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handel_evans
Guest
why does the bible have so many contradictions. why can’t we all worship the same god, muslims, jews, Christians etc.
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Kopratic
Guest
Can you give an example of these supposed contradictions?
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zz912
Guest
We live in a fallen world, with a fallen humanity. And sadly man will choose sin and error sometimes.
As to your first question, please list out some of these contradictions and we can discuss them.
As to your first question, please list out some of these contradictions and we can discuss them.
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Ranp
Guest
Holy Scripture is the Word of God, it is absolute Truth. Therefore it is not possible for the Bible to contain any contradictions. To fully understand Holy Scripture one must read it in the context of Holy Tradition, which is also the Word of God, carried and maintained solely by the Catholic Church. Since only the Catholic Church has the fullness of Holy Tradition only the Catholic Church can properly interpret Holy Scripture. The only way for Muslims, Jews, and Protestants to fully agree with the Catholic Church is for them to convert to Catholicism.
Ran Pleasant
meltzerboy
New member
I think the three groups you mention do worship the same G-d; however, they have a different understanding about the nature of that G-d. Why is this so? People are sentient and cognitive beings who have thoughts, emotions, motivations, and are raised in different families, societies, and cultures. It would be scary (and boring) if we all had the same views on anything, let alone something so complex as religion. Even within Christianity, Judaism, and Islam there are considerable differences in belief, and I personally think this is ultimately all for the good EXCEPT for wars caused by religious conflicts and intolerance. Diversity of beliefs enables us to learn to love one another despite our differences.
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PietroPaolo
Guest
- There are no contradictions in the Bible, only contradictions between interpretations of the Bible. This is only true b/c many have stopped listening to the teacher (the Church) and only want to the read the text book (the Bible).
- We can worship the same God - in fact we are supposed to. What you mean to ask is why don’t we all worship the same God. That is an historical question and can be best answered by studying the history of religions. In short, Jews and Christians do worship the same God, but Jews don’t recognize Christ as that God. Muslims are a heretical sect of Christianity and also worship the God of Abraham, ie the God of the Jews and Christians. Others, e.g. pagans, worship what are either false gods or demons. For a full treatment on paganism I recommend reading The City of God by St Augustine, especially the beginning.
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VeritasLuxMea
Guest
Respectfully, this is one of those things that I find rather infuriating about Christianity at times.
Forget the whole of the Bible for a minute and just focus on the gospels. I can go through these books tearing out contradiction after contradiction and they’re just explained away as “apparent contradictions.”
Why are they ALL apparent contradictions and not real contradictions?
“Because the Bible is absolute Truth, thus it cannot contradict itself.”
“How did you determine that?”
“Because someone in authority told me so!”
“How did you determine who is the authority?”
“I just did.”
“Uh… I don’t get it.”
“Are you serious? It’s so simple!”
“How is it simple?”
“Because, tradition!”
“But which tradition is right, how do you determ—”
“The one I say is right, is the one that’s right!”
Without facts, without evidence, we are all just playing the “because I said so” game.
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mackbrislawn
Guest
Sure, we could all agree if nobody believed in anything. If nobody believed in absolute Truth.
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Aelred_Minor
Guest
When it comes to supposed Biblical contradictions, explanations will vary according to exactly what instance we are talking about.
Sometimes people choose to consider two similar events different “versions” of the same story, when probably they were really two separate events that were just similar. For example, Jesus likely gave both a sermon on the mount and a sermon on the plain.
In other cases the book in question may not be meant to be taken as real history. This applies to parts but by no means all of the Old Testament.
In still other cases it is just a matter of the author translating and editing their accounts differently. For example, we have different accounts of Christ’s Olivet discourse or of Christ’s last words on the cross in the different Gospels, but each is probably just a different selection from the words Christ spoke on both occasions. In the case of Christ’s last words, each individual Gospel account is made more powerful by not including the whole list of things Jesus said from the Cross but instead focusing on one or a few things.
Finally, sometimes when it comes to dialogue by someone who is not God the person speaking could have made a mistake. Examples would be Peter’s description of the death of Judas (which might have been based on a false rumor) and some minor inaccuracies concerning Old Testament history in St. Stephen’s speech to those about to kill him, both in the book of Acts. In both cases what inspired Scripture is asserting is that these men spoke these words. The speeches themselves were not necessarily inspired. The Holy Spirit, and the human author St. Luke, may have chosen to include both speeches in their entirety because of their historical importance and in spite of the minor mistakes both speakers made.
Sometimes people choose to consider two similar events different “versions” of the same story, when probably they were really two separate events that were just similar. For example, Jesus likely gave both a sermon on the mount and a sermon on the plain.
In other cases the book in question may not be meant to be taken as real history. This applies to parts but by no means all of the Old Testament.
In still other cases it is just a matter of the author translating and editing their accounts differently. For example, we have different accounts of Christ’s Olivet discourse or of Christ’s last words on the cross in the different Gospels, but each is probably just a different selection from the words Christ spoke on both occasions. In the case of Christ’s last words, each individual Gospel account is made more powerful by not including the whole list of things Jesus said from the Cross but instead focusing on one or a few things.
