In one year, a number of emails were exchanged between myself and a Christian; I explained that apart from the all-too-obvious hypocrisy
of Christians, I had found the Bible to be wholly inconsistent. On asking Christians whether they could explain this, I was unable to obtain
anything remotely approaching a coherent or logical response.
One factor which emerged from the exchange of correspondence is that the Christian writer viewed my belief (that there are
contradictions in the Bible) is caused by reading the Bible 'without the Holy Spirit'. Thus when I read in,
for example, John 3:22 that Jesus baptised and then read a few verses later in 4:2 that Jesus did not baptise, if I had the
Holy Spirit guiding me in my reading, these two verses (and the many others which are no less contradictory) would all supernaturally
agree. Further comment is superfluous.
The final emails were as follows:-
>Yes, we Christians are a strange sort. We say on one
>hand that we love the Lord, then before the day is through
>we deny him with our actions. I hate this about myself.
'But if the Christian is part of the body of Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit (etc., etc., etc.,) this is not logical. It would
seem that the Holy Spirit makes no difference to the person in which case it therefore raises doubts about the validity of
the claim made. You may of course cite those examples when people have been dramatically changed but this phenomenon is
also found in other religions and even in some non-religious contexts and such dramatic changes are no less than those which
arise in Christianity'.
>I suppose if we were perfect, meaning 'without sin," then
>1 John 1:8-9 would be meaningless.
'No, it is not a matter of being 'sinless' at all. It is because Christians are, as far as I am concerned, more hypocritical
than any other group of people (in view of the claims made) and the failure to live up to what they preach is far greater than any other group I have ever encountered. This in itself is remarkable'.
>However I find great comfort in the fact that like
>Moses,Ex chapt.33, I too am hid in the cleft of the Rock.
>As a part of the body of Christ I know all to well the
>things you accuse us of.
>I see the same inconsistencies in people that you do, whether
>they be saved or lost. I also see however, that is the exact
>reason that Christ came, to die on a cross for the forgiveness
>of our sins, mine and yours.
'You appear to be (thus) saying that by being a Christian and through Christ's expiation of sins, Christians can be absolute
frauds (etc). The point you may be overlooking here is that with the claims made concerning conversion to Christianity
('born again', 'regenerated', 'in Christ', 'filled with the Spirit', 'redeemed', 'sanctified', etc) it is not unreasonable to expect all Christians who claim to be born again to be or become 'good people': not sinless angels, but at least quietly and yet vigorously helping other people (irrespective of their faith or lack of it).
But we do not find this. Ergo, the claims made must be false. Moreover, no less serious is (as I will also discuss below)
the fact that very few Christians comply with those Biblical injunctions which conflict with their desired lifestyle'.
>I want to thank you for answering my e-mail this many
>times. You probably assume me to be a fundamentalist, ignorant
>of higher criticism and blinded by circular reasoning. I also
>can see that I will not be able to reason from the
>scriptures with you to any success. We view the Bible
>differently. My view is that the scriptures are God breathed
>and are useful in all aspects of my life.
'How can it be 'God breathed' with (for example) statements such as:-
Jehoiachin was 8 years old when he began his reign - 2 Chron 36:9.
Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he began his reign - 2 Kings 24:8.
According to Luke 2:21-39, Jesus is taken to the Jerusalem Temple eight days after he is born; the family then go up to Nazareth. In Matt 2:14-23, after being born the family flee in Egypt and stay there until Herod dies; even on returning, they avoid
Judea and go up to Nazareth.
Jesus baptised - John 3:22.
Jesus did not baptise - John 4:2.
No one has ascended into heaven before Jesus - John
3:13.
Elijah ascended into heaven - 2 Kings 2:11.
Jesus refuses to give signs - Matt 12:38,39, Mark
8:12, Luke 11:29.
Jesus did give signs - John 3:2, 20:30, Acts 2:22.
The Synoptics make it clear the last supper was the Passover meal - Matt 26:19, Mark 14:16, Luke 22:13. However in John, it was held on the day before the Passover - 13:29, and states that even after the meal the Passover had still not begun - 18:28. Moreover,
even after the trial, it was the Preparation day for the Passover - 19:31.
