.
(1 Sam 17:50 NRSV) So David prevailed over the Philistine (Goliath) with a sling and a stone, striking down the Philistine and killing him; there was no sword in David’s hand.
(2 Sam 21:19 NRSV) Then there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
How many chief officers did Solomon put in charge of building his temple?
2 Chronicles says two hundred fifty, 1 Kings says five hundred fifty.
(2 Chr 8:10 NRSV) These were the chief officers of King Solomon, two hundred fifty of them, who exercised authority over the people.
(1 Ki 9:23 NRSV) These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work: five hundred fifty, who had charge of the people who carried on the work.
How many pomegranates for Solomon’s mythical temple? 2 Chron says one hundred, 1 Kings says two hundred.
(2 Chr 3:16 NRSV) He made encircling chains and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.
(1 Ki 7:20 NRSV) The capitals were on the two pillars and also above the rounded projection that was beside the latticework; there were two hundred pomegranates in rows all around; and so with the other capital.
Were both robbers crucified with Jesus taunting him or was only one of them mocking him and the other repenting?
The author of Matthew and the author of Mark disagree with the author of Luke.
(Luke 23:33 NRSV) …they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
(So we have Jesus in the middle of two robbers, three crucifixions)
(Mat 27:41-45 NRSV) In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying,
"He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him….
*The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.*
From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.
(Luke 23:39-44 NRSV) *One of the criminals* who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!"
But the *other* rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." cont’d:
Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.
The three synoptic gospels have John the Baptist recognized as Elijah (in some places by Jesus),
but the author of the gospel of John has John the Baptist saying he is not Elijah.
(Mat 17:12 NRSV) but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but they did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man is about to suffer at their hands."
(Mat 17:13 NRSV) Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.
(John 1:21 NRSV) And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He (John the Baptist) said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No."