Finally, sometimes when it comes to dialogue by someone who is not God the person speaking could have made a mistake. Examples would be Peter’s description of the death of Judas (which might have been based on a false rumor) and some minor inaccuracies concerning Old Testament history in St. Stephen’s speech to those about to kill him, both in the book of Acts. In both cases what inspired Scripture is asserting is that these men spoke these words. The speeches themselves were not necessarily inspired. The Holy Spirit, and the human author St. Luke, may have chosen to include both speeches in their entirety because of their historical importance and in spite of the minor mistakes both speakers made.
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Robertanthony
Guest
Unfortunately for us modern-day Thomas, Christ is not gonna show up and show us the holes made by the nails, we have to pretty much accept everything by faith. Problem is one of authority as you mention. What makes one say that all of Genesis is allegorical, worthless poetry, except this one passage about a man being formed of clay, and one woman made from the man’s rib(s). I don’t want the clay/rib part to be overlooked, what makes the Adam and Eve dogma true but everything else concerning those two myths? Another question would be: who was around when the satan and God had a convo about Job, who was around to write down word for word what Job’s friends said, did God speak audibly for his replies to be known? Another question would be: did Dymphna truly exist or is she a myth that was passed on through oral tradition? Lastly, did Simon Stock receive a scapular directly from Mary’s hands, or is that another unverifiable fact/myth? It’s unsettling to think some people may have had a strong devotion to Dymphna, when her very existence is nowhere to be verified. Before the advance of modern science, was the Book of Genesis interpreted literally, did most Christians think that the Earth was roughly 6000 years? Religion is not a science, but we need more rigor.Respectfully, this is one of those things that I find rather infuriating about Christianity at times.
Forget the whole of the Bible for a minute and just focus on the gospels. I can go through these books tearing out contradiction after contradiction and they’re just explained away as “apparent contradictions.”
Why are they ALL apparent contradictions and not real contradictions?
“Because the Bible is absolute Truth, thus it cannot contradict itself.”
“How did you determine that?”
“Because someone in authority told me so!”
“How did you determine who is the authority?”
“I just did.”
“Uh… I don’t get it.”
“Are you serious? It’s so simple!”
“How is it simple?”
“Because, tradition!”
“But which tradition is right, how do you determ—”
“The one I say is right, is the one that’s right!”
Without facts, without evidence, we are all just playing the “because I said so” game.
.
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Celtic_Maiden
Guest
For one Muslims don’t believe in the Bible, they have the Quran which Mohammed or his associates wrote.
The Jewish people have the Bible but it stops at the Old Testament.
We all know that Christians have the Old and New Testament especially the New.
So do you think now that we are all reading from the same page ?
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Celtic_Maiden
Guest
Talk about Tolerance you should be fasting and not on the Forum.
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PietroPaolo
Guest
Good point. If only Jesus had given us some visible institution to teach and to preserve the Faith instead of just writing a book and telling us each to interpret it on our own. I wonder what that would have looked like?Respectfully, this is one of those things that I find rather infuriating about Christianity at times.
Forget the whole of the Bible for a minute and just focus on the gospels. I can go through these books tearing out contradiction after contradiction and they’re just explained away as “apparent contradictions.”
Why are they ALL apparent contradictions and not real contradictions?
“Because the Bible is absolute Truth, thus it cannot contradict itself.”
“How did you determine that?”
“Because someone in authority told me so!”
“How did you determine who is the authority?”
“I just did.”
“Uh… I don’t get it.”
“Are you serious? It’s so simple!”
“How is it simple?”
“Because, tradition!”
“But which tradition is right, how do you determ—”
“The one I say is right, is the one that’s right!”
Without facts, without evidence, we are all just playing the “because I said so” game.
meltzerboy
New member
My previous comment was written before Yom Kippur. But thank you, Celtic Maiden, for your rabbinical advice!Talk about Tolerance you should be fasting and not on the Forum.
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thistle
Guest
I don’t think the Bible has any contradictions, never mind many but I’m interested to hear what contradictions you think there are.
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openmind77
Guest
The biblical contradictions are mostly in the OT. Actually, I can understand the contradictions since many different people have contributed to it - it is some of the terrible, cruel, unjust parts of it (the OT) that I find objectionable.
As for different religions worshiping seemingly different Gods - it appears that way because the various revelations were given to different people, at different times and interpreted differently by the followers. But I am sure that all that will be solved and the beliefs unified when the Christ returns - which I believe will happen pretty soon.
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zz912
Guest
Here is a link that might be helpful to understand better the “dark passages” of Scripture.
jimmyakin.com/2012/10/the-dark-passages-of-scripture.html
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openmind77
Guest
Not only do I find these dark, violent, cruel passages objectionable and difficult to accept, I find it even harder to understand why so many still continue to defend them.
Again as I said before, the Return of the Christ will settle all this - He will tell us in no uncertain terms what we should accept and what we should discard.
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zz912
Guest
Jesus already gave His authority to His Church to speak in His Name. He did so that we could know the truth right now, and not have to wait 2,000+ years (and counting) until His return.
The Church has spoken, and declared these passages to be God’s word. While they may be difficult for us to understand and accept, we must work to do so.
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openmind77
Guest
So the earth is still flat and Sun revolves around it - after all, they had the Christ’s authority when they said that.
When the Christ Returns he will set the Church right in all its various claims including nasty stuff in the OT. I don’t think we have to wait long - probably less than a couple of years.
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