Abraham was justified by faith - Rom 4:1-5.
Abraham was justified by works - James 2:22-24.
Man does not die for his ancestors' sin - Deut 24:16, 2 Kings 14:6, Ezek 18:20.
Man does die for his ancestors' sin - Ex 20:5, 34:6-7,
2 Sam 12:13-18, Isa 14:21, Rom 5:12,19, 1 Cor 15:22.
Jesus to be buried for three days and nights - Matt 12:40.
Jesus buried for one day and two nights - Mark 15:42,43, John 20:1 (These texts show the burial did not take place until Friday night and the tomb was empty before Sunday morning). Jesus was therefore not in the tomb for "three days and three nights" - whether
Roman or Jewish time-reckoning is used.
No one is righteous - Rom 3:10.
There are righteous - James 5:16.
The sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is
unforgiveable - Matt 12:32, Mark 3:29.
God forgives all sins - 1 John 1:7.
No one has ever seen God - Ex 33:17,20, John 1:18, 1 Tim 6:15-16.
People have seen God - Gen 32:30, Ex 24:9-10, 33:11,21-23, Isa 6:5, Deut 5:24, Amos 9:1.
God wants everyone to be saved - 1 Tim 2:3-4, 2 Pet 3:9.
God does not want everyone to be saved - Prov 16:4, Mark 4:11-12, Rom 9:18, 2 Thess 2:11.
And then there are the appalling activities of this deity who is supposed to be the personification of love.....
All forms of life destroyed because of one imperfect
species - Genesis 6:5,7, 7:23.
Human sacrifice commanded by God - Leviticus 27:28,29.
God agrees that Jephthah sacrifices his daughter as a thanksgiving - Judges 11:29-40.
God sends ten plagues on Egypt because Pharaoh won't release the Hebrews, but he deliberately hardens Pharaoh's
heart so he refuses to release the Hebrews making these plagues necessary in the first place - God admits this is so he
can perform 'his wonders' (Exodus 11:9), i.e. wholesale mass slaughter of life in Egypt - Exodus 7:3-4,13-14, 10:1,20.
God sanctions slavery and a man selling his daughter -
Exodus 21:2-6,7.
Death demanded for heresy - Deuteronomy 13:1,2,5,14,15.
God says that if a man strikes 'his slave', male or female, and they do not die immediately, the man shall not be punished because 'the slave is his
money (i.e. property)' - Exodus 21:20-21.
God orders people to slaughter their own relatives because they rejected Moses' religion; 3000 killed. Moses
tells the killers that God would bless them for doing this by making them ordained for his service - Exodus
32:27-29.
A person to kill their own family for a difference of religion - Deuteronomy 13:6-10.
God demands death for anyone not circumcised - Genesis 17:9-14.
God demands the sick are to be driven out of the community - Numbers 5:1-4.
God burns people to death for complaining - Numbers 11:1.
God kills 24,000 people by a plague because one of them brought a Midianite woman to his tent - Numbers 25:6-9.
The curses of God upon the Hebrews (e.g. eating their own children) - Leviticus 26:14-39, Deuteronomy 28:15-68.
God arranges the Midianite slaughter - Judges 7:2,9,22. (Note: Numbers 31:l-18 states that God instructed the
mass slaughter of Midianites, and the Lord "slew every male", alongwith their rulers (31:7), and the Midianite women and children and animals were captured; Moses then demanded all the males, including babies and the women were to be slaughtered, but the
young girls could be "kept alive for yourselves" (31:18). This story records the extermination of the Midianites, but later on, God AGAIN instructs the slaugher of the Midianites (Judges 6:16), It is the same with the Amalekites - they are "ALL destroyed" in 1 Samuel 15:8, but they are destroyed yet again in 1 Samuel 27:8-9 and everyone - men and women - are killed; however, they
are killed (- for the 3rd time) in 1 Samuel 30:1,16-17 except for 400 young men. At long last, they are are finally killed off in 1 Chronicles 4:43 when the 'remnant' were destroyed.
The Spirit of God comes upon Samson and he murders over a thousand people - Judges 14:19, 15:14-15.
The Psalmist praises God for his 'steadfast love' but then details his slaughtering in the past - Psalm 136:10-21.
God deliberately deludes people so they will not be saved - 2 Thess 2:11-12.
A girl not found to be a virgin was to be killed - Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (Note the same did not apply to men).
God kills a baby for its father's wrongdoing - ignoring they father's pleas - 2 Samuel 12:15-20.
God kills 70,000 men - 2 Samuel 24:15.
>I take it that you do not share this viewpoint.
>It is because of your lack of salvation and
>absence of God's Holy Spirit that you cannot comprehend
>the scriptures. You understand the letter but you do
>not know the writer.
'No, it is not because of my 'lack of salvation and absence of God's Holy Spirit', but rather a refusal to be misled and deceived and to accept a contradictory, inconsistent, immoral collection of mythological stories composed over one thousand years. To say to someone 'You are not able to distort biblical texts to say something completely different, as I can, is evidence you are not Spirit-led' is obviously absurd.
And I have to return to the point already made: you say that you trust 'the Scriptures' but the canon of the 27 writings currently
in the New Testament were not finally selected (without various non-canonical writings included) until the fourth century when the church had become worldly (Constantine, etc). If you say 'Well, I still believe God was responsible for the selection', the obvious question is why did early Christians use non-canonical writings?
As the Christian faith is based on the life and death of Christ, why is there no extra-Biblical record of his existence
before the second century, and the only information concerning an earthly life are the four anonymous Gospels?
I now find myself asking much the same questions that I did with a previous writer, i.e.,
Why so many Christians fail to comply with Biblical statements? For example, Christ is said to have raised
the dead, walked on water, cured all manner of illnesses, and in John 14:12, he is reported to have said:-'He who believes
in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do...'. Consequently, Christians should
be achieving not only all that Christ is said to have done, but even more than this. And yet, this is not so. Why not?
Christ is reported to have told his disciples that the follower must 'take up his cross and follow me'
(Matt 10:38, 16;24) and lose his life for Christ's sake (Matt 10:39, 16:25). How many Christians do this? Do you?
Luke 14:26 has Christ saying that: 'if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and
children...he cannot be my disciple' (NB. The Greek word rendered 'hate' here means 'to hate, usually implying ill-will
in words and conduct or a persecuting spirit'. Bullinger). Do you hate your parents, spouse and/or children?
In Matt 19:24 Christ is reported as warning: 'It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to
enter the kingdom of God'. Despite puerile attempts to give this a 'symbolic' or 'allegorical' meaning, the statement
is absolutely clear: the 'rich' cannot enter heaven (Luke 16:19-23 emphasises this point - Note how the faith or lack of
faith of either of these men is not even mentioned: all we are told is that the rich man went to hell and the poor man/beggar to
paradise. It was their wealth or lack of wealth that governed the direction they took after death. Note: 'Rich' in first
century Palestine would normally be understood as those who had wealth which far exceeded their day-to-day needs.
However, on looking at the lifestyle of most Christians in the West (particularly fundamentalists), such people certainly
satisfy the term 'rich' by owning their own home (or homes), the size of which far exceeds their actual need, many
owning a car, or several cars, and having a plethora of material goods.)
The vast majority of Christians also have savings, investment portfolios, and/or pension schemes, and so
on (Ironically, such people are usually the first to proclaim 'moral' judgements on others). Furthermore, this is also in stark contrast to
Acts 2:44-45 which reports that believers 'had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all,
as any had need'. How many Christians do this? Do you? In Matt 5:42, Jesus is reported to have instructed: 'Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you'. How many Christians do this? Do you?
Surely it is only reasonable to expect Christians to be complying with scriptural instructions before they begin
preaching to others?
I have found that the Christians I meet 'customize' their faith to suit their desired lifestyle and so it does not interfere
with how they choose to live. Any statements in the Bible that conflict with how they want to live are ignored or
deemed 'allegorical' or 'symbolic' or 'no longer binding': at times they will quote a text that says the opposite and
amazingly, seem wholly unperturbed that they can so easily find and cite Biblical texts that contradict those that make
them uncomfortable. I consider this to be dishonest and it further highlights the element of self-deception which is necessary for religious
belief'.
